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Home-brew Permalyn

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I don't know what's up with LMF and at this point I don't care anymore, I just need some Permalyn Sealer. Since the national stock is depleted with no re-stocking on the horizon, is there a mixture of readily available stuff that can replicate it?
 
Are you saying Permalyn is just a poly-u spar varnish repackaged? Or are you saying it's a usable substitute?

@IanH , what brand to you recommend, and can you put a top coat of Tried & True Varnish Oil over it after you've cut it back?
 
Just skip the poly junk (including Permalyn) and stick with T&T varnish oil. Don't thin it, not even for the first coat. Put a thin smear of it on a piece of glass or clear plastic packaging material and Don't even think about putting another coat on the stock until that smear is dry. This might take a month, but will take at least a week. Four, very thin, hand-rubbed coats will do nicely.
 
Not poly for sure, it contains cobalt and zirconium dryers. Permalyn contains no heavy metal dryers but does have MEK, Benzene, and Xylene in it which are necessary carrier/solvents for polyurethane.

Any tung oil or linseed oil based finish will work. Some are better than others. If you want it to build up on the surface, you will need a product that contains varnish resins as well as drying oil.

Basically you have three choices: Linseed oil, Tung oil, and polyurethane as a base oil. Then you have several resin choices, the most common and cheapest being alkyd or phenolic resins, though there are many others like copal, pine, mastic, shellac, etc. Polyurethane is technically a synthetic resin, not an "oil", but in practice the poly and its solvents act as both an oil and resin together. Most finishes have a carrier solvent, basically mineral spirits which aids application by brush or spray. Hand rubbed finishes do not require a solvent, nor is one desired except possibly with tung oil which tends to be about like honey in its raw state and can be difficult to apply.

The vast array of finish products and recipes are a result of combinations of the above things, so the important thing when choosing a finish is to decide what you want it to look like, what you need it to withstand, how you are going to apply it, and choose a product with ingredients that fill the bill. It's kind of like patch lubricants and cleaning solutions, everyone has a favorite, they're all different, and the particular method of use/application has more to do with good results it than the product itself.
 
What are you going to use for a topcoat? Shellac is probably the best wood sealer for controlling moisture ingress/egress from the stock and can be finished over with just about anything.
 
Walnut oil is another drying oil. Things I've finished with it have aged to a very mellow antique look. I think I'll try it on my next rifle. Bees wax paste -- wax and turpentine -- also ages to a mellow look. The wax polymerizes changing its molecular structure, becoming a hard water resistant finish. I'm thinking of experimenting with a paste made of walnut oil and beeswax. I use regular yellow beeswax.
 
Yes, use shellac as a base coat since the T&T is linseed oil and doesn't provide much of a moisture barrier. It's not a requirement to seal the stock, but it sure doesn't hurt and will likely add decades to the life of the wood if it is used outdoors a lot.

Don't buy canned shellac, it's no good. Get a good, four-pound cut of shellac flakes and dissolve it in denatured alcohol. Don't store it once mixed and don't use anything but denatured alcohol from the paint store to dissolve it. You can find all kinds of good advice in articles from pros online about how to properly use and apply shellac as a wood sealer, it's very popular with fine furniture makers for a reason. Do some internet searching.
 
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