Thread: What's Your favorite wood-scale finish?

With all the options–lacquer, shellac, epoxy resin, rubbing oil & wax, gorilla or super glue, what is your favorite finish on wood scales? I'm wondering because I want to do another restore and I only have lacquer experience so far.

I like olive wood and ho wood. I have both on my kitchen knives, and they work very well in wet greasy conditions without any special finishes.

The superglue/CA is a super durable finish that leaves a rich and deep look, but the fumes are a killer. The oils & waxes are fine on the more oily woods like ebony, cocoabolo & such. I've always been a fan of Minwax's Helmsman & sometimes you can find it in a spray can. I use different finishes for each look that I am after.

Experiment...you can always sand it down and try another or try again!

Bar top finish (epoxy resin) is what I use. Tried the CA but hated working with it. A lot of the rose woods (like cocobolo) will not take a normal finish. Since the wood is so naturally oily finishes like polyurethane will not set correctly. The finis will stay gooey. For those woods the only thing I have found that works is a catalysed urethane or epoxy resin.

I like CA, epoxy or liquefied acrylic. I have to say that it depends on the wood as well as the shape of the scales or the blade, but most of the time its one of the three mentioned above.

That is valuable information, I didn't know oily woods won't take polyurethane. That probably just saved me a lot of frustration on my next restore...thanks!

The big one is cocobolo but anything in the rosewood family can be finicky. Best to put some finish on a scrap to see how it behaves first. Olive can also be picky at times. Finishes like catalyzed urethane and epoxy use a chemical hardener unlike oil and polyurethane which have a volatile that evaporates leaving behind the resin. Those chemically hardened finishes tend to be much more durable and work on about anything but they can also be more difficult and expensive to use. Take catalyzed urethane, mix it and use it without the proper respirator and your lungs will turn into peanut butter.

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

Bar top finish (epoxy resin) is what I use. Tried the CA but hated working with it. A lot of the rose woods (like cocobolo) will not take a normal finish. Since the wood is so naturally oily finishes like polyurethane will not set correctly. The finis will stay gooey. For those woods the only thing I have found that works is a catalysed urethane or epoxy resin.

I wish I knew this before I tried finishing my first scales recently (Cocobolo). Dang poly STILL hasn't set up! LOL. Thanks for the heads up, I might see if I can get a can of the bartop finish next time I am at HD.

Actually oily woods can affect epoxy and CA as well. Your best bet is to rub a little acetone on the surface to help remove the surface oils before applying your finish (don't apply finish over wet acetone, allow to evaporate). Thanks to a suggestion by Glen I have come to utilize this on all woods, not just the oily ones and it amazes me how many of my minor issues were from oils even in domestic woods.

Awesome thread! I've had pretty good success using Minwax Tung Oil. I usually do six coats or so. It leaves a nice satiny finish without covering up the original wood characteristics. I also keep a big mason jar of the stuff that I soak scales in for a few weeks. When I take them out, I give them a good wipe and buff them with fine steel wool once they're dry.