wooden handles

[Mr_Yan]

So old timers...

I have some wooden handled tools (shovels, rakes, pick ax) that have varnished / polyurethaned handles from the factory. I don't have a shed or garage to keep these in so they've been out in elements but shaded so UV is not shredding the wood. These hang on hooks on the back outside wall of my garage. At this point the handles need some attention. The original finish is now either flaking off or gone.

Any thoughts on what I should treat these handles with? My thinking is I should sand them as needed and use a penetrating finish. Something like a boiled lin-seed oil or tung oil? Wax? Mineral oil?

Thanks

 

[wolffman]

Lacquer, but it may affect the grip. It will protect the wood for a few years though.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Boiled linseed oil has been used as a protectorate for most of my life ...

 

[Rockytop]

Now there is something I have not seen in years.. Linseed oil. I haven't been looking for it but I do remember my Grand-pa having it in the shed. I wondered what he used it for.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Well refinishing most or all my handles will be a winter project for me. I also just bought a new shovel handle yesterday - I have a shovel head with the broken remnants of the handle still in it.

Anyway I watched this WranglerstarYouTube vid on finishing and sealing handles.

Sand them smooth
Boiled Linseed Oil them
Burnish with 0000 steelwool

 

[ErnieCopp]

Sounds like a very smooth slick surface. Linseed oil is the right stuff, but i prefer the shovel handles to be just smooth enough to slide through your hands, but not so slick they are hard to hold from twisting. Shovels were very important tools 70 years ago, and using them hard all day required a certain amount of skill, I enjoyed shoveling with a good crew of men, but using a RR Pick, which was another common tool, was one thing i did not do much of, because the angle between the handle and the pickhead was designed for a much shorter man, so none of them fit me.

Construction work was much different before the developnent of Ditching Machines and Backhoes/Excavators.

Ernie

 

[Mr_Yan]

To revive this thread I am thinking about painting the top 12" or so of each handle as an identifying mark on my tools. It's not uncommon that I grab an handful of tools and head to a friends or the community garden to help out. If my tools handles were, say, primary blue at the top it would be really noticeable in a pile at the end of the day.

I'm also toying with the idea of thru-drilling the top of each handle and putting in a loop of paracord or leather so I can hang them from a peg.

For this I think I will sand the handles down then paint with a flat paint. After the paint is good and dry I'll apply the linseed oil. I've been watching these Wranglerstar videos and have gotten kind of hooked. For linseed oil on the handles the Wranglerstar plan is to oil them (bare / un-oiled to start):

• Once daily for a week
• Once a week for a month
• Once a month for a year

 

[w_r_ranch]

Apply at least 3 coats of a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil & turpentine to the handles after sanding... about a day between coats. The linseed oil mixture needs to penetrate the wood to preserve/seal it. You will notice that each successive coat will be absorbed more slowly than the previous one as the wood stabilizes. Then allow it to dry thoroughly, which may take up to a month or more before it is no longer tacky.

If you do this before painting the ends, you will have shovels that last for many, many years.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Forgot about the thinning idea to allow it to penetrate deeper. Thanks for the reminder.

Oil base paint over that?

 

[w_r_ranch]

That will work... Spray enamel will work as well, just use some paper & masking tape when you paint the end of the handle. As others have stated, you want to be able to grip/feel the handle when you're using them, so consider only painting about 6-8" of the handle end.

I have 2 shovels that I use out in the woods that I treated again last year, then sprayed with florescent orange & then a couple of coats of clear to minimize fading. They are near impossible to lose now, LOL!!! FWIW, I bought these shovels back in the 70s for something like $3.99 each...