Refinishing handle

[salemj]

FYI, I'm 99.9% that the Yuki is NOT Ho wood, but Magnolia wood, which is why it has a different feel, character, color, and density than most Ho wood handles. Although Ho and Magnolia can (and are) sometimes used as synonyms, the knives I've used with magnolia handles tend to vary and have a clearly distinct feel from the Ho wood handles I've used, and that includes consideration that all of the Ho wood handles of used have had their own minor variations. Two main magnolia handles (Masamoto KS and the Yuki) always seem to have a more textured, porous, and, powdery feel to the surface than Ho handles and are lighter in color and take on more oil, and they also tend to feel lighter somehow (although this is installed).

[Chocu1a]

FYI, I'm 99.9% that the Yuki is NOT Ho wood, but Magnolia wood, which is why it has a different feel, character, color, and density than most Ho wood handles. Although Ho and Magnolia can (and are) sometimes used as synonyms, the knives I've used with magnolia handles tend to vary and have a clearly distinct feel from the Ho wood handles I've used, and that includes consideration that all of the Ho wood handles of used have had their own minor variations. Two main magnolia handles (Masamoto KS and the Yuki) always seem to have a more textured, porous, and, powdery feel to the surface than Ho handles and are lighter in color and take on more oil, and they also tend to feel lighter somehow (although this is installed).

Ho wood IS Japanese Magnolia. "Since before 1000AD, traditional Japanese knife handles and saya were formed from the wood of the Ho tree, also known as Honoki or Japanese magnolia..." also- https://books.google.com/books?id=CGZPv ... od&f=false

[salemj]

FYI, I'm 99.9% that the Yuki is NOT Ho wood, but Magnolia wood, which is why it has a different feel, character, color, and density than most Ho wood handles. Although Ho and Magnolia can (and are) sometimes used as synonyms, the knives I've used with magnolia handles tend to vary and have a clearly distinct feel from the Ho wood handles I've used, and that includes consideration that all of the Ho wood handles of used have had their own minor variations. Two main magnolia handles (Masamoto KS and the Yuki) always seem to have a more textured, porous, and, powdery feel to the surface than Ho handles and are lighter in color and take on more oil, and they also tend to feel lighter somehow (although this is installed).

Ho wood IS Japanese Magnolia. "Since before 1000AD, traditional Japanese knife handles and saya were formed from the wood of the Ho tree, also known as Honoki or Japanese magnolia..." also- https://books.google.com/books?id=CGZPv ... od&f=false

I try not to make declarative statements about wood. I once asked the Boardsmith for a mahogany board and got schooled on the 1500 or so varieties of the wood across several continents, most of which went by different technical names (he ultimately helped me figure things out by asking for visual descriptions of the grain and colour to allow him to check his stock for a mahogany that I would prefer). Similarly, if you look up magnolia wood in any wood database, you'll see that the one listed in that book is one of a number of species (each of which has different grain and hardness qualities and comes from a different tree). So yes, it is possible that there is some source overlap between Ho and Magnolia wood in some contexts, perhaps many contexts. But to say one "is" the other and that they both have a single species source seems to fly in the face of biology. Unless, of course, what you mean is "all Ho wood is magnolia, but not all magnolia is Ho wood." This would account for the mention of a single species in your book and would suggest that Ho wood is a subset of magnolia - a single species source - but this would NOT then mean that other mentions of magnolia wood for handles were that same species.

FWIW, this is all not far off from how "ebony" is used to describe Japanese handle woods: there are tons of types of wood that are technically not "ebony" at all, but fall under the consumer description of "ebony" when used in certain applications. The variety of different woods used for "ebony" handles in Japanese knives is well-known and pretty obvious just by looking at the different varieties out there offered by different manufacturers.

[Chocu1a]

I get you. I understand.

[delmar]

I'd love to burn some of my Ho wood handles but they are all sealed with Tru-Oil. Don't think that would work out in my favor. I may try it on one of my knock offs just to see though.

Jeff, I did a test case after stripping Tru Oil off a Ho handle. Turned out good. PM me your email and I'll send you photos.

[Miles]

How did i miss this thread? i've been wondering the same thing, there's Yoshikane SKD i've been eyeing and thinking would i do this to a brand new knife?

