Thread: conditioning wood scales?

I just got a new DOVO "singer" with south american violet wood scales. These scales seem to not have a glossy or flashy finish. Does anybody put any oil on their wood scaled razors to protect it or is this step not necessary. It just seems like the wood would hold up to the daily use around water better with some sort of finish. But, maybe the factory finish is sufficient.

Comments appreciated. Thanks

Oiled wood is maintained with oil. waxed wood is maintained with wax. Call the seller or email Dovo and ask them what kind of finish was used.

Then let us know what you find out, please?

You can maintain oiled wood with wax also. Just pick a stick of bee's wax and rub it in... Or better yet, pick up a bottle of wax for maintaining oiled finish wooden instuments (el. guitars and basses often have this finish)...

Nenad

Renaissance Wax. A little pricey, around $20 for a small tub, but it's really great stuff. Good on wood, plastic, steel, mother of pearl, abalone, paua, bone, horn, anything you want to protect and keep looking pristine. It's very popular with custom knifemakers whose wares get handled constantly at knife shows, etc. It's not a lubricant by any means, but it will protect and prevent rust, etc without an oily film. The only one I'm not sure on is celluloid. Don't know if sealing that stuff is a good idea or not, with the way celluloid behaves as it ages. Hell it may work, though I don't know. Anyone else who knows a few things about celluloid please chime in.

We always used linseed oil on rifles. Seems like this is very inexpensive and easy to get in between the scales. I don't know about waxes.

X

Linseed oil is a classic sealer but it's bit tricky to use... You have to "oxidize" it, and if it gets too thick it's a pain to remove the excess... The Reneissance wax seems like a nice idea...

Linseed oil comes in two flavors, raw & boiled. I do not remeber which remains tacky and which hardens.

Anyone?

I have been using Renissance Wax on my wood handles and it works well. But... I applied shellac first, as a sealer, then several coats of wax on top of that.

I do not know the proper terms to use so... my concern is with adhesion when you apply a wax on top of an oiled surface. Its more of a question than an answer.

Anyone with some definitive answers?

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Linseed oil comes in two flavors, raw & boiled. I do not remeber which remains tacky and which hardens.

Anyone?

I have been using Renissance Wax on my wood handles and it works well. But... I applied shellac first, as a sealer, then several coats of wax on top of that.

I do not know the proper terms to use so... my concern is with adhesion when you apply a wax on top of an oiled surface. Its more of a question than an answer.

Anyone with some definitive answers?

If you want to use linseed oil, it must be the boiled variety. Raw will never dry and eventually become rancid. I highly recommend Tried & True Finishes that use the traditional method of actually boiling the oil – other manufacturers add chemical driers. If oil is what you want to use, polymerized tung oil would be a better choice.

Renaissance Wax will work as long as the finish it is applied to is lightly scuffed with 0000 steel wool creating a surface it can adhere to.

I would recommend you follow Randy’s previous advice of contacting the manufacturer to find out what finish was used – my guess is a catalyzed Lacquer. Once you have the finish used, contact Jeff Jewitt at Homestead Finishing. He’s one of the country’s top wood finishing experts and can advise you on the best method of touch-up or repair. Then please let us know what you find out.

Originally Posted by ryan_a

I just got a new DOVO "singer" with south american violet wood scales. These scales seem to not have a glossy or flashy finish. Does anybody put any oil on their wood scaled razors to protect it or is this step not necessary. It just seems like the wood would hold up to the daily use around water better with some sort of finish. But, maybe the factory finish is sufficient.

Comments appreciated. Thanks

OK ..... I think we need to make a distinction between VINTAGE wood scales and modern "sealed and stabilized" scales.

The VINTAGE wood scales need to be treated against drying, as do all natural material, such as horn, ivory, turtle, hard-rubber, etc.

The MODERN scales are sort of "pre-treated" by the makers.

In general, I recommend treating ALL natural scales twice a year with natural oils, my preference being walnut oil (available in your local grocery). Apply one drop per scale, let it rest 20 minutes, wipe off the excess, and done!

daviduthe

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Linseed oil comes in two flavors, raw & boiled. I do not remeber which remains tacky and which hardens.

Raw linseed is lighter in color and wiscosity. The oxidized, or boiled is thicker, and becomes sticky quicker... Wax on oiled surface is standard finishing procedure...

Actually, boiling linseed oil is not exactly boiling, but saturating the oil with oxygen. It is done slowly at lower temperatures... I am not sure, but somewhere around 50-70 Celsius... The DIY method for "boiling" lineseed oil is better and easier to do: Take raw lineseed oil (try painting suplies), the lighter color, the better. Put into glass jar, and rig a aquarium oxugen pump into the oil. Make shure the tube (hose, pipe?) reaches the bottom of the jar. cover the jar with loosely wowen cloth (to prevent dust but allow air circulation), bandage material is nice. Put in sunny warm place, near the window, plug in, and let it "boil" for 2-3 weeks... The oil should thicken a bit, and maybe change its color to slightly darker yelowish...

Tung oil is exelent choice also...