Isn’t blo and tung oil very similar? TO being a brand name of blo … ?

 

I have had used linseed oil with good luck. but I have also used spar varnish. I think it lasts longer, it is maybe a harder finish, but I have read it expands and contracts with the wood. There are millions of boat decks that seem to have lasted even in salt water.

 

IMO it depends a lot on how it's used and stores. Poly woks well but doesn't weather well. I often use boiled linseed oil cut in half with thinner - reapply as needed [or later]

 

What finish do you like on hammer/axe/shovel handles?

None.
Most times, my tools are stored inside. When a handle needs a finish, it's about time for a new tool.
Last 5+ years I've been buying fiberglass or metal handles.
Foam pipe insulation reduces vibrations my wrists don't like.

FWIW...Don.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm trying Tung oil on a masonry hammer I found. So far, it looks pretty good. We'll see how it holds up.

 

Its not about looks. Last thing you want is a slippery tool handle.

 

I use Tung oil and BLO on rifle stocks....pure Tung oil cut 50/50 with odorless mineral spirits dries pretty quickly and is supposedly more water proof than BLO. BLO takes longer to dry but is cheaper than Tung. RLO (Raw linseed oil) takes forever to dry but ages to a reddish patina. My understanding is that a lot of Garand guys swear by a coat or two of Tung followed by 3-4 rubbings of BLO or RLO. RLO is just flax seed oil I think, I use that on cast iron cooking pans but have never tried it on anything else.

By accident I had a ball pean hammer I left in the woods on a stump of a tree I had felled, it was outside for a couple of months and weathered and dried out pretty badly by the time I ran across it. I cleaned the handle with a green scrubby and oiled it up with Tung and then BLO, it looks great, like a vintage tool and is still solid and that's been years ago....but then it's an inside tool and isn't left outside in the weather.

I store smokless gunpowder in a large wooden crate that had held some sort of Swedish military surplus, gas mask filters I think. It seemed to be untreated raw lumber, construction of it was great though. I finished the exterior in two coats of a 50/50 Tung oil/mineral spirits and my wife says it looks great....but it just sits in a corner of the basement and isn't exposed to anything harsh.

 

I use Tung oil and BLO on rifle stocks....pure Tung oil cut 50/50 with odorless mineral spirits dries pretty quickly and is supposedly more water proof than BLO. BLO takes longer to dry but is cheaper than Tung. RLO (Raw linseed oil) takes forever to dry but ages to a reddish patina. My understanding is that a lot of Garand guys swear by a coat or two of Tung followed by 3-4 rubbings of BLO or RLO. RLO is just flax seed oil I think, I use that on cast iron cooking pans but have never tried it on anything else.

By accident I had a ball pean hammer I left in the woods on a stump of a tree I had felled, it was outside for a couple of months and weathered and dried out pretty badly by the time I ran across it. I cleaned the handle with a green scrubby and oiled it up with Tung and then BLO, it looks great, like a vintage tool and is still solid and that's been years ago....but then it's an inside tool and isn't left outside in the weather.

I store smokless gunpowder in a large wooden crate that had held some sort of Swedish military surplus, gas mask filters I think. It seemed to be untreated raw lumber, construction of it was great though. I finished the exterior in two coats of a 50/50 Tung oil/mineral spirits and my wife says it looks great....but it just sits in a corner of the basement and isn't exposed to anything harsh.

How do you accidentally get a hammer?

 

I put poly over a couple of maple hammer handles I made a little while back, but otherwise, I normally put nothing on my handles.

 

I worked with a shovel a lot when I was a kid, go for the shovel with the finish wore off so you don't get blisters. Same with a wood handle hammer when you work in the rain.