refinishing knife handles

[Salty]

Hello all.
I am looking to refinish some knife handles. I need to know what to put on the wood to protect them. Tung oil maybe? Wax?
The handle on the left is what they look like after I did some sanding. The one on the right shows how the handles have a white tone to them. When this is sanded, it produces a yellowish sawdust.
Also, can anyone tell from this picture what kind of wood this is?

Thanks.

Dale

[Pappy]

Hickory, maybe?

I would be tempted to use a salad bowl finish on them. Food safe, protects from water, and easily renewable.

[Salty]

Thanks Pappy.
Sounds like the right kind of finish.

I did find out that the wood is apparently called "fleetwwod".
Never heard of that. But I have heard of fleetwood mac.........but anyway!!

This is a knife/fork set that seems to be the same thing.
I also read somewhere that you could use mineral oil and beeswax to finish them.

[ironhat]

You could also go with BLO and keep 'em out of the dishasher. You still have to repeat 2 or 3 times a year but I don't mind. I cut the BLO 20-30% (eyeballing it), gently heat the needed amount in a small container floated in a pan of warm tap water.

[lrr]

You could also go with BLO and keep 'em out of the dishasher. You still have to repeat 2 or 3 times a year but I don't mind. I cut the BLO 20-30% (eyeballing it), gently heat the needed amount in a small container floated in a pan of warm tap water.

Always a good idea to keep good knives out of the dishwasher. I use one of those course bristle brushes to wash our knives. Using a sponge is just asking to cut your hand at some point. Use a drying stand, with the knife pointed down, to keep water from seeping back into the wood, or just hand dry them.

Using this technique, you can refinish with oil, or varnish or poly, since it will get minimal exposure during washing. Of course, the salad bowl finish is a great recommendation for the food safety factor.