I have a walnut stocked fowler on order and was wondering what types of stains and finishes people here have tried on walnut and how they worked out. The gun is designed along the lines of an common English import from around the mid 18thC. I plan trying out a couple of the finishes on some scrap wood before I do the gun itself.
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Walnut Stock Finish
- Thread starter LFord
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walnut does not have to be stained unless it is a light wood and you want it dark--some "blacken" walnut with acid stains. I have used tongue oil as a finish and various commercial stock finishes such as Tru-Oil.
Mike is right....NO STAIN. Walnut is best treated with tonge oil or something like TRU OIL. I have built 3 rifles and 1 pistol with walnut stocks. I tried to "Blacken" one but was not happy with the results. My walnut "blanks" were from my Dad's backyard English walnut tree. I got my choice of where the wood came from and picked some pretty pieces. But the best looking were finished with oil! Good luck with your project. But no matter what you read here, YOU have to be happy with the results. So get some scraps and stain 'em, dye 'em, bleach 'em and burn 'em or whatever it takes to make YOU happy! :imo:
Shooey
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You might check the "photos" section of the forum. There's a few pictures of a Great Plains Rifle one of the members built that was finished ONLY with Tung oil. It's a very handsome gun.
I'm also getting ready to finish a walnut stock. I'd like it nice dark brown, with no red in it. So it looks like it's hangin' over the fireplace for a while and brought down to put meat on the table. I've got some LMF stain in "nut brown" that I'll test on some scraps.
I'm also getting ready to finish a walnut stock. I'd like it nice dark brown, with no red in it. So it looks like it's hangin' over the fireplace for a while and brought down to put meat on the table. I've got some LMF stain in "nut brown" that I'll test on some scraps.
Les: Before you stain your Walnut, wait for a nice sunny day.
Grab your stock, a very wet washrag and go outside.
Use the rag to wet the wood and check out the darkness and color. If you like the look of the wet wood, then let it dry, whisker it and start the oil only treatment to finish it.
If it is too light for your liking, then go ahead and stain it.
I prefer Birchwood Casey Walnut stain but there are a lot of other good stains out there.
I usually delute it with some water or alcohol, apply a coat and then check it out in the sunlight when it's wet. If it needs to be darker, I apply another coat or two depending on the sunlite test results between each coat.
Whatever stain you choose, try to use water base, or alcohol base products.
If you use an oil base stain, you get what you get.
In other words, you usually can't darken oil base stains with more coats, and you can't sneek up on the color you want because the first coat usually oils up the wood so it won't want to take much more.
Grab your stock, a very wet washrag and go outside.
Use the rag to wet the wood and check out the darkness and color. If you like the look of the wet wood, then let it dry, whisker it and start the oil only treatment to finish it.
If it is too light for your liking, then go ahead and stain it.
I prefer Birchwood Casey Walnut stain but there are a lot of other good stains out there.
I usually delute it with some water or alcohol, apply a coat and then check it out in the sunlight when it's wet. If it needs to be darker, I apply another coat or two depending on the sunlite test results between each coat.
Whatever stain you choose, try to use water base, or alcohol base products.
If you use an oil base stain, you get what you get.
In other words, you usually can't darken oil base stains with more coats, and you can't sneek up on the color you want because the first coat usually oils up the wood so it won't want to take much more.
Indications are that some early English firearms were varnished with a varnish that had a red cast to it. Alkanet root was used to obtain the red color (best be boiled in the linseed oil). Have read where a few use Pilkington brand stain (Brownells) to achieve a color. Others fill the stock with a dark wood filler to enhance the grain. Have not seen any documented cases where a stain was originally used. If varnish was used, I would think that the dark color would come from ageing.
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