Favorite wood finishes and techniques?

[renovato]

Do any of you have favorite finishes or techniques to share that might help lowbie builders get great wood finishes?

I've worked with several wood projects in the past, from gun stocks to musical instruments and knife handles. I manage to get an ok finish but never that "WOW!" finish I keep hoping for. I know I'm overlooking something, but I just can't figure it out.

Can some of you share some tips, or point me in the direction of informational materials or such? Many thanks.

 

[shortjack]

I have always used Tru-Oil gun stock finish for all my guns that i have refinished.If you are taking off the old finish youa have to make sure all the old finish and stain is removed. I start off with 150 grit sand paper on bare wood to get consistant smoothness on the stockthen I use 220 grit sand paper then I use 320 grit sandpaper. Next take a damp clothe not soaking wet just damp and wipe the wood down and let it dry. When it is dry you can rub your hand over the wood and it should feel fuzzy, sand it smooth again with 320 grit sandpaper. Now you can apply a stain if you wish let it dry and then apply your top coat. I would put at least 10 coats of Tru-Oil finish on it. A friend of mine is a gunsmith and I have seen him put up to 30 coats of finish on some of his personal rifles.

 

[MJB]

It's hard to trouble shoot a guy's prosess without seeing it.
That said I think the key to a good finish is in the sanding. You need to watch closely to see that the scratches from the previous grit are taken out before moving to the next. I like to go to 400 or 600 grit. You need to raise the grain with water or rubbing alcohol, then sand somemore.
I like linseed oil...some think this isn't a good all weather finish. If you are in this camp you can mix linseed oil with varathane and get a tougher finish. Or you can go with varnish...I like spar varnish but varathane is good. The water based finishes are clear not yellow like oil and varnish. It is always good to do stain and finish tests. If you go with oil my recipe is;
1) dilute the first coat with thinner or terps appy generously...then
2)apply one coat a day for a week. Lay it on with a rag, let it sit for an hour and rub it off with a clean rag. (Careful of these rags they can spontaniously combust)
3) apply one coat a week for a month.
4)appy one coat a month for a year.
5) and one coat a year forever.

If you go with varnish the process is about the same. Thin the first coat... when it is dry apply the second full strength. let it dry and sand with 400 grit.
repeat as many times as you like.
when it starts to glow... rub with rottenstone and then wax with paste wax
good luck
Mike

 

[Norskie]

I'll chime in here with a couple points. Raising the grain; I remove the 'whiskers' with fine steel wool. Then I raise the grain again and polish everything back down with a metal burnisher. Gives the wood a glow even before you put on a finish.
I use an oil varnish that I make myself. I posted it here a few months ago.

 

[bob1961]

some vinager stains i've been working on fer my lancaster..........bob

vinager stains

 

[renovato]

Moose, what's a metal burnisher? Is that the same type of tool used to burnish the edges of leather?

 

[renovato]

I'm reading and taking all this in. The vinegar stains are great!

Here's a few of the minor problems I've had.

Uneven stain absorbtion. The end grain tends to get dark, and the harder side grain doesn't take much in. Not much of a deal on rifles usually, but pistol stocks have a lot of end grain at the grip. I've mostly used LMF and Pilkington stains.

Grain filling. If I keep applying finish and cutting back until the grain is filled, sooner or later, I end up rubbing through the stain on an edge. Not too noticeable on naturally dark woods, but a real pain on the beechwood or whatever Traditions uses on their guns. I'd love to build a gun from curly maple, but I am worried that this will happen.

I guess my biggest issue is my finishes just lack that fine furniture look. They lack the warmth, and have a plastic look to them. I'm fanatical about making sure the wood is sanded perfectly smooth and dewhiskered. I've rubbed out with 0000 steel wool, 3f and 5f rubbing compound, waxed, etc. I can control what level of gloss I get, but it still doesn't look right. I'm overlooking something and don't know what it is.

Thanks for all your input on this!

