Stock refinishing...which stain / oil?

[gedenke]

Yeah, I tried that between coats 3 and 4, but it dulled it out a little too much. This is an inexspensive hunter/plinker, so I didn't go for that "show gun" look. Just trying to dress it up a little. Maybe one day when I'm bored and broke I'll add a few more coats, but for now I'm happy with it.

[JWT]

MinWax Antique Oil gives a nice satin finish and is easy to work with. I've used it on several gun stocks (as well as clock cases).

[VAHunter]

I've just finished using Pilkingtons oil finish on a nice moderately figured black walnut rifle stock. It was wet sanded over and over with gradually finer grit wetsanding paper. Started at 200 grit ending up with 400. I think I've got 13 or 14 wet sandings and it has filled the grain up beautifully. It really has a nice natrual glow to it and the pores are very nicely filled.

I'm stuck at how to finish it off. I did a quick wipe with Linspeed but didn't like the glossiness and knocked it down with another 3 Pilkingtons wet sandings I ordered some rottenstone powder to try with the Linspeed to keep it lower gloss. It looks gorgeous now but...I had planned on doing 2-3 coats of linseed to seal it up.

I'm looking to get a warm, satin glow but with some weather protection. Will also try some paste wax over it after it's had many weeks to totally dry out.

[Scorch]

I've got 13 or 14 wet sandings and it has filled the grain up beautifully. It really has a nice natrual glow to it and the pores are very nicely filled.

I'm stuck at how to finish it off. I did a quick wipe with Linspeed but didn't like the glossiness

If you have the grain filled, then don't do anything after you sand it with wet/dry paper. If the grain is filled, the wood is fully sealed with hardened oil. Just let it sit and dry for a week or so, then sand it with 400 or 600 grit wet/dry. It will have the low gloss finish you are looking for.

[gedenke]

Well, initially I was very happy with the 4-5 coats of Tru-Oil, but I took the gun out last weekend for yote/cougar. Imagine this, mother nature decided to give the finish a little weather testing with some rain and snow. Apparently, I need to put more effort and lots more coats into this project because some of the Tru-Oil started to come off, especially where it was rubbing against my pack. I think it was a combination of not enough coats and not enough curing time. Live and learn. I've got the gun torn apart for some trigger work and painting, so I'll put on a bunch more coats while that's going on. I'll keep you all posted.

p.s. No kittys this time, but I did see one yodel dog. 200+ yd shot with a small tree in the way, so I passed, maybe next time.

[VAHunter]

Thanks, Scorch. Only question in my mind is whether the Pilkington's is enough for weather. Especially after the other gentleman's post about his wet cougar hunt and his TruOil. The directions were fairly complete that came with it, though I was thinking the initial formula was a stain and filler with likely a touch of linseed mixed in, but not as much linseed as you'd want for a more sealed up finish.

In the Pilk's instructions it mentions that you may want to finish up with a coat or two of their own special linseed oil mixed with rottenstone to seal it up against the weather. I don't expect to intentionally expect to baby the gun, but...the weather is part of the hunt. I have the Linspeed in hand so will now give another shot now that the rottenstone arrived from Brownell's.

Sounds like I need to let it sit a fair amount of time before sanding down the gloss this time. I'd been going at least 3-4 days between wet sandings. Also...better to use 400 or 600 grit paper OR to use 0000 steel wool to knock the shine down?

Thanks again for your ideas.

[Scorch]

I'd been going at least 3-4 days between wet sandings.

That works between coats, but it is about the minimum amount of time I would wait.

better to use 400 or 600 grit paper OR to use 0000 steel wool to knock the shine down?

I always used 400, but never steel wool. Little slivers of steel wool can get stuck in the grain, and steel will turn walnut black, so you can wind up with lots of little black specks that can't be removed.

In the Pilk's instructions it mentions that you may want to finish up with a coat or two of their own special linseed oil mixed with rottenstone to seal it up against the weather.

There are other products that work as well as linseed but are actually waterproof. I never finished a stock that did not get a final coat of Johnsons Paste Wax right before reassembly.

[VAHunter]

Alright...wanted to follow up after rubbing in a light coat of linseed oil last night. The first time I did this I did with "finger dabs" of oil on my bare hand. THe result was way to glossy and very tacky. I ended up taking it down with another 400 grit wetsanding with Pilkington's stock finish--the look of which after 16 or so sequential wet sandings looked great. Deep satin glow with the grain really nicely coming through. Silky smooth and hard surface finish with completely filled pores.

I ordered some rottenstone and felt pads from Brownells to give it another shot. The felt pad and the rottenstone made a world of difference. The felt absorbs the oil so you're only laying on a very thin coat while the rottenstone ever so lightly sands the finish in a bit, working it in and keeping the gloss down. The look was perfect. Gave even more depth to the grain and more glow while keeping the shine down.

