Advice on finishing wood please

[Mike Brooks]

I just stained a English walnut stock with one coat of Birchwood & Casey's Walnut stain. Turned just the right color, not too dark. I'll post a picture when the stock is done.
I believe I stained this one with Jim Klien's "Golden Brown" stain.
Walnut stocked fowler

 

[Zoar]

MaxGen---Since you live in Toronto area and probably near some great museums with oodles of Flintlocks (there are some great 1700-1800 area Forts and Museums up your way, I live in Finger Lakes of NY and love the Forts up in Canada!)---I suggest you visit one or two this weekend and look at some real vintage flintlocks.

Also, I know some guys here whon like a lighter walnut stock and just put BLO or Tung Oil or other oil on it but my tastes run toward an even darker stock so yes staining is what all my stocks get. I only sand with 600 or higher number paper or even steel wool between coats and THAT is ONLY if I see a booboo that needs to be sanded. Normally once I get going on a stock I try to get the next coat on right after the prior coat has set to tack free so I get good chemical adhesion between coats so NO sanding is needed to create a tooth for the next coat to adhere. One coat a day and if it is really dry and warm I sometimes can sqeeze two but that is a rarity. so assume each day a THIN THIN THIN coat. As many ahve said hand rubbed and you rub until you can't rub any more.

So to answer your questions--sanding between stain coats is not needed and sanding between coats of OIL is also NOT needed. Only if you have a drool or buildup... [and again, I have found Tung Oil (FORMBY's is fast) sets up much faster than boiled Linseed oil (BLO)]. One stock I did with BLO literally took me 3 months just ON THE STOCK because the BLO had to be put on so thin, if not, it was gummy forever. I kept having to go back to "GO" and finally just chucked the BLO and went to TUNG. I think the Tung Oil finish is tougher and more abuse resistant too than BLO. The first time I went hunting with a BLO stock it mared to the stain color that I can't fix. And someday I will go back and RE-Finish that stock. You bet: Tung Oil this time.

Have fun!

 

[Zonie]

Tung Oil is fine for most people but anyone who is thinking of using it should be aware that some people are very allergic to it.

Although this allergy is rare, for the folks who have it it can be quite serious.

Of course it only costs the price of a can of it to find out if an allergy exists. :grin:

 

[hatchetjack]

Formbys tung oil is actually thinned varnish mixed with modified soybean oil, there actually isn't any tung oil in the product. It dries quick because it has been thinned down. It is a good durable finish and looks good. Just remember since it is thinned it takes around two coats to equal one coat of regular varnish, maybe more because they don't tell you what the mixture of mineral spirits to varnish.

 

[Zonie]

When I think of Tung oil I'm talking about the oil that is in the tin can that is sitting in front of me right now.

It says
Old Masters
WOOD CARE
BEAUTIFY, PROTECT OR REFINISH
HAND-RUBBED
100% PURE
TUNG OIL

It doesn't contain anything except tung oil.
It also DOES NOT DRY any faster than Linseed oil. In fact it seems to dry slower than linseed oil.

It does suggest that when using it in a high humidity area that "thinning with mineral spirits will improve application."

For those Period Correct or Historically Correct people out there they might want to know that Tung Oil is Not Period Correct.

"At the beginning of the 20th Century, tung oil and other drying oils began to be used as replacements for linseed oil..." (Encyclopedia Britannica c.1971 vol 22 pg 899d).

The Britannica also mentioned that Galen (c. AD 130- c. AD 200) described the use of linseed as a drying oil.

 

[Zoar]

Zonie-- I certainly bow to your experience and knowledge. I have tried to get BLO to work for me and it just hasn't worked very well. But I am always up for trying it yet again especially since it is period correct.

The stock I am doing right now, I used "Pure Tung Oil" and it is drying fast and looks fantastic.

Interesting information about FORMBY's "supposed" Tung Oil. Wow.

This forum is terrific for learning new things.

Since the Pure Tung Oil is working out so well on my current stock finish project and since the other poster said FORMBY's does NOT contain Tung Oil, I stand corrected and can say the Pure Tung Oil I am using is working exceptionally well and I will try yet again to get BLO to work on my next build.

 

[LaBonte]

The BLO of today and the BLO of the 18the/19th Century are NOT the same thing. Period BLO was heat polymerized (actually boiled) and then lead was added as a dryer - it acts in a completely differen way than the commercial manure.
Most guns of the period were in fact finished with a linseed oil based VARNISH - heat polymerized oil, mixed with lead dryer, and various rosins such as benzoin.

the "easy" way to make an old time linseed oil based varnish is:
1) Order some Tried and True Oil Varnish (they are on line) - this is a heat polymerized pure linseed oil based varnish
2) Order some Liquid Lead Drier - http://store.studioproducts.com/Liqu...4-p-16153.html
and add per the directions to the Varnish above - you can do it cold or heat (beware of the fumes!).
3) Order some Thickened Turpentine http://www.woodfinishingenterprises....ish.html#thtrp

The thickened Turpentine is used as a thinner - add to some of the Varnish Mix at about 6 parts varnish to 4 parts Turpentine. Use this for the first coat or two. Let dry between coats - you need GOOD sunshine and warmth for drying. Then add a coat or two of the unthinned varnish, letting dry between coats. I takes longer than modern finishes bit IMO I like it so much better......
On wood more coats may be needed - I burnish with antler in between coats on wood.

