# Preferred Finishing techniques for Totes & Knobs



## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

I have finally gotten into turning my own totes & knobs and am wondering about the preferred finishes for these hand planes. I have refinished a couple of planes with Minwax Tung Oil Finish and have been known to use Howard's "Restora-Finish" on a couple in order to minimize the scratches and missing original finish.

So what do you folks use and prefer?

Also, I have an old 1/2 can of BLO (+10yr) and was wondering if I could revitalize this BLO and with what? Acetone? Naptha? DA? hmm…


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## gsuing (Feb 19, 2013)

Shellac and wax for me.


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## shampeon (Jun 3, 2012)

I've used both Danish oil and shellac. I don't think BLO goes bad, and a brief web search basically confirms that, so if it's still liquid you can use it.

Shellac:

















Danish oil:









Shellac's great because it's so quick. You're basically done in a couple of hours. You'll get a shinier surface unless you rub it out with stell/bronze wool. Oil finishes take longer, and look less like a finish, and seem to give a little more glow to the wood after 3 or more rounds. Of course, that's 3+ days.


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## dkirtley (Mar 11, 2010)

My weapon of choice is watco and wax. I don't like the slick feeling on shellac. Of course the wood ends up getting really dark with hand oil, dirt, and time. Let's just call it patina.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Thanks for the good news on old BLO. I am thinking of trying to do the oil thing in search of that "warm glow" this time around. I have a couple of really shiny refinishes and am tiring of that look a bit. The "patina" route sounds like a good direction for now… **


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

What is best to use when thinning BLO?


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

I just finished my first set and I used Formby's Tung Oil Finish. I did 2 or 3 coats, then hit it with some steel wool. I love the matte/satin look and it feels so incredibly smooth. I haven't put the plane to use yet because it still needs the sole lapped and iron sharpened.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Well I decided to try out the BLO today. This half full can dates from 6/31/1991 so it is something like 22yr old. It still poured fine and was a deep amber color. I thinned it with VM&P Naptha using 60/40 BLO to Naptha. Just guessing here, but it seemed to apply easily. I treated 3 pair of toes & knobs.


Any guesses on how long it takes this stuff to dry?


How many coats before H. Rosewood will stop soaking it up and I should call it quits?


Did I hear correctly that once dry, I could JPW and buff?


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I thin BLO w/ mineral spirits, never tried naptha. You might be on to something.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I don't usually thin BLO for plane finishing. If I do thin BLO i also use MS.

If the knob and totes are rosewood I often just wax them, but BLO is my second choice. Once in a while if I have a plane that I don't plan on using and its more for show, I'll use a blo-shellac-mineral spirit mix in about a 1-1-1 ratio.

Cherry gets BLO,
Beech gets dark walnut danish oil, then BLO.

Everything gets waxed in the end.

Mike, I once used a can of BLO i found that looked old. I never seen a difference.


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## kokomoron (Feb 25, 2013)

BLO and wax


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

BLO and wax it is… 










Planes with NEW Rosewood!


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I love those totes with the sap wood!!


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## shampeon (Jun 3, 2012)

Beauty. What kind of wood is that? I'll echo Don and say that I really like the sapwood accent.


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

Wow, Mike, that's some really nice work!!


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Honduras Rosewood from Woodcraft online. Thanks for the kudos. I screwed up one toe on the tote by making it too thin and miss drilling the hole. That resulted in a lot of filing to make it fit. Got everything to fit, BLO'd it and slept overnight only to find out NOTHING fit anymore! Talk about living in exciting times! More filing… *}:-(*

I TOO agree with Don about having some sapwood showing! Cool! It wakes you up and pretty much nails the identity as Rosewood. I have a #422 Type3 that came with a sapwood 'showing' on the tote.

The very BEST thing I *discovered* happened as a result of my resawing of the 8/4 piece of H Rosewood. They were rather generous on these cuts and I got a full 9/4 of wood. Cool!... Anyway, after resawing I had one piece at just over 1in and another at nearly 1.2in. After sanding, oops I mean SLOWLY FILING down the first 'thicker' piece (wet wood sucks for sanding/filing), I ended up with a finished thickness of 1.10in. I have to tell you that I thought I had really screwed up and would be doomed to filing for two more days JUST to thin this thing down!...

Then I put it in my hand on it, as if using it on the plane and… well… uh… it felt like… uh… like one of those nights when the 'ol lady has flown home cross-country to bury a dear relative, and you are left alone…

Geez!,... fill in the blanks already! Anyway that extra ~3/16in (15/16in to 1.1in) made one heck of a difference in the comfort level of the tote! I even let the better half grab it and she agreed… the tote buddy, you knew what I meant! Clean it up already! Even with her smaller hands the thicker tote felt much more comfortable AND in a sense more powerful, at least as a perception. Wow, totes and knobs are so variable that you might consider taking this as a suggestion, just sayin'...


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