Wooden handle treatment?

[ebinmaine 67,484]

We have several garden tools with long wooden handles that need to be refinished.

Some of them are very high quality like a locally made Peavey Manufacturing log cant hooks. 

Others are later model medium quality pieces.

All deserve to be treated equally and maintained well.

 

I'm figuring on giving each one of them a light sanding? And then coating them with.....  something.....

 

I'd prefer to use something see through so we can maintain the natural character of the wood.

I would just as soon have something that would dry completely and not leave a residue I can feel, if possible.

 

What would you use, and why?

 

 

[953 nut 55,224]

Boiled linseed oil cut 50/50 with mineral spirits will soak into the wood and dry in a day. A second coat will take a few days to cure but holds up well. Letting it dry in the sunshine speeds up the curing.

[JoeM 7,874]

One thing I noticed, over the years, is the area where the handle is married to the tool. Seems like there is some reason the wood deteriorates in that area. Handles snap at the joint.

 

Had a neighbor that would paint his hand tools going into winter. The metal parts I should say. And maybe a few inches up on the wood. His never broke.

 

I have never been into restore or finishing of woods. but some kind of resin or marine grade poly. ??? IDK 

 

 

[rjg854 11,361]

cuprinol or some such product

[oliver2-44 9,747]

Over the last 5+ years I’ve picked up yard tools at garage/estate sales and refinished them for my sons and myself. Where the wood joins the handle and at any splits I coated them with Mimwax wood hardener until it wouldn’t soak any more in. I then lightly sanded and gave them 2 coats of Helmsman exterior urethane. I also had a fiberglass handle shovel that my son got a glass splinter from. I coated it with the wood hardener epoxy and urethane too.  (Notice son using shovel instead of me). There holding up well. 
 

The Linseed oil treatment would be my second choice. But I suspect you would need to reconstruct them every couple of years

Edited June 13, 2022 by oliver2-44

[Skwerl58 704]

I have used the boiled linseed oil on my wood handles. On my used tools I clean the handles with mineral spirits and then apply the blo in single coats for a few days. The handles have held up well and I recoat every year to help preserve them.

[formariz 11,987]

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

I'd prefer to use something see through so we can maintain the natural character of the wood.

I would just as soon have something that would dry completely and not leave a residue I can feel, if possible.

 

What would you use, and why?

As mentioned before, the best thing to use is boiled linseed oil diluted with mineral spirits or paint thinner. It will show the woods character and will totally dry. The drying part is accomplished quicker by the diluting with spirits. The mixture will also allow oil to penetrate deeper into wood. 
 The reason for an oil rather than a coating over the wood is that the oil penetrates a little into wood and will let it breathe. A coating such as a varnish for example will crack or breach allowing moisture to penetrate wood and not dry out. That is evidenced by the dark gray stains around breached areas in many handles. A natural handle without any varnish coatings on it is also better on your hands and feels better. I actually scrape off the finish on any handle that comes to me and oil it. Extremely important is to saturate ends of handle with oil if end of handle is exposed. 
 For handles that can be removed from tool I have a long pvc pipe capped at one end and with a threaded end on the other. It is filled to a point with the linseed oil mixture. Before winter I clean handle and insert it in tube for a day removing then wiping and storing it. This is done yearly. If tool cannot be removed I simply insert it up to the metal part as far as I can. In the case of tools with handles in “ sockets” such as a shovel, it is particular important to make sure oil gets into socket. Moisture always gets in there and it is trapped not allowing end of handle to dry. That is the reason why those handles always break in that area in that type of tool. It is because wood there is weakened by rot. 

[cschannuth 3,816]

8 hours ago, JoeM said:

One thing I noticed, over the years, is the area where the handle is married to the tool. Seems like there is some reason the wood deteriorates in that area. Handles snap at the joint.

 

Had a neighbor that would paint his hand tools going into winter. The metal parts I should say. And maybe a few inches up on the wood. His never broke.

 

I have never been into restore or finishing of woods. but some kind of resin or marine grade poly. ??? IDK 

 

 

With regard to where the metal meets the wood, my father-in-law has always used discarded engine oil that he keeps in an old coffee can with an old paint brush. Anytime he’s done with a shovel or any tool for that matter he make sure it’s cleaned off with a wire brush and then he applies a coat of that old motor oil to the metallic part of the tool. When he hangs it up some of it naturally trickles down onto the wooden handle and his tools have literally lasted six decades doing it this way. I started doing the same thing about 40 years ago and I’ve never had a failure at the joint where the metal meets with the wooden handle.  I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do or not but it has worked well for us. We keep all of our tools inside and that probably helps as well. 

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

1 hour ago, cschannuth said:

We keep all of our tools inside and that probably helps as well. 

I think keeping the tools inside and dry is the biggest factor. After I use any earth altering tool, I clean/ wash it and hang it up inside to dry…

Here is a example  of a ditch spade that I restored…

Edited June 13, 2022 by Horse Newbie

[Wayne0 457]

BLO on any wood that is exposed to the elements. I have a Peavy cant dog that has to be 50 years old or more found in the woods of Maine, @ebinmaine The wood is still solid. It gets a regular treatment as I still use it.

[ebinmaine 67,484]

3 minutes ago, Wayne0 said:

BLO on any wood that is exposed to the elements. I have a Peavy cant dog that has to be 50 years old or more found in the woods of Maine, @ebinmaine The wood is still solid. It gets a regular treatment as I still use it.

VERY cool 

[Wayne0 457]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:12 PM, ebinmaine said:

VERY cool 

BTW, Eric. That would have been down the street in Limerick!

[ebinmaine 67,484]

1 hour ago, Wayne0 said:

BTW, Eric. That would have been down the street in Limerick!

Good strong 8 or 9 miles away!

[johnnymag3 2,520]

Linseed oil.............the best !!!!

 

water and elements hate oil...but wood loves it,     and the natural beauty of the wood and grain remain, but very enriched !!