Has anybody got a suggestion for a good protective sealing wax for antler handles........occasionally i will have a handle shrink away from the tang or the guard area......usually will happen in the winter heating season when the house gets dry.....i was wondering if sealing the handle would prevent this.......it doesnt happen often enough to warrant stabilizing all of the antler i use....
antler handle wax
- Thread starter tmr
- Start date
mike miller
KNIFE MAKER
I just use boiled lindseed oil.
the antlers i use have been stored inside for several years and some even longer......not all of the antler i use shrinks away from the tang but enough to give me grief.......i think the culprit is the wood heat in the showroom drying out the air too much.....i am going to wipe on some beeswax and mineral oil blend that i have for wood charquetre boards i make and see if it helps
opaul
KNIFE MAKER
I haven’t used mineral oil but I’ve read other posts that recommend not using it on antler. The reasoning is that it will discolor and soften the antler.
Again I have no experience with this - just passing along what I read on another forum.
And this from the same forum. Goes to show that everyone has an opinion of what works and what doesn’t.
Hope you find a solution . If so let me know!
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holy cow opaul.........the 3 pages of opinions on blade forums really goes from one side of the issue to the other......thanks for sending it along.....there are sure a lot of different opinions about the same issue.......it looks like relative humidity is the key......I am thinking at this point that if i prepare some handle scales and have them sanded perfectly flat and then oil or wax them and see if they move i might be able to find out what works.....I have seen antler scales that were flat develop a curve just sitting in my shop....the antler must really react to humidity levels......I was really hoping that i didn't have to start stabilizing all the antler i use as i have a lot of it and usually select handles to best suit the blade when finished.The one thing I have noticed is that I don't ever have a problem with the antler swelling up it is always shrinking away from the tang on full tang knives....it has not been a problem with concealed tangs.