Summer's Sunbathing Beauties
While hot, hazy summer days can be oppressive, sweaty and hard to deal with, it's actually the best time to maintain and protect your wood handled tools, paddles, canoe gunwales and leather and canvas products - as all these materials absorb oils and waxes more readily, with increased penetration and water resistance in balmy summer temperatures and conditions.
Oiling wood provides water, moisture, and protection from the elements for your axe, knife or paddles, while making it possible to use them comfortably, and for long periods of time without blistering or the use of gloves. Varnish or paint also protects from moisture, but requires the use of gloves to prevent blistering, and as in the case of canoe gunwales, can hasten rot and deterioration should moisture find it's way under between the wood and the finish on top of it.
Knife & Axe care products
To this end, our favourite products for just this task are Knife & Axe's all natural care products: wood oil, sheath cream, handle wax and blade oil. Knife & Axe wood oil is 100% natural hemp oil, made in Canada, that cleans up with soap and water. It's also food safe, meaning that it can also be used on wooden cutting boards, spoons, spatulas and other kitchen items and utensils that may come into contact with food. As it is an all-natural product, there are no petroleum additives or solvents added to it (unlike boiled linseed oil, for example), and therefore it does take hemp oil longer to dry and polymerize (form a protective coating) than oil products with added solvents - but for us, soap and water cleanup, full biodegradability, and food safe use without petrochemical additives is worth the extra drying time.
On this hot (32°C) summer afternoon, I prepped and treated several axes, knives, a paddle, a bucksaw, and canoe gunwales. The first step is to clean the items and wood handles of any dust, dirt or debris, and then dry well. In the case of the saw handles, as they'd been used heavily near ground level at times, dirt had gotten ground into the wood. In this case, some fine grit sandpaper was employed to remove any remaining scuffs and ground-in dirt. If the wood grain on handles or paddles is rough or raised (due to weather/water penetration), a light sanding of these items will also smooth them out and help to open the wood's pores.
Axe head and handle needs cleaning
Head and handle cleaned and prepped
Light sanding of wooden parts removes dirt, smooths, and opens wood pores
Great for canoe gunwales and paddles
Wood oil was liberally applied to all the wooden handles, and left in the sun for a few hours. In the case of the canoe gunwales, the person I borrowed the canoe from had let them go a little too long without retreating, so while I did sand them down and removed a good deal of the dry rot, and while my oil application will most likely add a season or two, the wooden gunwales' days on this boat are unfortunately numbered.
In the case of paddles, we're big fans of hybridized oiled/varnished canoe paddles. The blade of the paddle is varnished, whilst the shaft and handle are oiled, which provides water protection plus a comfortable, non-blistering grip for those long paddling days.
Canoe gunwales ready for oiling
Canoe gunwales after oiling
Hybrid varnish (lower) oiled (upper) canoe paddle
After a few hours, all products were flipped over, and more oil applied. You can almost feel the warmed wood and leather soaking up the oils and waxes - the sheaths required several applications of sheath cream before they stopped absorbing it. After 4 - 5 hours bathing in the sunshine, all products were brought indoors to dry and for the wood oil polymerize. This process will take a couple of days.
I always make a point with axes and knives after oiling to apply handle wax to all areas of exposed grain (top and bottom of the handle) for extra moisture protection when out in rainy conditions, When water does penetrate into handles, it tends to be through these areas as opposed to along the vertical grain running the handle's length. I'll also apply handle wax to the belly and throat of axe handles to provide a little more grip, and buff it up to get the desired amount of tackiness.
Maintenance is always a good use of time
There's a certain satisfaction when all the wooden tools and sheaths are looked after, especially ones that I've had for many years, where the many applications of oil have darkened the wood, and produced a lovely patina. You can't buy tools that look like that - it only comes about through years of care and maintenance. The tools are not only highly water resistant now, but are a visual reminder of why looking after your tools, and putting in a bit of time to tend to them pays off in spades in terms of protecting them, making them more attractive and beautiful, and feeling great when being used - comfortable, smooth, and efficient.
So the next time there's a spate of hot weather, take the opportunity to treat your tools and accessories to a day of sunbathing - it's time well spent, and will make your tools more functional, beautiful, resilient and longer lasting.
