Handle care question

Hey all,
First time posting. I have a Carter Funayuki with a stabilized bone handle. I picked out the scales when I visited him in 2 years ago but he couldn't remember from what animal the bone came. Anyway, I've read that you can care for stabilized bone with mineral oil but was a little confused by the question at the head of this forum for those looking for knife suggestions "have you ever oiled your handle?"

Can someone please explain.

Thanks in advance, really appreciate all the experts here at the forum.

-Jason

A bit fftopic: but,

The reason I put that question there was because it is an indicator question--if you are puzzled or unsure of the answer, it lets us know where you are as far the level of care you currently put into your knives and tools. Oiling a cutting board is normal, typically strongly advised on a paper that comes with it--oiling a handle means someone is the kind of person to really care for tools, and probably also not afraid to take some sandpaper to something. Simple question, seems odd, but conveys a lot.

Oh yeah, Welcome Jason! :ntmy: Are you in Brasil now? I expect detailed World Cup updates.

Thanks Eamon! I know some people use beeswax and thought there might be a reason not to use oil by the phrasing. Misunderstood.

I'm stateside but spend a lot of time down there...

Thanks again.

-J

I'm not a bone expert, so this is an educated guess at best. If the material is professionally stabilized, that usually means it it resin-impregnated. Since bone is porous, I would expect the resin to penetrate the material, so it's basically 'plasticized'. In that case, I don't see that any care besides cleaning is necessary at all. Now, even on atabilized wood a polimerizing oil like tung oil or boiled linseed oil pops out the colors And figure a little more. I don't know if that is smilar with bone material. And while I don't see how the application of board wax or bees' wax would help maintaining the material, it also shouldn't hurt and maybe make it grippier.

Just my rambling 2cts.

Stefan

P.S. Welcome & Happy New Year

BTW to answer your question(don't know why I didn't), bone typically needs to be soaked in mineral oil from time to time to keep it from shrinking, cracking and warping. But yours is stabilized! So it's all the beauty, luster and feel of the real deal--but the ease of care like a resin composite(I.E. nothing). Best of both worlds, as long as the stabilization was done well.

welcome!

Just throwing it out there, but was it fossilized bone or regular bone? I still don't know the answer, but it might make a difference.

k.