Getting that "glossy" look

[New2this]

On a build that is soon to be complete, I have applied two coats to my liking of Laurel Mountain Forge finish. After this, I applied three coats, over five days, of tru-oil. The first coat of tru-oil I applied, I rubbed down with 00 steel wool after it dried. The second and third subsequent coats I did not.

My question is... how do I obtain that even, hardened, shiny, gloss finish that I see on all of your fine guns here on the board? Am I doing something incorrectly? Is it too late to fix? Please share your tricks!! Thank you

[Bioprof]

If you keep applying more coats of Tru-oil, you'll get that glossy look.   A lot of builders work hard so that doesn't happen.    It's just a matter of personal preference.

[Dphariss]

If you have a built up finish try rubbing it out with rottenstone and real boiled linseed oil or 50-50 store bought boiled linseed oil and tru-oil. Do not overdo the rubbing if its a stained stock it will cut wood too.

Dan

[Daryl]

If you want a glossy finish with all the grain structure properly filled, True Oil coats until the little 'crevises of grain look almost filled, then sand with 1500grit wet or dry(dry, not wet) down to the wood. Probably take 4 to 6 coats with maple, more for walnut.  It goes pretty quickly.  Give the oil a day (or more) between coats to make certain it's hard, then the paper will not gum up.  As I said, sand down to the wood, without removing wood and wipe the stock off with a soft cloth and examine for grain fissures remaining. More coats if fissures appear.  If there are none visible, apply a very thin coat of True Oil and let it harded.  It will probably only take 2 to 4 hours then examine again.  If the surface appears as glass, apply 3 more coats the same - very thin and don't allow it to build anywhere.  Once dry and hard with no runs, you can polish with a rouge paste or perhaps toothpaste (without "tooth-whitening grit") on a cloth patch, wiping clean afterwards.  THIS will give a glossy finish, like a Grande Piano.

This re-finished stock is almost completed, except there is some grain visible near the plate in damaged areas that needs attention, or not. It has not been polished at this time.

[New2this]

Daryl -
Thanks for that rundown. I will try out your method. My only question is at what point in the process do I apply the stain again, since it will be removed when sanding down to the stock?

[Daryl]

The stain is not sanded from the wood - you only sand down to the wood.  Your stain, to be of use, should soak into the wood, staining below the top surface, shouldn't it?   the shotgun stock wasn't stained.
Here's another one I did to almost a piano finish.  This one was stained walnut and took 8 coats to fill, then sanded, then 4 ultra thin coats to finish.

[Acer Saccharum]

I have used the tru oil in this way to fill walnut: Apply, let dry. Sand off with wet/dry automobile paper with tru-oil as a carrier. keep the sand paper wet, as this keeps it from clogging. As Dar sez, sand down to the wood. Stop. Apply another coat of oil, let dry. Then wetsand with the tru oil. repeat as many times as needed. Each coat go to a higher grit paper.
(With walnut that is not getting stained, you can wetsand the wood as the dust/oil sludge will help fill the pores)

You know when the grain is filled when you look at it under magnification and the pores are all level with the surface. Now you can go for the finish coats, only two or three really thin ones needed. Every so often after a season of use, you can do a touch up coat.

[smart dog]

New2this,
There are many ways to skin this cat but some depend on your gun and particularly if it has carving on it.  You don't want finish to build up in the corners and crevices of carving.  If your gun is not carved the process is easier.  Rather than repeat my particular formula, visit the tutorial section of our forum and click on the topic "Building an 18th century pistol case: part 3 finishing the case".  I describe a traditional process used both on cases and higher-end guns, albeit I use some modern materials such as polyurethane varnish in the mix.  The result is a finish that appears as polished wood, not as a glossy topcoat.  However, to achieve that end no matter what the materials, you have to work at it and you have to be patient.  A quickly applied glossy finish using products like Tru-oil is horrible in my opinion.  You can get an adequate "polished in the wood" finish with Tru-oil but you still have to work at rubbing it down.  If your gun is carved you must build the finish up very slowly using a finish that is thinned.  You also need hardwood rubbing sticks shaped like pencils and nail files to dip in rubbing compound and polish the carved areas.  Keep in mind that what I am describing is for a glossy "polished in the wood" look that almost is a French polish.  If you settle for a more satin gloss typical of many of the nice guns you see on this website, your work is much, much easier.

dave

[mike e]

TRY USING 0000 STEEL WOOL INSTEAD OF OO.

[Acer Saccharum]

Walnut and steel wool: Until the grain is filled, do NOT use steel wool. Pieces of wool get embedded in the pores, and you see tiny little metallic flecks under the finish. How do I know?

Late flint period English rifle:

[Daryl]

Both the guns pictures do not appear to have a shiny coat on top of them - they are as Dave said, polished wood in appearance. True Oil Rules!! - HA! - well, maybe not, but it's good if used correctly and so is Permalyn and many other finishes that guys use.
I built an olk Cherokee bow that I scraped out, then finished with bacon grease and it looks great too.  A light coat of bacon grease is applied before and after each use.

[keweenaw]

Daryl,


That bacon grease bow would be the one you use for bear hunting?  A bow with built in bait!, but doesn't using  it count as shooting over bait?

Tom

[Acer Saccharum]

How about some maple syrup to go with the bacon fat?

[Artificer]

I could not agree more with Acer about not using steel wool for abrading the surface.  It will leave a nasty steel hair where you won't want it and you often don't realize it's there until you have a few more coats of oil on it.
Then it's a son of a gun to get it out and get the finish evened out.

