Stock finishing question...Chambers finish over a coat of Truoil?

[medbill]

Stock finishing question...here is where I am at after:
1. Nitric acid/water/iron applied
2. Heated with heat gun to brick red color
3. Soaking coat of pressed linseed oil, turp and Japan drier.
4. One thin hand rubbed coat of Truoil.
Now my question at this point is can I switch over to Chambers Finish oil over the thin single coat tru oil? I forgot I had a can of the stuff and haven't tried it yet but I hear it doesn't smell as bad and does a great job. Will it fill in the pores where the buttstock meets up with the wood in the pics? I am pretty sure the truoil would but I am not a big fan of that thick glossy finish it gives. Would love to hear your suggestions before I take the next step. THANKS!

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

You shouldn't be using finish to close those little gaps. You can tap the butt plate to close up those little gaps.

I think the finish you have already looks beautiful. I'm not a fan of tru-oil myself, but if you want to apply more for durability I would stick with what you're doing and when you have your desired number of layers, rub back the surface to a nice satin finish.

I think it looks great now.

[KLMoors]

I think it looks real nice too.

I use Chambers over Permalyn Sealer without any problems.  I rub it with a maroon Scotchbrite to fill the pores. Be sure to dampen the scotchbrite (or steel wool) with finish as you work.  Chambers leaves a very nice sheen, to my eye, and it is very easy to touch up.

[PPatch]

The stock is looking good! Micah's advice is sound, I'm not totally sure about continuing with Chambers oil but I suspect you can, hopefully someone will chime in here. If you go ahead and use the Tru-oil you can use abrasives to level and knock back the sheen that you desire. Rottonstone will do it as will this companies offerings in modern abrasives:

http://www.constantines.com/specialtyabrasives.aspx

You must however allow the finish to totally dry (two weeks or more) before you use something to knock back the shine - test the finish on a spot to see if you get a whitish powder under your abrasive, that means it is dry and ready for leveling. Use either water with a bit of dish soap or mineral oil to aid in preventing the abrasive clogging - very little pressure is required so a light touch will do the trick.

dp

[Pete G.]

Bashing the buttplate to close gaps is an acceptable practice, but it must be done BEFORE final sanding and finish in order to work down and get everything even. Since you are at this point, just keep on applying your finish coats. You will probably always see the gaps however small, because you know they are there but others won't unless you are one of those guys that just feels compelled to point them out.

[Meteorman]

Answers to your questions are (1) yes and (2) sort of, depending on number of coats you apply.
I'd buff down the tru-oil layer first with a gray scotchbrite.
The Chambers oil will darken things a bit more than the TO.

[medbill]

Thank you for the great replies guys!  The pics don't show it well but they aren't gaps between the buttplate and the stock rather more small rasp marks.  I thought I had them while sanding but I guess i need to use the magnification glasses more often!  Sucks losing my eagle eyes....

One more question, what if anything is the down side to using truoil?

Thanks again!

Bill

[hortonstn]

The worst part is getting the shine subdued I use brownells stock rubbing compound it smells like auto ribbing compound but never tried the auto version follow with wax
Just my opinion
Paul

[EC121]

Thin some Tru-oil with thinner or Turpentine.  Then rub it in til the marks fill in.  Polish it out to a satin finish.  The thinning gives more control of the filling.  Too much Tru-oil looks like plastic, but if it is rubbed out, it makes a smooth durable finish without looking gawdy.

[medbill]

Thanks guys going to give it a go...has two coats of truoil on it and getting to much of that plastic coated look.  I am going to knock it back with some 0000 or whatever the synthetic version of that is and then see where I am at with things and will go from there.  I am thinking of trying the Chambers stock finish at this point.  Interesting idea about the rubbing compound to knock off the shine.

[moleeyes36]

Medbill,

Starting to look pretty good.  It appears from the picture that there is nothing inside the lock mortise to protect the wood.  I suggest that you at least thin some of that Chambers Oil Finish and apply a fair amount with a small brush then allow it to soak into the wood.  IMHO, if you allow the barrel channel and lock mortise to go untreated you risk the wood swelling from rain, high humidity or even oil contamination.  It might not be critical, but I know a lot of people other than me do that also.

