Finish for User Tool Handles

[Mike Hutchison]

I am a complete novice at finishing. Don't get to make much stuff that rates "finish" per se.
I have been doing some restoring of purchased hand tools. My question is if you start out on a handle
with one finish, how locked in are you? I am thinking mostly in terms of tung oil and/or BLO.
If either of those two were used would you have to knock that finish back before use of the other?

[Steve Schoene]

Any of the oil finishes needs to be applied to unsealed wood so that it can penetrate a bit and then have all excess remove so no film develops on the surface. So yes, you would have to strip off the factory finish. If you do decide to do that, then I'd recommend an oil/varnish mix instead of pure oil. Oil/varnish is more durable but looks virtually identical to the pure oils.

[Mike Hutchison]

Steve:
Thanks for reply and the mixture suggestion.
In this case, I am guilty of incomplete information in the first post. My question
about going from one finish and then another later, on the same handle,
was pertaining to a newly made and unfinished handle that I have hung in an old hammer head.
I am still doing some sanding on the handle and have time to ponder options for the finish.
MH

[Ryan Mooney]

For hammers and the like I usually just give them 2-3 BLO + turpentine (as a thinner) coats (saturated, let sit 10 minutes then wiped clean) and then a quick wipe with blo yearly or whenever I'm thinking about it (hmm looks a smidge dry and have the blo out so.. another coat for you!). For hammers in particular I'll actually set them in a gallon can head down for a day or three in the blo mix (just so it covers the head, don't need/want the whole handle in there) and then wipe down well.

Either of those finishes could be applied on top of eachother - IF - the original coat is completely dry. For most oil finishes applying more frequently than every few days (maybe weekly depending on the weather) isn't imho all that useful, as you want the first coat to really dry (polymerize) before adding any more. Also putting BLO or tung on to thick feels "gunky" to my liking so

Personally I like this better than film finishes which always seem to get dinged up and look bad on tools. Maybe I should be gentler with some of my tools.. but there it is.

[Sam Stephens]

I prefer an oil finish. handles just feel better that way. If you don't like it, you can always topcoat w/ something else.

[Lee Reep]

Any of the oil finishes needs to be applied to unsealed wood so that it can penetrate a bit and then have all excess remove so no film develops on the surface. So yes, you would have to strip off the factory finish. If you do decide to do that, then I'd recommend an oil/varnish mix instead of pure oil. Oil/varnish is more durable but looks virtually identical to the pure oils.

I agree. Years ago when my wife and I were in college, we started buying up older furniture. (We lived in Boulder, Colorado and picked up some nice pieces that were considered "old junk by the owners.) After removing the old finish, and thoroughly sanding, we used Watco Danish Oil, which is just a fancy term for an oil/varnish mix. It is easy to make your own --using regular or polyurethane varnish, boiled linseed oil, and mineral spirits to thin it to the consistency you like.

These finishes are easy to touch up, too. Just apply more of the danish oil. You can also use a liquid wax over the oil finish, Watch sold a liquid wax that was very watery -- so it was very easy to apply and wipe down. I always let the danish oil finish dry completely, and then add the wax over it.

EDIT: Just looked up Watco -- still sold. I have some I bought a long time ago, but even Amazon carries it.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Varnish on a tool handle can raise blisters.

You're better off just putting an oil on.