Handle restoration?

[etruax]

Should I stain then apply spar varnish or just buff and varnish?   Not real fond of the blonde faded color.

[Duke]

Get new ones from Brian. Those never seem to look good no matter what you do.

[Hogsy]

I usually give them a light sand then hit them with some tung oil
Spar marine looks a bit crap on the old handles
Stain...... Well if you can find one that looks ok, go for it
Keep it simple, if you can't get new ones
A bit of tung oil and they'll always look better than plastic handles

[javahog2002]

I sand them. Apply minwax golden pecan stain.  Then apply 3-4 coats of poly.  whatever I have in the shop.

I refinished the handles on a couple 77 18.5s:

[Golly]

bite the bullet and get some from brian
you will be glad you did

[etruax]

I have multiple handles from Brian.  Maybe Buckie will go into business selling bone handles to offset his expenses.

[1buckie]

I have multiple handles from Brian.  Maybe Buckie will go into business selling bone handles to offset his expenses.

I can fix up a set of "bones", I suppose, for reasonable......

....but, as always, if you have dogs, the warranty is void ........

[Duke]

Javahog, yours are a differnt kind of wood. Yours look like teak. I have some like that and they turn out nice, but some of the cheaper woods never look that nice.

[zavod44]

Nah they are old dried out crummy wood.  I had some on my Blue, and they looked the same....I think Weber just started using whatever kind of wood they could get their hands on.  I guarantee it's not Teak, that wood is pretty expensive and they seems to be pretty cheap....

[Craig]

I agree with Brian, towards the end of the wood handle era, they got cheaper, now if you have a vintage handle still in good shape, like a two rivet style or an early single screw (80s) then they'd be worth restoring. I have several of Brians handles (both versions) and they are top notch. They'll probably outlive the originals from a timetable standpoint.

[javahog2002]

So did the handles on my 77's have the Weber logo on them when they were new ??

[Craig]

So did the handles on my 77's have the Weber logo on them when they were new ??

It's possible, I know my Warrior (brown '78) had a very faded ghost image of the 'WEBER' log on it in between the rivets. So they could have been there for '77. I still have the handle in the garage, it's sawed in half from when I removed it to put Brian's reproduction one on. I would have kept it on there, but it was sooo dried out and loose. Yours look fantastic.

[mike.stavlund]

I completely understand if you want to restore these, but fwiw Brian's handles are incredible works of art.  Perfectly sized, painstakingly finished, and the logos are spot on.  They are like time machines for your grill-- perfect. 

[zavod44]

I try to make the handles for those who are doing restorations on the old grills and who want to replace the new crappy plastic handles...either way the wood ones perform better than the plastic ones.  The plastic gets so hot you burn your hands..the wood can handle much more heat.  Let's face it, the wood ones look "Oh So Choice"......

[Bob BQ]

I try to make the handles for those who are doing restorations on the old grills and who want to replace the new crappy plastic handles...either way the wood ones perform better than the plastic ones.  The plastic gets so hot you burn your hands..the wood can handle much more heat.  Let's face it, the wood ones look "Oh So Choice"......

Brian, have you considered (or is it a possible) to make the "Weber - The One The Only" handles?