Egg whites to seal stocks

[oldarcher]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that egg whites are good to seal wood before staining/finishing. It has something to do with the material in egg whites "Albumin" (?) that is similar to Cellulose??? Has anyone here ever tried the egg white sealer idea, and what do you think about it???
Thank you for your thoughts

[P.W.Berkuta]

Let me think -- the word salmonella comes to mind -- that all - nothing else

[Acer Saccharum]

Eggwhite is also a medium in tempera paint...lasts for centuries.

I used to use eggwhites for gluing tissue on model airplanes.

Would eggwhite penetrate a hard maple stock to any degree? I dunno.

[Joe S]

Albumin is a protein.  Cellulose is carbohydrate, basically a bunch of sugar molecules hooked together.  There is no chemical relationship between albumin and cellulose.

[bob in the woods]

If you want the stain to be " in " the wood, I would stain before the application of egg white.

[Collector]

Never heard of it having anything to do with wood, but it is a very old remedy for skin burns.  No yokes (pun intended,) just the whites.  Has something to do with it being an embryonic material, as I recall.

[alyce-james]

Used for a brain tan substitute. Use egg white only. Turkeyfooter.

[Habu]

Egg white is a component in some "ground" recipes used in finishing stringed instruments, and it is sometimes used to fill the grain on guitars etc.  It also get some use in marquetry, because it will keep colors in adjacent inlays from bleeding.  You might read up on "vernis bianca"--a luthier's ground.  I've never tried it on a rifle.   

If you are going to use it as a sealer, you might try the approach Cennini recommended for "varnishing" carvings (Cennini was a 15th century Italian, but his book was reprinted by Dover as The Craftsman's Handbook).  Whip the egg whites into a hard foam, then let them sit over night.  The next day, apply the "distillate" (the watery liquid in the bottom of your bowl) to the carving with a soft brush and let dry. 

I've experimented with this a bit on practice carvings, haven't actually tried it on a rifle (and wouldn't without further experimentation).  I'd say definitely stain the rifle first, after all--the egg white is being used as a sealer.

Good luck!

[kutter]

Seems like the idea of this came around again a few years back and there was a how-to and informational  article in perhaps the Gun Digest about it.

I imagine anything that will dry could be used to fill the grain in a piece of wood and still put a finish over the top of it.

Wether egg whites do a better job of it than other things available, I don't know.

[TMerkley]

Anyone ever had to clean busted eggs out of your refridgerator?  I can tell you, if it dries,  youare going to have one heck of a time getting it out.  It does not come off unless you cut it off with a razor blade.  Steelwool and SOS barely touch it without serious gumming up.  It sounds like it would work pretty well.  The color of the film is about like that of dried linseed oil. 

[Acer Saccharum]

The film in my fridge runs between green and black......

[TMerkley]

Does it have fuzzy hair and legs to crawl with?

[Acer Saccharum]

Like, when I open the door, it hides behind the condiments?

[Acer Saccharum]

I will try the eggwhite on some scrap, see how it performs. I usually seal a stock with shellac, cut thin, so it soaks into the stock.

[Habu]

Acer,another one to compare it with would be egg white topped with a spit-coat of shellac.  This seems to be a common way egg white or vernis bianca is used by luthiers.

[JBlk]

I don't know about eggs as a sealer but my Son collects antique furniture and he discovered they used buttermilk as a sealer and stain.

[gunsports]

In one of our local gun magazines, one 'expert' recommended using egg white to fill and seal stocks. Off course, a lot of people tried it. What an absolute mess. Once dried, you just about have to remove wood to get that stuff off the stock. Sanding does not work: the egg white immediately clogs the paper. Scraping is about the only way to do it.

Some finishers use a wood sanding sealer; which is cellulose dissolved in an evaporative drier. It works.

What I use is a product called Dansh oil. It has some Tung oil in it and it is about the best oil for wood there is. I use fine sand paper, folded into a pad, to 'mud' the stock: small circular movements with the oiled pad to generate a 'mud' of wood dust, which is then worked into the wood pores. Let dry for 24hrs and then sand off with a 3M scouring pad. Repeat if necessary. Excellent sealer and the pore filler never falls out. Also, it does not build up on the wood. To finish, hand rub Danish oil onto the stock till your hand becomes warm from the rubbing. Excellent finish.

[P.W.Berkuta]

In one of our local gun magazines, one 'expert' recommended using egg white to fill and seal stocks. Off course, a lot of people tried it. What an absolute mess. Once dried, you just about have to remove wood to get that stuff off the stock. Sanding does not work: the egg white immediately clogs the paper. Scraping is about the only way to do it.

Some finishers use a wood sanding sealer; which is cellulose dissolved in an evaporative drier. It works.

What I use is a product called Dansh oil. It has some Tung oil in it and it is about the best oil for wood there is. I use fine sand paper, folded into a pad, to 'mud' the stock: small circular movements with the oiled pad to generate a 'mud' of wood dust, which is then worked into the wood pores. Let dry for 24hrs and then sand off with a 3M scouring pad. Repeat if necessary. Excellent sealer and the pore filler never falls out. Also, it does not build up on the wood. To finish, hand rub Danish oil onto the stock till your hand becomes warm from the rubbing. Excellent finish.

Now to me this sounds like the way to go --

[Daryl]

Sounds as if the egg whites should work after staining - then you can drink the yokes for breakfast, with a little cayene.