Tru-oil stock patina

[putodebabylon]

Hello everyone, I have a Traditions KY flint kit I completed and have been shooting for about a year. I had decided to put a tru-oil finish on the stock and am pleased to see it starting to darken and take a patina a tad bit. The only problem is, the Kentucky rifle is a two piece stock, and Traditions didn't match the fore and butt stock too well. The forestock is much less curly than the buttstock, which I can live with, but it is also much lighter in color. In the beginning, the difference wasn't too noticeable but the butt half of the stock is darkening faster. Is there a way I can speed up the darkening/patine process on the forestock? My ideas have been some sort of oil-based preparation (but not the H kind :winking: ) to rub on the forestock by itself. Thanks!

 

[Zonie]

As I see it, if you have already oiled the wood with Tru-Oil you've got a problem.

Normally I would say that you could stain the two pieces (butt and forend) with a diluted water base stain and then apply a few extra coats to the lighter forestock so they end up matching but if you have applied any oil type finish the wood won't take the water base stain without some work.

What you really want is raw wood to stain.

Hopefully others will chime in on this one, but I think I would want to "kill" the oil you've applied.
Where thinners would just make the oil penetrate deeper you need something that actually breaks down the oil to reduce it's water resistance.
Among the things I can think of that will do this are MEK, ACETONE, Lacquer Thinner, Paint remover?? and Disk Brake Cleaner.
The Disk brake cleaner is not explosive like the MEK, Lacquer Thinner or ACETONE but it isn't good to breath it so it should be used in a very well ventilated area.

Before you try any of these, I would urge you to put some Tru-Oil on some other piece of wood, let it harden and then try them.

Another idea would be to try staining the oiled wood with something like Minwax Oil based stain.
Normally I don't like oil base stains but if the Tru-Oil hasn't totally sealed the wood fibers, it might work. Then again, it may make a Mell of a Hess.

Good Luck to you.

PS: I know this isn't the time to say this, but to ALL of you folks out there thinking about refinishing your stocks, after they are sanded and ready for the finish FIRST, go outside in the sun. Apply some water to the surfaces of the wood pieces and take a good hard look at them.
The color and brightness of the wet wood is what you'll get if you don't stain the wood before applying the final finishes.
If it needs staining, do it before you start the oiling processes.

Zonie (Jim)

 

I agree with Zonie and feel that you need to remove the True Oil and stain the forend darker to match the rear. I have used Bix paint remover with 100% success to remove all visible signs of True Oil. Some sanding is required

 

[putodebabylon]

Meh. I don't really want to do something so drastic on it. I was under the impression that the darkening over time was caused by handling/oils from the hands. Maybe I could put this concept to work if I could find some place that sells human sebum by the bottle... :hmm:

 

[BlackNet]

darkening over time came from handling and finishers that would allow oils and misc to creep into the wood.

If you want that aged look there's 2 ways to go about it, 1) use something like chestnut ridge 'springfield red' stain or 2) treat with something like miltec-1 oil and wait 6 months and handle it alot.

If you put some nasty stuff like tru-oil or other some stuff on it then you maybe doomed. I have not looked at it but there may be some method to remove tru-oil with out sanding the top layers off.

As for mismatches that's not a bad thing.

Ed

 

[BlackNet]

oh btw, I always recomend alcohol based stains, they work much better if you mix it with tung oil when you apply.

Ed

 

[bioprof]

I've had some success with darkening finishes by adding dark walnut Olde English scratch remover to the finish. I've done that when doing touch ups to match the patina. It will darken the oil finish, but I would make sure you tried it out first on something else just to make sure the finish still dries like it is supposed to. You could then add a couple coats of darkened Tru-oil without having to strip the finish. Again, I want to emphasize, try it out first on something else to make sure it still works. I have only used this with marine Spar varnish, but it worked well. It might just be worth a try.

 

[putodebabylon]

The Olde English scratch remover had crossed my mind. I have used it in the past as a ghetto wood finish/stain for my crappy creations that I don't want to look like bare wood. What could I mix with tru-oil to darken it?

 

[bioprof]

I'd just try mixing a few drops of the Olde English to the Tru-Oil. I know that some of the old bamboo rod making companies used to add pigment to the varnish. It looks pretty good until the varnish starts chipping, then it looks awful.