 

[rich pierce]

everybody has their favorites. Tru-oil, to me, looks synthetic, no matter how I rub it back. if you want to use a finish that works and lasts well and is easy to apply, try a tung oil finish. Right now I am trying a finish by Keith Casteel and it is somewhat less glassy than tru-oil. I'll see how it rubs out.

I spend a lot of time raising grain and cutting it back off. Then I stain usually with aquafortis. I think one can get more brilliant colors with the aniline dyes but they look a little gaudy to me. I seal with thinned shellac, in the lock mortise, under the buttplate, in the barrel channel, as well as the stock. Then I add 3-4 coats of top oil-based varnish (in this case, Casteel's oil). In the areas with carving and moldings, I rub it in then brush it out with a toothbrush so it does not pool in there. Then I rub with hands till it is warm. Put it away overnight. After 3-4 coats, THEN I start to see if I need to level the finish. I do so with VERY fine abrasive. I use a natural plant (scouring rush or equisetum or horsetail) but 600 grit or finer will work. Go VERY lightly and be very careful to use a block over the flat areas like lock moldings. The goal is not to remove finish- we're trying to build it up! Just level the finish. Then 2-3 more coats of oil-based varnish. Then finish by rubbing it out with pumice powder in oil. Pumice is NOT rottenstone and will not give a high polish. It will give more of a nice satin finish. I use denim, soaked in oil, dip it in pumice, rub a section, go to the next. When done, I wipe all the grit off, add clean oil, wipe that all off, and inspect carefully. If more work needs to be done in the carving, etc, I figure how to do that. Never be aggressive. Always use a light touch. It's wicked hard to replace color or square an edge back up after it's rounded and white.

 

[Norskie]

A metal burnisher is not the same as a leather edge burnisher. (I have both.) A metal burnisher is a woodworking tool used to draw an edge on a scraper. We had a thread on that a couple weeks back.
Mine is an hafted rod of highly polished (I use 2000 grit crocus cloth to polish it) steel rod, oval in cross section and swept to a point. Most broad areas on a gunstock or knife haft can be burnished with the shaft of the rod. The area leading up to the point lets you get into detailed areas. I'll try to post a picture next week, along with some of my other 'spearmints'. :grin:
I wish I'd known about this tool back in the 80s when I built my mandolin, I'd have used it then.

 

[renovato]

Moose, I had never heard of that. I'll look up the thread. Looking forward to pics too. Thanks for your help!

 

[shortjack]

Have you ever tried using pure tung oil as a base and tru-oil as a finish. I would think that a tongue oil base would bring out the depth of the wood and the tru-oil would give it a well protective finish. I was thinking of trying that out and use a gray scotchbright pad to dull down the glossy look of the tru-oil. Has anybody tried that, if yes how did it turn out.

 

[renovato]

I wish I had some walnut and maple scraps to test on. I'm hesitant to try new things on kits. I guess I'll go poking around and see what I can find, but I don't think there's any cabinet shops or anything here.

 

[LRB]

Might as well add mine. 1 part pure tung oil, 1 part boiled linseed oil, 2 parts mineral spirits, or turpintine. Goes on very thin, and allows a good rub in. In dry humidity, you can apply a coat per day. Last maple stock I used it on took 12 coats, never had to cut it back. Here is a photo, although not a good one.

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[fatboy]

Wick that looks nice the mix you are using is interesting. If remember the min spirits should help with drying end of things with the linseed oil

 

[shortjack]

That really turned out nice.

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you can't get scraps at the lumber yard, you can always try it on the barrel channels of the guns you build.

 

[renovato]

Wick, that sounds like the type of finish I'm looking for alright. Cutting back has caused me more problems.

What do you do for grain filling? I haven't worked with maple yet, so maybe it doesn't need it, but walnut sure has a lot of pores.

 

[Jim-Iowa]

Back in the archives somewhere, someone had posted pictures of a .32 finter that used a Tobacco Stain. He said it was tobacco in denatured alcohol. That was a pretty gun!
So I did some research on the net.
All tobacco stains I found were Tobacco in Water and ammonia. I intend to do some experiments and if the alcohol stain works well I would prefer it as I think it would not raise grain to the extent of a water based stain.