Thanks Kaleo, lots of options and some considerations to make for selecting the product it appears indeed.
I think you have dealt your fair share with knife handles. Did you ever form a favorite, or a go-to seal+finish that you liked for kitchen knives with natural untreated woods? As you said, for oily+dense and light and dry.
The olive wood is on the dense and oily side. I would think these olive K-Sabs were untreated as I could smell the scent of the wood so well and also just based on appearance. A bit of some dark stains on the handles from the factory that I worked off with sandpaper. I also slightly rounded the corners and then went over the whole handles up to P2000 and made a seal with pure tung.
If I wanted good protection against staining and darkening with the tung already applied, would there be something you might suggest to use now for a top coat?
I think youâve helped me discover my aesthetic for wooden kitchen knife handlesâand itâs natural natural naturalâas natural as possible. Iâve found, like Kaleo, steel wool to be indispensibleâespecially 0000. It can actually create a finish from the raw wood that makes an applied finish unnecessary.
I typically do little. The cheap Mercer work knives have a rubber color coded handles and the Globals have steel. The other semi-nice knives arenât used much and pampered when they are.
Now steak knives are wooded handled and I use mineral oil. They are not super expensive but not cheap and unfortunately on occasion have found their way to the dishwasher. They are in poor condition.
I also wanted an as natural a finish as possible, that would still protect the handle a bit âbetterâ than mineral oil, when I went for this pure tung oil. As mentioned I prefer the feel and aesthetic of tung compared to tru-oil for example. Tung looks and feels more natural, at least when not applied too thick.
I could get some of that 0000 steel wool. For which knives have you used this rubbing strategy?
On a few occasions our MAC bread knife and one santoku has been through the dishwasher. Those are still quite fine though.
A trend seems to be forming of people being minimalistic with their knife handle routines here. Perhaps unsurprisingly, why do much when its not necessary.
Do you have access to a buffer? Iâd say that my favorite wood finish is also one of the easiest, if you do. Thereâs a spray artistsâ product called âFix-Itâ, intended to cover charcoal and pencil sketches. Totally clear. You spray several thin coats on the wood, and let it completely dryâdonât worry about how it looks at this stage. Then you buff it on a sewn cotton wheel. The material will come off in globs, and it will look horrible. Youâll think you ruined the knife! But when you keep buffing, the finish gets very smooth, and the grain of the wood appears very deep and rich. This also seals the wood.
Another word about âstabilizedâ woods. Itâs not all Pakkawood. You can buy ârealâ wood thatâs been stabilized. I had a bunch of fancy koa vaccuum impregnated with epoxy. Water really canât damage this stuff, and on a SS blade there wonât be any corrosion, even though stabilized wood is still porous to water. I still seal carbon knives scaled in stabilized and if you want a completely smooth final finish.
If you donât have a buffer, Iâd do the fine steel wool (000 or 0000), and then 1-2 coats of a good wax. The best Iâve found is called Reniassance.
Iâve finished axe and maul handles with a 1:1 mix of turpentine and boiled linseed oil. That soaks into the wood, and then you can buff, or even burnish with rottenstone or even a brass rod.
I discovered 0000 steel wool when I was refinishing a cedar chest: eventually removed the existing finish, then simply turned the grain on the chest with the steel wool. It took a long timeâa monthâbut it appears like itâs been oiled.
Still looks that way after many years without any further care.
I used it on both the handle and blade of my carbon steel Sir Lawrence: it took the oxidation off the blade and made it almost shiny. It restored a ânaturalâ look to the handle, but I did later rub on some oil.
That is interesting, never heard of that fixative method, sounds quite easy and I imagine would look great. Renaissance wax I had heard of, but I have only tried the beeswax.
Reniassance is a great product, and even though itâs quite expensive by volume, a little goes a long way. Itâs used worldwide by museum curators on wood, metals, leather, etc.
Reniassance is petroleum based, so I wouldnât wax the actual blade with it if youâll be using the knife in the kitchen.
This is a little off topic, but Iâd like to ask you some broader questions. Iâve taken about 7 years to slowly develop my kitchen/hobby, one piece at a time, beginning with the most basic, to meet quite limited objectives as a culturally sensitive home cookâlooking for East-West fusion through kitchen knives.
In a much shorter period of time, youâve almost explosively far surpassed what I have in kitchenwareâand have now diversified with somewhat unrelated knife collections that you are exploring with real panache.
Where is this taking you? What are your goals? What have you learned?
Good questions Ray. I have indeed gathered a somewhat sizable collection of pans and knives, starting from around January 2020 when I bought my 12 inch cast iron pan.
I have wanted to own a somewhat âcompleteâ collection of different constructions and materials of pans, in the best brands and specs in my views. I am about in that point now and have little needs in terms of adding more pans. There are some things I see still missing, but they are the kind I donât really need, much like half of my pans ;).
In kitchen knives, I started with the Germans, then inevitably came the Japanese, followed by Chinese cleavers, Finnish fish filets and now the French Sabatiers. Here kind of the same deal. Collections of knives in different sizes, shapes, styles and from different countries (made in said countries also, at least for the most part I know). Stainless and carbon, softer and harder in relevant sizes. Pretty much done gathering here also, no bigger interests for additions any more. Instead I should sell some.
I might add a tool or two one day much like anybody, but not actively looking for more pans and knives at this point anymore. Perhaps Iâm not a collector in that sense, although I used the word in my OP. The tortilla thread has my interest raised for a tortilla press though for example now ;).
I keep finding occasions where I like to use some pan I havenât used much and itâs nice to pick that one then. I have learned to prefer some pans and knives for certain tasks, but can switch it up also. Nice to make a stir fry starting with cutting the ingredients using a Chinese cleaver and proceeding to cook them in a Chinese carbon wok. Slicing duck with a French Sabatier and filleting the fish we caught with my sons using a Finnish puukko style filet.
Sometimes I do think I donât need half of this stuff, but the next day itâs nice to use that stuff already. So no regrets overall and cooking is fun.
They are in poor condition.