I waited 30+ minutes and wiped the whole stock down lightly and it looks great--better than anything I thought I could do. Will give it a few weeks and decide if I'll do another coat of oil or just leave it til next year. It does look like the oil very, very slightly darkened the overall finish, but otherwise it looks and feels great. No tackiness at all.

I am pretty surprised at how nicely this has come out as I have zero experience with nice wood. Staining my deck is about as close as I've come. Patience and lots of wet sandings have given me a great looking stock. I'll try and post a pic of it once its dried a bit more and reunited with the sweet lshooting little Swede action it belongs to. Thanks to all for your thoughts and suggestions

[DBotkin]

I'm about to do my first oil finish too. I see Brownell's sells several types of oil, mostly appears to be linseed oil. I have a gallon of boiled linseed oil from Lowe's out in the garage; would it be suitable, or is there some magical incantation used for gunstock oils? I see the Lin-Speed claims to be much faster. In my experience, "faster" and "better" don't go together all that often. Downsides to this stuff?

[auto45]

Lin-speed, Tru-oil, etc are linseed oils with added stuff to make them dry faster, etc. Both will "gloss" up the stock as you add coats. I've used both along with others. Boiled lin-speed will take much longer to do properly, but!
Many coats, small amounts rubbed in, dry, repeat many, many times.

Tung oil is much more water resistent than linseed oil. So, any of the "modified" Tung-oil forumulas would be better...in so far as protection.

[DBotkin]

Thanks. I rubbed in the first light coat of boiled linseed this morning. Looks awfully dark, not objectionably so but I'm hoping it lightens up a shade as it dries. Sure does show clearly the places where there are sanding imperfections & scratches!!

The checkering doesn't look bad even where the old finish was still present, so I'll worry about re-cutting that afterward and touch it up with oil.

[Scorch]

DBotkin-
As others have said, TruOil and Linspeed have added catalysts to make them harden faster, yielding a hard glossy finish rather than a dark oily finish. Boiled linseed oil will be very dark and will take a looooong time to harden. I would re-strip the stock, and start over with either TruOil/Linspeed (take your pick, they are almost identical) or Pro-Custom oil from Brownells which is actually waterproof ( http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/sto...STOCK%20FINISH ), or I have used Acra-Coat Wood, a very hard epoxy finish, also from Brownells ( http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/sto...il.aspx?p=1162 ).

[DBotkin]

I picked up some Citristrip at Lowe's last night, and used that this afternoon to strip down the BLO. All I can say is... Wow. That stuff works like mad!! Being the impatient sort that I am, I left it on for a little under an hour. Took off ALL the linseed oil, as well as most of the old varnish that was left in the impressed checkering. I have a second coat on the few remaining areas of old finish now. I think my old chemical stripper is going to the disposal center, can't imagine needing it any more. The Citristrip is one hell of a lot easier to clean up too, and it's water soluble.

The stock's back to its regular walnut brown now, I'll pick up some Tru-Oil at Cabela's tonight after church or tomorrow. No rush, I'm going to let it dry a couple of days.

[auto45]

If your picky, now is the time to sand more if those scratches bother you.

[DBotkin]

Did that, along with steaming out a couple of low spots near the butt. Not dents, just low spots that show up a lot less now. Lin-Speed will be here tomorrow, we'll see how that looks.

[DBotkin]

The Lin-Speed looks a whole lot better. Not as light as I'd like to see it, but I think that's just the wood. I swear, the wood's darker without anything on it than it was with the factory finish. Anyway, the Lin-Speed looks great after the first coat, and it helps to hide some of my less than perfect checkering. The off-kilter lines are a lot less noticeable. Also got my new Dem-Bart double row cutting blades (one side cuts, the other is a smooth guide. Makes things a LOT easier, I'm feeling much better about doing the grip panels now. Those were scaring me before.

[gedenke]

A little update: I applied a couple more coats of Tru-Oil with wetsanding in between and then shot on a couple of coats of Minwax polyurethane satin spray.

So far, it seems to be holding up pretty good, and it's got just the semi-gloss sheen I was looking for. I've taken it out to the range a couple of times and sprayed it with my kitchen sink sprayer, and it seems to be fairly waterproof. I'll be using it in the field next weekend, I'll let you know how it holds up.

[T. O'Heir]

Any wood stain will do. The oil depends on whether you want a shiny finish or not. BLO gives a flat finish. Tung oil(pure, not the tung oil finish Minwax sells) properly rubbed in over several days will give you a shiny finish that is nearly waterproof.

[Ranger Al]

Beautiful!