Mole Eyes

[Vomitus]

   I like the finish you show with just the truoil. If it were mine, I'd apply more coats of the truoil thinned back and go with that.Rubbed back after each coat,of course. My worry with adding another product over top is that it may make the wood look muddy.JMHO

[FDR]

Medbill,

Starting to look pretty good.  It appears from the picture that there is nothing inside the lock mortise to protect the wood.  I suggest that you at least thin some of that Chambers Oil Finish and apply a fair amount with a small brush then allow it to soak into the wood.  IMHO, if you allow the barrel channel and lock mortise to go untreated you risk the wood swelling from rain, high humidity or even oil contamination.  It might not be critical, but I know a lot of people other than me do that also.

Mole Eyes
[/quote

X2 to sealing the inlets. Thin the TO 1/1 and apply to all the inlets. Let dry and reapply several times. You will be glad you did!

Fred

[medbill]

All the inlets were sealed with the first soaking coat of linseed and turp mix, Thanks guys...other than the ramrod hole.  Where it is darker is where the aquafortis was applied.  I hear ya about adding something and muddying it up.  It sure is looking good and has that sweet 3d look to it already.

[medbill]

I hand rubbed a thin coat of Chambers Finish today over 0000 steel wooled truoil finish and it looks great in my opinion.  There area  few little rough spots where I must have rubbed when it was already setting up so I will touch those spots up once it is fully dried.  Next step is rust browning all the steel parts.  Thanks for the help everyone.

[Tony Clark]

See I liked the way it looked before this last step you took

looks darker now and not as appealing to my eyes

chambers finish is great but what your doing is past what you need to, I think

more is not better... you can rub it forever and that don't hurt in fact it helps even with a hard finish

don't keep applying and scrubbing it back just a waste of time

[Tony Clark]

See I liked the way it looked before this last step you took

looks darker now and not as appealing to my eyes

chambers finish is great but what your doing is past what you need to, I think

more is not better... you can rub it forever and that don't hurt in fact it helps even with a hard finish

don't keep applying and scrubbing it back though just a waste of time

[medbill]

Ah shoot Tony I'm sorry and I was counting on you to buy this tomato stake from me when it was finished!     The pics are deceiving, I will take some more today in the same spot with similar light and we'll see how it looks.  You know how these things are with the light.  This is my first attempt at finishing a stock so its been a real learning process and I am just glad I didn't totally ruin it.  I was told to apply 4 rubbed in coats of truoil.  I didn't like the thick gloss it was getting and also after every application after the first I was getting small ridges for lack of a better term.  The Chambers gave me the smoothest finish so far.  Next time I will go with chambers from the get go.

So a question for you, from this point forward just rub the stock down with a soft cotton t-shirt at this point to smooth out any rough spots?  Thanks for the tips and advice, it is greatly appreciated.  This forum is a great resource for us new guys. 

Billy

[Blackpowder Barbie]

Beautiful!  I like the little added shine our finish gave it.   

[medbill]

I am really happy with the smooth level finish I ended up with using your oil Barbie, thanks for the help as always.  Now I need to decide in the white or brown before Dixon's!

[medbill]

Just wanted to take a minute to thank EVERYONE for all the help on this build that was done here and there over many years.  Thanks to Ezra who sold me this kit and everyone in between whose classes I attended.  Ezra sorry I missed out on those Bean rifle parts you just sold!  I'm gonna start putting pieces together for a tn squirrel rifle soon.

Anyway, thanks again and thanks to Dixon's for having the Gunmakers Fair and for all the artisans who so willingly share their hard earned knowledge.  I was shocked this smooth rifle did so well....I took my time with it but at some point that becomes ridiculous.  lol

Can't wait to finish up my next one and start another....i know I'm not the only one.   

[kaintuck]

Nice rifle....when we get to the finish parts.....it gets scary don't it?

P.s. I have been looking and looking for some "rotten stones" to make my abrasive rub.....when do these stones come from?

Marc n tomtom

[FDR]

Wood craft has "rotten stones".
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2007246/241/Behlen-Rottenstone-1-lb.aspx?keyword=&refcode=10INGOPB&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CKODr6Hr978CFZJr7AodaWMAtA