Finishing a walnut stock...

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Bedford County Doc

Bedford County Doc

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I'm using a mixture of 1/3 turpentine, 1/3 tried-and-true, and 1/3 Marine Spar varnish to finish my Kibler Colonial stock. I applied five coats of this mixture. The last coat was still sticky after four days, so I tried gently heating it with a hair dryer without much success. So, I tried rubbing the finish down with just a hint of turpentine, which seemed to dry everything up. What do I do next? Add a couple of CCs of turpentine to my 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 mixture and rub it in again? Shift to a commercial mixture of beeswax and orange oil? Or maybe use Permalyn as a top coat? Most of the pores seem to be filled in because I used a dowel to vigorously burnish the wood prior to trying to finish it?

Thanks very much for your kind thoughts!
//Doc
 
Bedford County Doc said:
I'm using a mixture of 1/3 turpentine, 1/3 tried-and-true, and 1/3 Marine Spar varnish to finish my Kibler Colonial stock. I applied five coats of this mixture. The last coat was still sticky after four days, so I tried gently heating it with a hair dryer without much success. So, I tried rubbing the finish down with just a hint of turpentine, which seemed to dry everything up. What do I do next? Add a couple of CCs of turpentine to my 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 mixture and rub it in again? Shift to a commercial mixture of beeswax and orange oil? Or maybe use Permalyn as a top coat? Most of the pores seem to be filled in because I used a dowel to vigorously burnish the wood prior to trying to finish it?

Thanks very much for your kind thoughts!
//Doc
Click to expand...
Don't know about that mixture, but I would not put any more coats of finish untill you cure up the sticky.
I use polymerized tung oil. No muss no fuss.
Good luck
Larry
 
The sticky stuff went away after I rubbed it down with a piece of cloth faintly damp with turpentine. That was 24 hours ago, and the stock feels smooth to the touch now.
 
I just completed a TC Hawken stock refinish using your described finish (1-1-1). I ran into a similar situation with my 3 or 4th coat. I added just a touch more turpentine for the final coat. It helped with curing time. I don’t think you need to do anything for a final coat. I let mine set for about a week or 10 days and didn’t mess with it. Finish is fully cured. Here’s a picture
 

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It sounds like you are applying too much finish at one time. Thick coats of finish don't polymerize well; that's why it feels sticky.

Dip in a finger tip, put a couple of drops on the stock, rub it into a 3-4 inch square area with the heel of your hand until you feel some heat, then do another 3-4 inches. Set it down for few days until as Crisco Kid says you can't smell it. Then repeat the process.

It will take some time, but repeated hand rubbed thin coats will get you what you want.
 
rchas said:
It sounds like you are applying too much finish at one time. Thick coats of finish don't polymerize well; that's why it feels sticky.

Dip in a finger tip, put a couple of drops on the stock, rub it into a 3-4 inch square area with the heel of your hand until you feel some heat, then do another 3-4 inches. Set it down for few days until as Crisco Kid says you can't smell it. Then repeat the process.

It will take some time, but repeated hand rubbed thin coats will get you what you want.
Click to expand...
Just had the same issue with Tru-Oil on a fairly nice supposedly walnut stock. 3rd coat took over a week to cure up enough to handle. 4th coat was applied, rubbed in and ready for a 5th coat within 4-5 hours. Same bottle for the last 3 coats. Dark amber versus the usual clear. No dyes or thinners, just straight out of the several years old bottle.
Only difference was a tropical depression came through 2 days after coat 3, and dropped close to 7” of rain in 72 hours.
Stock in question, IF walnut, is black walnut sapwood, or lower end thin shell (English). Instantly oxidized to light ochre when air hit fresh scraping/sanding. Nice random curl in a couple spots, and some mineral lines. Older (late 1940s) USA built.
 
I have used a lot of Tru-oil on bows, arrows and guns, it does have a shelf life and doesn't dry right if it has been stored for several years.

Every now and then I buy a bad new bottle right off the shelf that remains tacky forever. I like to buy my Tru-oil at Walmart because they sell more of it and the bottles are fresher.
 
rchas said:
Very true. Once opened, I turn the bottle cap down to store it. That seems to help but its not worth keeping after a year or so.
Click to expand...
The old bottle, other than going amber, works fine on small projects. IF the humidity is stable. Will likely cut it with Starbrite Premium Golden Teak Oil and a bit of thinner as a good soak in oil for base coats. I like lighter colored stocks.
 
Following ... ... Very interesting . I love my trade guns and the traditional finish on them was varnish , as listed many many times by the HBCo ... It dries fast and protects the wood unlike &%#@ oil finishes ... I dislike oil very much . BUT ....to find an authentic varnish , at least in my neck of the woods isnt easy ...everything is poly . No way I'm using that unauthentic garbage on my trade guns . Any who ...best of luck .I like the authentic finishes and techniques...
 
Rob M. said:
Following ... ... Very interesting . I love my trade guns and the traditional finish on them was varnish , as listed many many times by the HBCo ... It dries fast and protects the wood unlike &%#@ oil finishes ... I dislike oil very much . BUT ....to find an authentic varnish , at least in my neck of the woods isnt easy ...everything is poly . No way I'm using that unauthentic garbage on my trade guns . Any who ...best of luck .I like the authentic finishes and techniques...
Click to expand...
Seal/fill the grain with a shellac spit coat and top with a linseed oil varnish. Tried and True is a good commercially made choice.
 
Tried and True on Amazon is $35 a pint. If I buy a whole pint there will be enough left over to varnish my coffin. I tried hot water bath canning some poly in 4 oz. jelly jars and it seemed to be as good as new after 4 or 5 years. I don't know if it would work for other types of finish.
 
Doc,

Any finish I have ever used (and I have tried a lot of them) has ALWAYS dried better in the sun. The UV in sunlight rapidly kicks over the cross linking required to get most finishes to dry completely. I actually use what I call a "stock rotisserie". I like to dry stains and finishes in the warm California sun, but I get tired of running back and forth to flip the stock over and around. Call me lazy, but I had a small 1 RPM synchronous motor, left over from some other project or other, and some scrap plywood and made up this "stock rotisserie". I can move it around as needed and hang it on a hook or clamp it to something and it twirls the stock around in the sun for me once a minute.





 
Larry (Omaha) said:
Don't know about that mixture, but I would not put any more coats of finish untill you cure up the sticky.
I use polymerized tung oil. No muss no fuss.
Good luck
Larry
Click to expand...
I love the way tung oil protects the stock but I like how boiled linseed oil brings out the character of the wood. I usually mix 1 part linseed to two parts tung oil and add a touch of turpentine or mineral spirits to thin it down a little and I plan on it taking 3 weeks to a month to finish a stock. be patient my grandpa gave me my first .22 that he had owned for years. he oiled the stock extra one time after cleaning it and put it away still tacky in a case, needless to say i spent a bit of time scraping, steaming, sanding, and refinishing the stock to make it not feel like I was grabbing old bubblegum, an extra month now will pay dividends for the rest of the life of the gun.
 

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