They sell "scotch brite" type pads that are made for working wood in most of the Box Hardware stores - in the paint sections.  They advertise them as being equivalent to OO to OOOO steel wool, though I've found they seem to be about one degree finer than the "Aught Number" stated.  Use a soft brush to get the residue out of crevices and a soft cloth like a baby diaper to get the rest - in between coats.  When I happened across them about 10 - 15 years ago, I stopped using steel wool altogether.

[smart dog]

Acer and Gus are bang on about steel wool.  Avoid it.  The Scotch-brite pads do work well but the really fine grit is sometimes hard to find.  To get a really high polish you still need to use rottenstone (or equivalent) and oil (or water if you are careful not to rub too hard and keep the rubber lubricated).

Daryl, nice guns and finishes.  Can you eat the bow if you get hungry hunting?

dave

[Dphariss]

Acer and Gus are bang on about steel wool.  Avoid it.  The Scotch-brite pads do work well but the really fine grit is sometimes hard to find.  To get a really high polish you still need to use rottenstone (or equivalent) and oil (or water if you are careful not to rub too hard and keep the rubber lubricated).

Daryl, nice guns and finishes.  Can you eat the bow if you get hungry hunting?

dave

I have never had the problem with steel wool.
 
And I have done a number of walnut stocks with 0000, usually wet with stock finish. But not with Tru-Oil. The stuff has its uses. I only tried doing one finish with it about 30 years ago that was enough. According to an expert source its just a cheap varnish in a bottle.

But I would not attempt tru-oil with steel wool the finish is far too hard in my experience.
Also any I ever used set up so fast it was useless as a lubricant for wet sanding. Maybe this is why it traps steel wool??

This is the amazing thing about this site.
Some folks do things as a matter of course that give other people fits.
I would not consider finishing a stock with tru-oil. Its far to labor intensive.

Dan

[Daryl]

Acer and Gus are bang on about steel wool.  Avoid it.  The Scotch-brite pads do work well but the really fine grit is sometimes hard to find.  To get a really high polish you still need to use rottenstone (or equivalent) and oil (or water if you are careful not to rub too hard and keep the rubber lubricated).

Daryl, nice guns and finishes.  Can you eat the bow if you get hungry hunting?

dave

Ahh, no - but - it does provide toothpicks if needed, just gets weaker in draw as you shave 'picks' off it's sides. I try to keep the tiller correct, so alternate the sides the 'picks' come from.

[pathfinder]

I always love the topic's on finishing a gun stock. I've been a furniture re-finisher and clock maker forever,learned from my Grandfather who came from Poland in the early '20's. All these recipes are good,all will work wonderfully if properly applied and worked. French polishing is my favorite way to finish wood,but not practical in all applications. Patience is the key to all the ways to use a finish. French polish a piano sometime,you can definitely see the difference in that finish verses a Lacquer finish. Grandpa always put a couple of drops of non-detergent motor oil in the shellac to give it some body for french polishing. Said the ash in the motor oil cut down on the Ph and it made it "work" better.
I'm going to try a couple of the recipes listed here, your never to old or smart to learn new tricks!

[smshea]

Wow...I had an old guy tell me he used motor oil as the lubricant on his pad while doing a french polish. I figured it would be to heavy and he was pulling my chain....maybe not!

 French polish a piano!  My hats off!!!!

[pathfinder]

I do miss my Grandfather and now my Dad,I feel that ALL crafts are going to be gone by the end of the next generation. I'm the last in a line of finishers and clock makers that goes back at least 5 generations.
Just make sure that the motor oil is NON-detergent,rather hard to find these days. When I do see some,I usually pick up a few quarts. When I asked Grampa what weight we needed,he answered" We are finishing wood,not starting a car!",I sounded meaner in Polish!

[Birddog6]

I notice you said 2-3-4 coats of finish.  To get one as slick as glass, I usually end up with 15-20 coats of finish on the wood, all rubbed out. I start off (on maple/ash) staining the stock at least 1 ir not 2 shades darker than I want it to end up.
First coat of finish is sloppy wet for  then rub it ALL off with a paper towel. Next one same way til the wood shows me it is not absorbing any more finish. Then I start putting a ULTRA thin coat of Tru-Oil on and I am talking about just a fingerpring size area of my index finger wet & rub that into a 3-4" area til it is dry. Move over & do again, repeat til the entire stock is covered. Then when dry use 0000 steel wool & rub it all down.  I keep doing this til I see all of the pores are filled I switch to 1000 grit paper from NAPA.  Then do it again for about 5-6 coats. Then switch to 1500 paper for 3-5 coats, then finally 2000 paper for 2-3 coats.   Then at the end I wax the heck out of it & it is like glass.

Allot of this depends on the wood, how hard it is, how porous it is, etc.  On walnut after I do about the 3-4th coat I take a small piece of 600 paper & wet it with finish & sand the stock with it & that makes a slurry & helps fill the grain.

Now if you have carving, this is very tedious. On a plain rifle,  I have several times spent as long finishing a rifle as I have building it....  

I hope it is for yourself if you put one of these 40 hr finishes on it.  Cause most buyers don't care & they will scratch it up just the same as a 8 hr finish....  

Keith

[Acer Saccharum]

To have a polished finish, the wood has to be polished first. Whatever the surface on the wood is, it will show in the finish.