Alright guys, welcome back it is
Good to be back
So today I've been working on this for a little while
And a lot of you guys have been asking me about the Miyabi Birchwood
Which was one of my top picks for the last couple of years and I love this knife. I've always liked it
It's a handsome knife
It performs great it is sharp out of the box and it's just a very nice
distinctive looking knife. Now as good-looking as this knife is the biggest problem
It has was also the handle since I started using this knife
I've gotten lots of people who write me saying that their hands are completely shot
I think this sort of mixture will be just a godsend for a lot of people who use this knife in the professional setting
And not just this knife, but any sort of knife that has a raw handle on it
I think that you should really apply some sort of mixture
Protectant on your handle it will make the handle last much longer
When I'm washing this handle and actually doing usage when my hands very wet
You'll see that the fibers actually start to lift up from the handle and It starts to feel funny and I can see water actually
penetrating into the handle
So after every time I wash this handle I make sure that it's completely dry
and I'll let it sit on the counter top for at least a half an hour to an hour to make sure that
Water will have a chance to evaporate from the handle. I think it really wouldn't be a problem
Even if I put it into a drawer and close the drawer but for me for my peace of mind
I realized to make sure that my handles and my knives are completely dry before I put them away over time
I know that that water may eventually penetrate to the handle and it will stay there and it may cause corrosion of
some of the materials inside of the handle and actually may weaken the wood to some point. For the average home cook
I think that if you bought this knife and you didn't apply any sort of protectant on it
It would be fine over the course of the next few years
But if you really want to make sure that you get the best protection for this handle
Especially those who work in the professional setting this video is for you
Had you spoken to me before this video was made
I would never tell you that this handle is dull but look at them side-by-side
you can see exactly what I'm talking about the
You know perfection version of this handle is in every single way better than the stock version
So I'll point you guys through exactly how I did it
Okay, so first the mixture, this mixture I've been using now for years
I've made it way before I started making my knives or way before I started playing with knives
You can make this mixture with any ratio you want. I actually alter the ratio for this particular mixture because I wanted the the
bronze look the kind of the amber hue of the
handle to really pop so I added a bit more linseed oil than usual normally by volume add about 1/3 linseed oil 1/3
Varnish and 1/3 mineral spirits for this mixture. It's about 40% or close to 50%
linseed oil that really brings out the color of the wood and then
around you know, 25 to 30% of it is the
Varnish and then 25 30 % of it is the mineral spirits again
You can alter that ratio any way you want the more linseed oil you add
the more color to bring out from the wood the more varnish you add the thicker the mixture tends to be and
the thicker the coating on your
finished product and then the more mineral spirits you add the faster the penetration of the mixture and the thinner of the coating is
in terms of the actual brand
I don't remember everything but I will leave a link in the video description to the actual
items that I bought for this mixture
The only thing I would do differently or would advise you to do differently is I bought the generals
Salad bowl mixing. It's a really expensive
varnish, but again
I think it's overkill for this sort of project
If you just wanted something to make sure your knives have a waterproof resistant coating on them
I think that the generals, you know varnish would be too expensive
But again, that's the only thing I would do differently for this project if you were to make it yourself
other than that though
You can basically use any varnish you want
Mineral spirits as mineral spirits just get something that is, you know affordable and that's accessible to you
I bought Rosin co oil because that's something I've always used in my college days when I was using
The rosin co to cover some paints and some other stuff that I was doing
But I'm sure you can use boiled linseed oil as well
And because the handle has never had any sort of oil application to it
Before this video was made
I wasn't so concerned that there was gonna be anything rejection of
the mixture from oils that are already in the handle and as you can see there's really nothing to it
I simply just took a rag that I had been around and applied the mixture to the handle if you really wanted to you can
take painters tape and tape off the bolster area. I think that'd be fine after I finished my first application
I simply went through the bolster
and the heel of the knife and simply wiped down with
the dry side of my t-shirt and as you can see after the first application
It changed the knife already all of the grain started to pop out and it just looked so much more beautiful
so after the first application I let everything sit for 24 hours for everything to cure for application number two didn't do anything different just
basically put on my gloves and went to work again making sure that I avoid the bolster and the heel of the handle and
after that
Simply wipe down the wet areas of the bolster and the heel after about 10-15 minutes or so
The handle still absorbed any all of the mixture
So I knew that it still had a bit more to go. You can see after the second application
This handle is absolutely stunning it now
Completely completely overshadows the stock handle the stock handle still very handsome very clean
But it just does not compare to the finished handle the texture of the handle is now starting to change a little bit
it's starting to feel a little bit smoother and
I can feel a tiny bit of the finish more than the raw wood of the birch wood
So again for application number three, I got my mixture started up didn't do anything different didn't change the ratio at all
I simply applied the mixture as it is as the other first two layers, and that was it after the third application
I noticed that the mixture did not absorb into the handle after 20 or 30 minutes of sitting there
So I knew that at this point the handle is done
It doesn't need to be any more mixtures applied after this one
Has cured so I let it sit overnight and came back the next day
And it is finished. You can see here that the handle is just absolutely gorgeous
It still feels very much like it did after application. Number two
I don't really feel a film on the handle, which is what I wanted to avoid
This is the first time I've done this on this sort of a handle
but I knew that if I applied more varnish in the ratio say 40% ratio of
Varnish or 50% ratio of varnish it would feel a bit more
Like a film on the handle instead of feeling the actual grain in the wood
And so that's something you have to be aware of when doing something like this the more varnish you apply the more
Water-resistant the material or the finished product will be but less of the material you will feel at the end
the higher the mineral spirits the more the penetration will be and the more you'll feel the natural fibers of the wood, but
Also, I wanted to make sure that I've really bring out the color of the handle
So that's why to me that Linseed Oil had a slightly higher
Concentration than the varnish and the mineral spirits, but the most important thing was how I reacted when it was wet
And I'm glad to report that
evening when wet and letting this knife or the handle of it sit in a bowl of water for you know a few minutes. The
handle had no absorption of water
It just was really nice to see the water kind of just roll off the handle and I thought weapon down it felt exactly the same
Before the wash or before the use in the kitchen, so I'm happy to report that
This is a successful project
this is gonna save a lot of people who own this knife or knives like this who have really, you know,
beautiful handles that are raw wood that are just going to absorb a lot of oils and a lot of
You know debris in the kitchen, I still love this handle. It's handsome
It's clean its distinctive but the finished handle just looks so much better
It feels better in your hand and knowing that this handle can get wet and it may sit in water at some point by accident
It will still look as good as it did the day I made it
I am really happy of how this turned out and again for those who are curious
I'll leave the formula in the video description and I'll also leave a link to the items that I actually bought
For this mixture and again, you don't have to buy the exact same items
You can just kind of reference what I use and buy whatever is available to you where you live and all that good stuff
so let me know in the comments what you guys think of the before and after of this handle and
Again, if you guys have any suggestions of what I can use in the future for a handle seasoning
Let me know in the comments as well and I specifically want to hear from those who actually own this Birchwood
Have you guys seasoned your knife? How it has it held up over time?
And for those who decided to make your own handle season for this knife, let me know how it works out for you
Definitely want to hear your thoughts and your experience on it. Alright guys. Well, thank you so much for watching
I'll catch you in the next video