Tung oil/other finishes on wood vapes? Food safe stains?

[Sand]

I recently bought some 100% tung oil for a walnut knife handle, and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this. I'd love to darken my birch UD, and I have a walnut Firewood 3 on the way I'd also like to be the darkest on the block. I have some beeswax/mineral oil mix from Dave, and while it's nice, I crave more:

I was using boiled vinegar to season a carbon steel blade, and I notice I stained the handle in some spots. Where it hit the wood, it's stained fairly even toward a greyish black. I'm not sure the rules on pictures of a knife, so I'll hold off on pics for now. I bring this up because I imagine this "stain" can't be more dangerous than cutting acidic food with a carbon steel knife.

Any info on grits for final sands, or any other cool techniques are much appreciated!
Edit: carbon steel knife, not carbon fiber

 

[ataxian]

I recently bought some 100% tung oil for a walnut knife handle, and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this. I'd love to darken my birch UD, and I have a walnut Firewood 3 on the way I'd also like to be the darkest on the block. I have some beeswax/mineral oil mix from Dave, and while it's nice, I crave more:

I was using boiled vinegar to season a carbon steel blade, and I notice I stained the handle in some spots. Where it hit the wood, it's stained fairly even toward a greyish black. I'm not sure the rules on pictures of a knife, so I'll hold off on pics for now. I bring this up because I imagine this "stain" can't be more dangerous than cutting acidic food with a carbon steel knife.

Any info on grits for final sands, or any other cool techniques are much appreciated!
Edit: carbon steel knife, not carbon fiber

I did large art pieces so my ideals are not valid.

Sometimes I would stain and use a sanding sealer under the French Polish using Tung Oil instead of other oils.

@Bongologist would know more about this?

 

[phattpiggie]

I've been using Emery paper for a final sand on my Vapcap stems. It comes in a variety of really fine grits. I usually start out with sand paper and finish with the emery. Also a fine wire wool is good. Be careful with the emery as it can leave a dark mark on light woods.
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/wood-and-log-encyclopedia.19466/
I posted here about a technique for darkening wood. Funnily enough you use a vinegar based solution.
I've used oils and waxes but I have to admit my favorite finish is Shellac it's a lot more durable than wax.
Take a look at Micro mesh as well. Pen turners use it and it goes down to 12000 grit. Not used it myself.
The wood butchers, @Dan Morrison, @Eds TNT, and Bongologist will all have there opinions on which method they prefer.

 

[Winegums]

I recently bought some 100% tung oil for a walnut knife handle, and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this. I'd love to darken my birch UD, and I have a walnut Firewood 3 on the way I'd also like to be the darkest on the block. I have some beeswax/mineral oil mix from Dave, and while it's nice, I crave more:

I was using boiled vinegar to season a carbon steel blade, and I notice I stained the handle in some spots. Where it hit the wood, it's stained fairly even toward a greyish black. I'm not sure the rules on pictures of a knife, so I'll hold off on pics for now. I bring this up because I imagine this "stain" can't be more dangerous than cutting acidic food with a carbon steel knife.

Any info on grits for final sands, or any other cool techniques are much appreciated!
Edit: carbon steel knife, not carbon fiber

I'm a knife maker and bladesmith. So I've got a bit of experience with wood finishing on handles.

I sand down to at least 1500 grit before applying Danish oil finish on my handles. Danish oil dries a lot faster than Tung and it's a food safe finish. After the first two coats, I'll sand with 1000 and 1500 again to knock off any raised grain before applying 4-5 more coats of finish. This provides the maximum beauty and shine from the wood and finish. You can sand to 600 grit for a satin finish.

As for oxide coatings, the vinegar blackening on carbon steel is not durable. It is however food safe as it's the same as what coats your cast iron frying pans. So don't worry about some tiny bits rubbing off.

PM me if you have some more Bladesmithing questions.

------------
As for your vape I would avoid getting finish near sources of heat or near the air path of the vape. Other than that I can't see an issue with finishing your vapes with an oil based finish.

 

[jojo monkey]

http://www.triedandtruewoodfinish.com/products/

http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_an...ents/Tried_and_True_Original_Wood_Finish.html

These are supposed to be food grade.

 

[Winegums]

You really shouldn't worried about food grade as it shouldn't be applied any where near the air path of the vape. Even food grade finish will be toxic if it vapourizes so I don't see the difference in this application. If you were going to use the finish on a cutting board, salad bowl, or similar wood product that was in contact with food I would see a need for food grade.

 

[Bongologist]

I am with @Winegums and the Danish oil, it dries so much faster. I use danish oil as a first coat (depending on the project of course) but still rely on my own diy wax and tung oil 2nd coat for a more long lasting and waterproof finish. Most of my work is made to be food grade but I also agree that no finish would be truly safe around an air path with high heat involved.

@ataxian when I was doing furniture and cabinet type work, sanding sealer was used like water as a filler on the first coat, mostly sanded off, then finished properly. Great stuff!

 

[jojo monkey]

You really shouldn't worried about food grade as it shouldn't be applied any where near the air path of the vape.

The alternatives are things that give off VOC's when you apply it? Sure you don't need it, I also don't need VOC's.

 

[Sand]

So I did get some Hope brand 100% Tung. It says 0% VOCs. I'm using it on my bamboo cutting board, walnut knife handle, and a tiny bit on my walnut firewood 3 after the first two went well. It does smell a little nutty, but I stopped noticing this after about 4-6 days. I like the tacky feeling it gives things when it starts to cure, it seems to help grip. I'm not mixing it with d-limonene ("citrus solvent") or anything else (yet).

I'm thinking of putting a little on the UD for the grip enhancement and longer lasting nature over mineral oil/beeswax when the last coat of underbutter wears off the dog. Just thought I'd let you guys know 100% pure tung oil (NOT TUNG OIL VARNISH/WIPE ETC!) seems OK based on what I've read and my personal experiences. It also does seem to darken wood. Compared to mineral oil and MO/BW finish, it gives a dull appearance instead of shiny or wet. Hope this info may be useful to someone.

Last note: Pure tung seems safe for cutting boards/incidental food exposure from my research but: RAGS SOAKED WITH IT ARE A FIRE HAZARD! It can spontaneously combust saturated rags. I've just been using tiny amounts on my fingers and hand washing it off, but I thought I'd share this message in case anyone has some lying around and is itching to use it.