Traditional finish?

[Scott Evans]

I have a project going and want as simple a finish as is possible that is still historically correct. The stock is walnut and the weapon is a mid 1700 style flintlock. Would it be incorrect to just rub oil into the wood? No stain, no acid, no nuth'en just wood and oil?

:hmm:

 

[Roy]

I hardly do anything different for walnut. Its a dark wood.

 

[Denhill]

Scott, I have refinished a couple of modern rifle stocks after sanding all the coloured stain and varnish off. All I use is a simple mixture of beeswax and gum turpentine (NOT mineral turps). The turpentine is mixed with softened beeswax to make a soft paste. This is rubbed well into the timber, allowed to rest for a while and then buffed really hard. The hard buffing (I use a cloth buff on a bench grinder) gets the timber warm and the wax seems to flow into the grain and the turpentine (Which is quite flamable) evaporates leaving a satin sheen that does not seem to get sticky. The timber darkens slightly and the grain is really enhanced. Try it on some scrap timber first to see if the finish suits your project.
Good luck, Dennis.

 

[Swampman]

"Would it be incorrect to just rub oil into the wood? No stain, no acid, no nuth'en just wood and oil?"

Some cooked down linseed oil would be fine. I'd stain it real dark and use satin tung oil finish on it if I wanted a good looking well finished gun.

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greetings Scott,

Linseed oil has the nasty habit of turning walnut almost black over a period of time.

Tung oil is excellant: easy to apply and work with. It is a favorite finish with many of the professional stock makers.

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant

If you are not an NRA Member, why not? I am carrying your load.

 

[Stophel]

One warning: some folks are very allergic to tung oil, so if you have never been around any before, put some on your skin or something to see what it will do before filling a stock up with it.

 

[Scott Evans]

Thanks all.

I used some TOUNG Oil and the wood looks great!

My next gun for finishing is Maple. What do you think for that?