Finishing walnut

[rogerpjr]

I am currently in the process of building a chief's grade trade gun with a walnut stock. Although I have made furniture and other items from walnut, I have never used anything but curly maple for a gun stock.  Being walnut is fairly porous, is there a need to fill the pores or use sanding sealer on the stock?  I do plan on making the walnut fairly dark color using Laurel Mountain Forge stain and finishing with Wahkon Bay or TOW oil finish (both linseed oil based with additives).

[webradbury]

I'm sure There are many ways to fill the grain and seal, but what I do is this:

Thin some BLO for the first coat with mineral spirits and apply to the properly sanded and cleaned stock. This soaks in and acts as a sealer.  Allow to dry.  I then apply BLO in small areas and wet sand with 600 grit. This produces a slurry of walnut sanding dust and BLO which acts as the filler. It will look like mud on the stock. I rub it in really well with my fingers.  I take a plastic putty spreader, like the ones used for automotive body filler, and scrape the excess off the stock perpendicular  or across the grain so as to leave the filler in the voids. Let this dry and then repeat the wet sanding process until the grain is thoroughly filled.

I'm no expert but this process works for me. I would test different methods on scrap wood before jumping on a stock with an untried method.

[davebozell]

I used Chambers Gun Oil on my last rifle.  I used a similar method as Webradbury, except I used gray scotchbrite while the oil was wet on the first couple coats.  If I found a rough spot, I just repeated the process in that area.  I lost count of the number of coats that I applied since I just kept applying it until I was satisfied.  I found finishing walnut to be much easier (less stressful) than maple.  I did not use a stain.

[PPatch]

In my opinion filling or not filling the grain is entirely an aesthetic choice. Some like the look of a walnut stock with the grain filled, others could care less, but there is no "need" to fill it as you can successfully seal and finish the stock without filling the grain.

dave

[Robert Wolfe]

For for staining walnut I use Walnut (not American Walnut) Laurel Mountain Forge stain. It has some red it it that I like. I fill the grain with a black past filler that I got from Chamber's years ago.

[Tim Crosby]

 Where's Mike when you need him?

  Tim C.

[moleeyes36]

For for staining walnut I use Walnut (not American Walnut) Laurel Mountain Forge stain. It has some red it it that I like. I fill the grain with a black past filler that I got from Chamber's years ago.

I just finished a walnut stocked gun for someone and used the exact same stain and the wood filler from Jim Chambers {FK:WF Black Wood Filler (for walnut)} as you did.  I finished it with Chambers Traditional Oil Stock Finish as I usually do.  Very happy with the results as was the customer.

Mole Eyes

[wet willy]

If you like the unstained walnut color, you can try 200 Wet-or-Dry paper to rub in a bit of finish, then wipe the slurry off as it fills the grain, wait a day, re-apply as needed. Finish with same process with a few applications of 400 or 600. Leaves a deep, matt finish.

Tried this process with a stained stock but, despite my best efforts to be careful, some sharp edges & corners had stain sanded out.  Putting a dipped finger-load of finish on the paper, then hand-rubbing in a small area is key as the finish will tend to get sticky afer a minute or two.

The slurry from the sanding & finish, then wipped away, fills the grain in walnut. This takes me at least 5 applications but leaves a tough and lovely finish that seems resistant to scratches and wear.

[ron w]

read my post in the BLO thread. the only difference is that Walnut will take a few more applications, because it is somewhat more porous than Maple.

[Daryl]

I used True Oil - worked fine on this rifle - 24 years before this picture was taken.  The rifle has spent many falls hunting in all sorts of weather, from rain, hard sun, to deep snow and temps down to -56C.  Still going strong.

[moleeyes36]

Daryl,

-56 degrees Centigrade!  OMG!  You guys up there in Canada are some hardy souls to go hunting in that weather.  WOW!

Mole Eyes (In Florida) a

[Daryl]

At 66 yrs. old, I do not do that any more.   -56C is about -65F - it was nasty, biting cold - only once we did that, but amazingly the main spring & sear spring didn't break.  They do not like that very much. Usually on that moose hunt, the temp stayed between -30F and 25F,much nicer, eh!

[bob in the woods]

I was deer hunting in Dec one year during the muzzleloading season here and it was minus 35C.  I decided to call it a day, so flipped the frizzed open to dump the pan, then drew back the cock to lower it only to hear and feel the mainspring snap.  Tiny ,tiny "bubble" in the casting which had survived thousands of firings , but met it's match that day. Now I carry a spare.

[ron w]

so mike brooks,...what happened to my post about finishing stocks with BLO ?.

[Ky-Flinter]

so mike brooks,...what happened to my post about finishing stocks with BLO ?.

Is this it?  http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=43473.0

-Ron

[Hungry Horse]

Walnut stocks will absorb an amazing amount of BLO. If other dryers, or sealers, aren't added to the BLO, the stock will just keep getting darker,and heavier, until it can't absorb any more oil. This is not a finish, it is a saturation. I once cut an old modern stock in half because it was so dark, and heavy, and I wanted to know why. It was saturated clear though, and the saw blade got gummy with linseed oil when I cut it. I would say the stock had gained at least a pound from the saturation alone.

  Hungry Horse

[jerrywh]

 If you have to stain walnut you must have a pretty bad piece. I use some True oil but usually finish coats are Permalyn or some other thinner oil.  True oil is a very good finish and can be made to look almost anyway you want it to look but you have to learn how to work with it. Exterior wood finishes are a lot like guitars. It isn't the guitar that makes the music it is the fingers that pick it.