JeffB Posted September 16, 2009 Report Posted September 16, 2009 Dennis recently sent me new cooker knobs (thanks Dennis) but I wasn't a fan of how they were finished. In particular, they were stained a dark color that completely hid the wood grain/color. As a big fan of showing off good wood (and Teak is good stuff) I decided to refinish them. I first sanded them down to get past the stain, and while I was at it I decided to reshape them to a more pleasing and graceful (IMHO) shape. I then finished them with several coats of oil and a number of coats of a high gloss urethane. I wanted the wood grain pattern to show but also wanted a glassy smooth surface that comes from filling the wood pores. Anyway, here is the result: A new knob is on the left, the original on the right (I don't have a photo of the new knobs before I refinished them). The new knob's finish is so glossy that you can see the unfinished ceiling of my garage in it. I had a little problem with the older knobs checking so I wrapped them with stainless steel wire using a Clamptite tool. Afterward, I liked the look of it so I just decided to copy it on the new knob even though it isn't necessary at this point. I haven't cooked with the new knobs yet so no idea how the finish will hold up to the heat but hopefully the way the new knobs are built should make it a non-issue. Either that or they will burst into flames .
orthoman Posted September 16, 2009 Report Posted September 16, 2009 refinished That really looks great. That's funny you did this, I have been thinking about doing the same thing, because the finish gets a little dull after a few weeks, even though I polished it beforehand. Did you spray the gloss on or paint it with a brush? It looks great! Dr. Charles Whittenburg Orthopedic Center of Arlington www.orthoarlington.com
JeffB Posted September 16, 2009 Author Report Posted September 16, 2009 I wish I had spray equipment but I haven't sprung for an HVLP setup yet. In this case I just wiped the finish on with a paper towel. Nice and easy cleanup. I mounted the knobs in my drill press (a poor man's lathe) and that made wiping the finish on easy.
Firemonkey Posted September 16, 2009 Report Posted September 16, 2009 Whats your address so I can send you mine
DennisLinkletter Posted September 17, 2009 Report Posted September 17, 2009 Looks great, thanks for posting these. Looks great.. I gotta get one or two of those Clamptite tools. Looks like it should be standard issue for any MacGyver wanna be. To the best of my knowledge there is not any "on the wood" finish that is long lasting outdoors. This being said.. I think it looks great.. Hope it does not ignite if it gets too hot. You might want to wrap your ash screen in tim foil and install it as a heat shield. I'm playing with making a combo ash screen/heat deflector to eliminate the carbonized knob problem.
JeffB Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Posted September 17, 2009 Re: Looks great, thanks for posting these. Looks great.. I gotta get one or two of those Clamptite tools. Looks like it should be standard issue for any MacGyver wanna be. Absolutely. I have only had mine for 9 months or so and I can't count the number of times I have used it in unexpected ways. Silencing a rattling catalytic converter heat shield, lashing together wired shelves, etc. It is such a simple idea and yet so much more useful than I imagined when I first bought it. To the best of my knowledge there is not any "on the wood" finish that is long lasting outdoors. Yeah, the elements can be pretty brutal on a wood finish. I used a spar (marine) urethane so I am hoping it will last a while but it will definitely need to be renewed at some point. The heat is the biggest unknown for me right now so we will see how it goes. A heat shield sounds like a good idea.
cruzmisl Posted September 17, 2009 Report Posted September 17, 2009 Not to hijack the thread but I had a guy make me custom handles for my portafilter out of lacewood. The stock ones were resin made to look like wood Anyway, since the portafilter gets hot (nowhere near as hot as the draft door though) I'll ask him what he uses for the finish. I want to say its a catalyzed varnish which is more durable than a danish oil finish.
cruzmisl Posted September 19, 2009 Report Posted September 19, 2009 My guy didn't know the max temps of catalyzed varnish but said it handles the 210f portafilter handle without issue and he has also seen it used on pot/pan handles.........fwiw
JeffB Posted September 24, 2009 Author Report Posted September 24, 2009 The finish survived a five hour rib cook at 225 with flying colors. Next real test will be a high temp steak cook. The new knob design seems to be working well so I have faith.
Syzygies Posted September 24, 2009 Report Posted September 24, 2009 Not to hijack the thread but I had a guy make me custom handles for my portafilter !!! When I saw the photo leading this thread, my first thought was that I was looking at an espresso tamper: http://www.coffeetamper.com I have one of these as a handoff from a friend, and it's spectacular with a La Pavoni Europiccola coffee maker. He wanted to go up from 49 mm to 49.2 mm (I love having friends that make me look normal!), so he gave me his old one. My second thought? I actually like the original cooker knob better! We went for a matte cooker, at least we're consistent.
cruzmisl Posted September 24, 2009 Report Posted September 24, 2009 I'm like a crow, I like shiny things.....
JeffB Posted September 24, 2009 Author Report Posted September 24, 2009 I actually like the original cooker knob better! We went for a matte cooker' date=' at least we're consistent.[/quote'] For your matte cooker, the original finish probably would look best. My KK is shiny so I think the shiny knob looks nice. Different strokes for different folks. It's a good thing Dennis doesn't emulate Henry Ford when it comes to his cookers.
johnnyboy Posted October 11, 2009 Report Posted October 11, 2009 Jeff, Nice handles! Applied finish with a paper towell!! What kind of paper towells do you have? That can't be the kind of paper towell I'm used to; you must be joking. I like the wire too; agree it helps set the handles off. What do the wire ends look like? How are they secured?
JeffB Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Posted October 13, 2009 What kind of paper towells do you have? That can't be the kind of paper towell I'm used to; you must be joking. I typically use Scott's Shop Towel paper towels since they are nice and thick and relatively soft. But, I often use whatever garbage paper towels we have lying around the house and never had a problem (at least a few coats on my knobs were done with cheap white paper towels). I tend to use a lot of wiping finishes because they are easy (Danish oil for example). As a result I probably wipe sometimes when I shouldn't but I haven't run into any problems yet so why stop. Eventually I will graduate to HVLP but will still probably wipe when I don't want to bother with cleanup. What do the wire ends look like? How are they secured? I will see if I can get a picture -- the only ones I took before were of the knob's "good side". In the meantime, if you check out the pictures/videos on the clamptite site I linked to earlier you should be able to figure it out. There are two ways to operate the clamptite and you end up with a slightly different look for each. I used the "double wrap" method for my knobs.
