Toyama Handle Smell

I've had my Toyama 300mm Suji for a little while now and while I absolutely love the blade, the handle stinks. And not in the "It's a poor handle" way. It's as a nice as ho-wood gets, but it smells like cigarettes and old man. Not pleasant at all.

I hoped after a few washes it would go away, but nope. Any tips? Or will I have to replace the handle?

Anybody else experience a similar smell on Toyama handles from Maksim?

one way is just apply some wipe on PU. It will seal off the wood (smell). It will feel different but will work.

I've had good luck with "Murphy's Oil Soap". Good luck! :cool2:

Depends on which part of the old man it smells like.

XooMG said:

Depends on which part of the old man it smells like.

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:rofl2:

Thanks for the suggestions. Will try out the Murphy's Oil Soap as I am fresh out of wipe-on polyurethane.

pkjames said:

one way is just apply some wipe on PU

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Was just thinking, surely adding any PU would only make matters worse, non? :whistling:

have you tried essential oils to cover up the smell? Maybe orange blossom oil or something like that? A lot of people put that kind of thing in their cutting board butter mixes.

JBroida said:

have you tried essential oils to cover up the smell? Maybe orange blossom oil or something like that? A lot of people put that kind of thing in their cutting board butter mixes.

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I think I'll try that before the oil soap. Thanks for the tip!

Asteger said:

Was just thinking, surely adding any PU would only make matters worse, non? :whistling:

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I have seen a few knives came back to me like that, it was quite thick. I think its trying to prevent it getting dirty and smelly but doesn't look very pleasant.

What causes the smell?

I would have thought that it shouldn't have permeated too deeply and that you should be able to just sand the handle down a little to take off the contaminated surface layer.

I wondered what that smell was, I only really noticed it when I opened the package, just leaving it in the open seems to have dissipated the smell.

MAS4T0 said:

What causes the smell?

I would have thought that it shouldn't have permeated too deeply and that you should be able to just sand the handle down a little to take off the contaminated surface layer.

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I have no idea on what caused the smell. I had someone else smell it and I was told it smelled like some kind of rancid oxidized chemical. To me it smells like years and years of cigarette smoke and bad breath.

The essential oil that Jon recommended did not cover up the smell. It is too pungent. I'll try leaving it near a ventilator. If that doesn't work, I'm sanding it down. And if that doesn't do the trick, I'm getting a custom handle.

whoops... i meant to say that you should mix it in with some mineral oil/beeswax and use that to treat the blade... otherwise its WAY too strong. Sorry about that. My bad.

i had a fire in my apt few years back, couple of my knives that were in there survived but were left with disgusting smoke smell. left the handles in vinegal for a day or two, tried em and then left them in the tung oil for a day. doesn't smell much at all.

Alright, I have heavily sanded the handle and applied a mixture of beeswax and mineral oil. The smell is mostly masked now. I just wish I had remembered to tape the horn ferrule to avoid scratches......

Still, I think I might want a custom handle for this beautiful knife sometime in the near future.

Thanks for the help guys.

DamageInc said:

I just wish I had remembered to tape the horn ferrule to avoid scratches

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Any usual damage to the horn ferrule is easily fixed with a bit of polishing, just using appropriate sandpaper. No worries.

As for the smell, reminds me when I received a knife with a burnt chestnut handle for the first time. This was also from JNS, from the Shigefusa handle maker. Anyway, yes, really strong tobacco smokey smell that gradually went away. Didn't bother me that much, though. Manly stench!