[gladius]

I'd love to burn some of my Ho wood handles but they are all sealed with Tru-Oil. Don't think that would work out in my favor. I may try it on one of my knock offs just to see though.

Jeff, I did a test case after stripping Tru Oil off a Ho handle. Turned out good. PM me your email and I'll send you photos.

---
Hi delmar,
Can you please post a few pics here if you don't mind for those of us who have also used tru-oil - thanks.

[delmar]

Gladius - this is a copy / paste from my email to Jeff. I tweaked it a bit to match the photos I attached....

I had a ho and resin ferrule handle on my first legit J knife - tojiro ITK petty. The ferrule popped off and slides up, which is handy for what I needed to do. The handle was originally a D shape. I sanded down years ago to something approaching an oval. Looked pretty crappy - hard to sand down resin ferrule without melting or leaving sanding marks.

I had 3 coats of tru oil on it (I think 3, may have been 2). I sanded off top layer to 400 grit (light 120, 240, 400). Then blew clean with air gun.

Used a propane torch (blue bottle) at a 45*-ish angle and charred it. Smoked a bit and flamed a few times, but easy to blow out. It is the butt edge that catches the easiest. I pulled my respirator off to see if I smelled any oil or chemical smell. Not really. Guess the sanding got rid of most of the tru oil that remained on / near the surface.

Rubbed down with mineral spirits, dry, then 2 thin coats of tru oil, just to see how it looked charred without any sanding relief. First 2 photos are at that point. (Note - not sure about some of the photos and where they came from in sequence)

Then sanded. Made mistake of using 400 grit belt on my bench top belt sander. A bit too aggressive between grit and power. Pulled off and did a light 240 grit then 400 grit by hand. Using sponge sanders really helped with curved surface.

Wiped down and then mineral spirit rub. Dry. 2 coats of tru oil - pictures 3 & 4.

Didn't really like how glossy it was. Backed off with light 400 grit. See picture 5. But too matte. Might've been a bit different with 0000 steel wool, or taking up to 800/1000 grit. But the grain subtleties (see near the ferrule/junction handle, where it goes ho / light brown / dark brown / near black) get a bit lost when you back off the glossy tru oil finish.

I rubbed in some danish oil that is drying right now. Based upon what I see, I think this might be a really good compromise between tru oil glossy and tru oil matte.

If I had to do over:

1. I would leave butt with minimal charring - it gets black waaaaaay quicker than handle face (end vs. edge grain is my guess) and doesn't look so great. I tried to sand, but it is pretty hard to get a dark / medium brown out of it. So either black, light brown or natural ho. Or maybe just move really quick when you char.

2. I would hand sand, or use 800 /1000 belt. In truth, using power belt sander for curved oval was kinda dumb. Didn't realize at time. But it would work well for octagonal, at least for the 5 sides you can sand without blade getting in way.

3. I would probably hit it with 400 grit first to pull off the top char, but not put in sanding marks. Then drop to 240 to expose dark / medium brown where desired.

4. Over sanding at wood / ferrule junction turned out to be a good mistake. It pulled out some cool grain in the ho wood that blends into light / medium brown. Reminds me of burnt chestnut handle and looks pretty darn cool.

5. Would try 1) just danish oil, 2) just tung oil, or 3) Tru oil, but backed off with very light 0000 steel wool.

[MattinPA]

I second burning the handle. Turns out really nice.

I have to join the crowd in saying that looks absolutely fantastic. There's an inexpensive knife I'd like to own (Harukaze bunka) because it's perfect for my needs in every way except that damn ho wood handle. I just have this aversion to them. What you have there is really handsome and something to be proud of. I'd love to try it but I know I'll need some practice before I come close to that. Well done.

[aporigine]

Love the look of that burned Yuki handle. I got a Yuki petty I wouldn't mind trying this on. Was wondering though, I've treated mine with mineral oil and beeswax several times since I've had it. Do you think that would cause an issue when burning? Last thing I'd want is for it to ignite and continue to smolder deeper after I've removed the flame.

In this instance, I’d remove the handle, soak it for a week in a pint of Coleman fuel (a good neutral hydrocarbon solvent), with a fluid change on day 4, then set it to dry for a week in a well-ventilated spot. You should be able to treat it as dry then.