If you want a harder, shinier finish you can melt some Benzoin (available from the same place as the Turpentine) into the Varnish before adding the Lead drier.......

If you prefere a straight oil finish only then use Tried and True's Oil finish rather than the varnish....
hope this helps and agin you NEED sunlight and warmth to get this to dry - I made a drying box a few years ago - it has glass on three sides and the back is tinfoiled to reflect the light back - Put a couple of holes in the top to let any moisture escape and then set it in the sun.

 

[renovato]

Here's a few things I've picked up over the years. As the guys mentioned, always back up your sandpaper. I use a number of different sanding blocks. Some of the most handy are rubber pencil erasers. The block kind. I have a large white one and a couple of the smaller pink ones with the angled ends. Those things are handy beyond belief. Also you can improvise. Firm sponges, pencils, wood dowels, even tool handles can all be used when they fit a curve that needs sanded. The handiest things I've ever owned for sanding are "detail sanding curves" I picked up from Rockler woodworking (http://www.rockler.com/CategoryView.cfm?Cat_ID=104). They also have a tiny detail sander that's really handy for working your metal parts. It gets into the crevices of trigger guards, etc.

When you are sanding wood or metal and switch to a finer grade of paper, sanding across your previous sanding marks will remove them better, more smoothly, with less wood or metal removed. This is the one time that it's ok to sand across wood grain, because you're not trying to remove wood, only remove the marks from the previous grit. Go lightly, and dampen your wood with mineral spirits regularly and look closely to make sure you got out the marks from the previous grit. The mineral spirits helps highlight any marks that still need removed.

As for the metal, filing out the casting bumps is easy, but you have to file a little deeper to remove the pits. Just go slow and file evenly, so that you don't make any grooves in the metal that will be hard to sand out later. If you fill the teeth of the file with chalk, the file won't clog as easily and it'll last longer and make smoother cuts. Plain ol' school chalkboard chalk. When the file teeth do get full of filings, brush them out with an old pain brush or what have you.

When sanding, use a course grit just to remove the file marks, then switch to a finer grit to remove the marks from the previous grit, etc. Keep on going finer until the metal starts to clean up and look smooth and shiny. If you're going to brown the steel, I wouldn't go any finer than 320 grit. 240 is probably plenty. If you get it too smooth, it's hard to get it to brown evenly.

 

[Dross]

I wet the wood for the first time tonight to prepare it for whiskering. I have to say the colour looks pretty good. Would BLO look exactly like this or would it be any darker?

I'm a little concerned about drying the oil. It's quite wet and cloudy these days up here and snow will be coming in a couple of months. I’m hesitant to leave the stock outside drying when I am at work. I’d always be afraid it was going to rain.

I can leave the stock inside in a low humidity room with lots of sunlight from a large window. Would this be suitable? Paulvalladingham mentioned ultra violet light darkening the wood. I’m not sure I can achieve that effect with indirect sunlight though?

MaxGen...

 

[Zonie]

That's looking very good to me and yes, when the stock is oiled with either "boiled linseed" or Tung oil it will look just like that.
The oil just by itself will not darken it more than that however.

As for drying low humidity and lots of sunlight is the ticket. Especially the sunlight.

Another finish that will darken it the same as linseed oil is Birchwood Caseys "Tru-Oil.
This is a linseed oil with driers added to it and each coat will dry in 6-10 hours even in the dark.
If you buy it in the bottle, you apply it with a lint free rag by just rubbing it into the wood and setting the stock aside until it feels dry. Then you can rub in some more.

Some builders don't like how Tru-Oil rapidly builds up when several coats are applied because the oil does dry with a fairly high amount of gloss.
If a glossy (shiny) finish is not your cup of tea the shine can be reduced or totally eliminated by rubbing the final coat with a mix of mineral oil and pumace (a ground stone that is available at many hardware stores) or with some #0000 steel wool.

Because Tru-Oil does dry fairly hard it does protect the wood from any water that may get on the gun and I consider it to be an excellent product. Many gun stores carry Tru-Oil or they can order it for you. It is also available from all of the Muzzleloading parts stores like TOTW, Dixie Gunworks and Muzzleloader Builders Supply.