Finishing Techniques

[CascadeRob]

After multiple coats of tru oil, I've rubbed it back with rottenstone and get a smooth satin finish.

Edited. Thought I couldn’t find rotten stone, but it’s possible to find. Thank you!

 

[OldNo7]

Edited. Thought I couldn’t find rotten stone, but it’s possible to find. Thank you!

I forget the exact name -- Stock Conditioner? or somthing? -- but Birchwood/Casey, the maker of TruOil sells a liquid/paste that can be used to tone-down a shiny TruOil stock.

Old No7

 

[OldNo7]

Okay so I ended up buying the BC Genuine Oil just in case. Has anyone had success with this product?

If'in you don't mind looking at a Savage 99 stock -- this is one I refinished in Cabot's "Gunstock" color wood stain, with 10 hand-rubbed coats of Genuine Oil. The "after" refinishing is the bottom set in the image below.

I do occasionally shoot it with blackpowder -- so don't delete my post or picture!

Old No7

 

[Old Hawkeye]

I have never like waxes on gun stocks, either. Tried it last week with Turtle Wax paste from Autozone. Dusty dirty sort of affect, with those dry remnants like you get on your car in the nooks and crannies that you cant get out. THEN I read the instructions (famous last words) and it said "not recommended for wood". I wiped it off with mineral spirits. Not sure what people are getting out of it.

Your using the wrong wax! Renaissance Wax or Johnson's Paste wax (which I heard has been discontinued) are the only two commercially available American made waxes, that I am aware of, suitable for gunstocks. They refresh the finish nicely & add some waterproofing. The Australian made EEE (Triple E) wax works over an existing finish or can be used as the finish itself if you apply multiple coats & power buff them in. Use the right product before making a judgement. I wax ALL my wood stocks!

 

[CascadeRob]

If'in you don't mind looking at a Savage 99 stock -- this is one I refinished in Cabot's "Gunstock" color wood stain, with 10 hand-rubbed coats of Genuine Oil. The "after" refinishing is the bottom set in the image below.

I do occasionally shoot it with blackpowder -- so don't delete my post or picture!

Old No7

That looks very well done!

 

[yellowhammer]

Your using the wrong wax! Renaissance Wax or Johnson's Paste wax .... Use the right product before making a judgement....

Error of my ways acknowledged. I knew it had to be something or people wouldn't be touting it so much. I'll order some of the Renaissance and give it a try.


PS will it do any good to put a coat on your brass, especially the nose cap. which tarnishes really quickly?

 

[Old Hawkeye]

PS will it do any good to put a coat on your brass, especially the nose cap. which tarnishes really quickly?

Yep! Any metal, helps fight tarnish & rust. I wax the whole gun!

 

[jefair1]

Your using the wrong wax! Renaissance Wax or Johnson's Paste wax (which I heard has been discontinued) are the only two commercially available American made waxes, that I am aware of, suitable for gunstocks. They refresh the finish nicely & add some waterproofing. The Australian made EEE (Triple E) wax works over an existing finish or can be used as the finish itself if you apply multiple coats & power buff them in. Use the right product before making a judgement. I wax ALL my wood stocks!

Minwax also makes a paste wax that is similar to Johnson. But I agree with using Renaissance wax. I use it a lot om some of my woodworking projects.

 

[Bootz]

When first starting out, I was confused about which finish was the "best". Every question draws a "Never use x because I always use y" response which is quickly followed by a "I get good results with x" rebuttal and an inevitable "in vs on" proclamation.

Because most finishes come in several formulations, it's difficult in a forum to know which formulation the responder used or whether they used it correctly. For example; There's a huge difference between BLO, Raw LO and Polymerized LO. The wood, the temperature, moisture, application, surface prep, etc all matter as well.

The best advice I can offer is to try several finishes on test pieces to see which one you prefer.

One thing that REALLY helped me was doing research on finishing food-safe pieces. We don't need a gunstock to be food-safe, but there are a ton of articles online explaining how the different finishes work, what they contain and how they are made.

My personal favorite is permalyn. It soaks in easily, dries pretty quickly and creates a durable satin finish. It can go glossy & sticky if applied too thick. My next experiment will probably be done with walnut oil.

If YOU like the finish, then it's perfect

 

[reddogge]

I was taught by my old departed stock maker friend (classic double shotgun stocks) to use a woman's pantyhose to apply finishes. Just put it around your finger and lightly dip it in the finish. That way you never get too much on. I don't know if you can find pantyhose anymore though.

 

[IanH]

Pantyhose are good for varnish, not so much the drying oils. Nothing beats the skin on your fingers and palm for rubbing it in and creating the necessary friction heat to initiate the polymerization reaction. Varnish is nothing more than paint without the pigments, treat it as such when applying....up to and including thinning and spraying it.

Permalyn is polyurethane as far as I can tell, probably best used on your wood floors.

 

[oldwood]

Use the right furnture wax , Johnsons Special dark wax , eliminates all the bad features of most other waxes. Lowes stores have it.