Tru oil time question

[ajfran3]

Hello im building my first gun its a pedersoli indian trade musket. I put my last coat of tru oil on today. How long should I wait until I put everything together and shoot the gun

 

[springfield art]

Hello im building my first gun its a pedersoli indian trade musket. I put my last coat of tru oil on today. How long should I wait until I put everything together and shoot the gun

I'd guess just as soon as it's dry enough to normally handle? Interesting to see others' comments.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Over night has worked for me. I put on a few very thin coats and it cures pretty fast. This stock finished with Tru-Oil in one day.
776E0D62-70EE-4556-A9CF-2F58DFA78847 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[BS2366]

I usually wait a day. All depends on the temperature and humidity as to how fast the finish dries.

I'm doing a stock right now and waiting a day to apply another coat of teak/try oil mix. I diluted teak/tru oil with naphtha and flooded the stock so it soaked up as much as possible. Let it dry and knocked it down lightly with 220. Then applied around 8 coats of ruby dewaxed shellac, sanding with 220 after the first 4 and after 8. Now I'm applying about 4 coats of non diluted teak/tru oil by hand wearing rubber glove. It leaves a nice smooth finish with the glove. After that dries I will hit it with a satin urethane and wait a few days. Finally finish with a stock wax.

 

[R Ellis]

wait about a week if you want to be sure In winter it dry's slower than in warmer weather

 

[Jaegermeister]

Oh hell. I put a light coat on pistol grips. Let it dry for 3 hours and added another light coat. I repeated this for about 5 coats ( maybe an overnight dry time in there)

and then worked it over with 0000 steel wool to achieve the look I wanted. Easy as pie. Here’s a pic of my pistol grips. Started out as Uberti red HIGH gloss plastic looking finish. Ended up with an oiled walnut look.

 

[user 48702]

I agree with R Ellis. If you have either gas heat or coal heating, where the indoor humidity level will always be a consistent low, it will dry faster. I might do the finishing in the shop, but in the winter I'll bring a stock in the house and hang the stock in the room where I have a coal stove running 24/7. Humidity averages 35-40%, and it will dry in a day under those conditions. Right now, it has been raining for 3 days and the humidity in the house is averaging 42%.

 

[Phil Coffins]

This is another Tru-Oil done on walnut. It took two days to get a shinier look and is ready to use after one more day of drying. A gunsmith can’t afford to turn out poor quality work and must do it in a timely manner. When I did this for a living I often had more than one stock in the drying cabinet and if it took a month to finish one I would have starved to death. A hobbyist can take forever and use all sorts of unnecessary steps if that pleases him.
IMG_0818 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[büchsenmacher64]

Over night has worked for me. I put on a few very thin coats and it cures pretty fast. This stock finished with Tru-Oil in one day.
776E0D62-70EE-4556-A9CF-2F58DFA78847 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

That looks amazing!!

 

[ajfran3]

Appreciate the comments. I guess I'll be putting everything back together after work and shooting my next day off

 

[Whisper]

I cut my Tru Oil with mineral spirits which allows it to soak in better. I rub it out so it’s very thin and apply up to five coats before I’m finished. My drying time before shooting is 3 days but I live in a very dry climate.

 

[centershot]

IME, Tru-Oil is usually dry to the touch if left overnight. The a st time I did a stock with it I used it in tandem with Armor-All. Rub in a little TO, rub in a little AA until dry, repeat. I applied 14 coats in one day, let it stand overnight and the next day I drilles the stock for the buttplate and trigger guard. The AA seems to catalyze the TO, allowing it to dry in almost no time at all. Worked great!

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/threads/woodstocks-amazin-stock-finish-photos.331108/

 

[springfield art]

One of the helpful fellows here mentioned Refined Boiled Linseed Oil, which I'd never noticed. I saw a bottle at Art Supply section of Hobby Lobby; it's very light and clear, was about 11 bucks for an 8 oz. bottle. Enough to last a long time, anyway. Tru-Oil is a real standard, too.

 

[springfield art]

This is another Tru-Oil done on walnut. It took two days to get a shinier look and is ready to use after one more day of drying. A gunsmith can’t afford to turn out poor quality work and must do it in a timely manner. When I did this for a living I often had more than one stock in the drying cabinet and if it took a month to finish one I would have starved to death. A hobbyist can take forever and use all sorts of unnecessary steps if that pleases him.
IMG_0818 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

Beaut-ifull!

 

[The Appalachian]

Tru Oil itself tells you exactly what you need to know, per weather, humidity, etc.

If when you sand for the next coat and it gums your paper, it needs more dry time.

If when you sand for the next coat and it sands smooth and leaves a fine dust, it's at the state of plenty cured enough.

It's not hard to deduce after a few coats how long the final coat needs to sit before assembling the parts.

 

[BS2366]

Tru Oil itself tells you exactly what you need to know, per weather, humidity, etc.

If when you sand for the next coat and it gums your paper, it needs more dry time.

If when you sand for the next coat and it sands smooth and leaves a fine dust, it's at the state of plenty cured enough.

It's not hard to deduce after a few coats how long the final coat needs to sit before assembling the parts.

Exactly. I tru oiled a stock yesterday around 5. Just tried to sand this afternoon and it gummed up a bit. It was 18 when I got up this morning. Cold weather doesn't help drying time.

 

[user 48679]

If when you sand for the next coat and it gums your paper, it needs more dry time.
.

IME, sanding just makes things harder than if each coat is rubbed down with a clean pad of 0000 steel wool (followed by a wipe with a magnet)

 

[Brokenbear]

What Appalachian says ..otherwise you guys are killing me !!!

TruOIl has the hardeners and multiple oils to do it all ..
Every coat wet thin apply and tap all over with the tip of your gloved pointer finger making little "disturbed" looking finger prints touching each other over all wetted area ..set it down in a controlled environment and leave it for minimum 48 hours

Then LIGHTLY rub out with the RED ScotchBrite scuffing pad ..rub lightly to DULL the finish not turn it white.. and repeat coats until the desired grain fill is achieved ..rub with the grain

Then Use the Birchwood Stock Sheen and using a soft cotton rag start rubbing with the grain until you get the shine to the level appropriate to the weapon ..rub with the grain

Then again Birchwood.. this time Stock Wax which has amazing waxes in it and follow the bottle direction for a finger print free guaranteed gloss or semi gloss as desired ..

Don't settle for oats after they've been thru the horse folks ..you have worked hard to get to this point so just a bit more patience is required to hit a home run ..I promise

Bear

 

[The Appalachian]

IME, sanding just makes things harder than if each coat is rubbed down with a clean pad of 0000 steel wool (followed by a wipe with a magnet)

Try 3M synthetic 000 steel wool and skip the magnet BS........

And it's harder for you because you're probably in a hurry, probably applying it too thick, and definitely not letting it cure out like it needs to.

 

[ajfran3]

I waited 12 hours between the coats while doing thin coats. I spied tru oil six times and let it sit on the final one for about 36 hours.