Stock finish...?

[Bigmon]

Friends,
I am working on my first build since 25 years or so ago.  Been a long project and have had to re-learn allot.
About ready to finish the walnut stock.
I remember something about thinning a coat or two of true-oil for the first coat or so??
I do not want a high build real shiny finish.  But this is a hunting gun first and fore-most.  So I do want a durable finish.
I dont think boiled linseed oil would hold up?
I have some true oil as stated.  Also I have a small bottle of "LIN SPEED" oil that says it is an actual gunstock finish.
Any suggestions??
Thanks

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I like Circa 1850 Tung Oil.  Neither TruOil nor LinSpeed are 'durable'.

[ShutEyeHunter]

My Dad was a Linspeed guy. Did some nice refinishing work on pre-64 Winchesters. His idea was to use Linspeed to fill the grain but never let it build up.  Hand rub the last 37 coats

I've used Permalyn on walnut. Works great as long as the finish is "in the wood, not on the wood"

I've been out of it for a while, may be some better products on the market now

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

truoil is very durable, its all I use. One of my kentucky rifles is BLO and its okay but no where near as good as truoil, same with tung oil. I did one rifle in that and that was it, way to many coats needed to build a finish and will bead off water.

[Sidelock]

There is a piece in Rifle magazine back in the 70's written by John Bivins titled "Express Oil Finish".  In it he goes thru step by step how to seal, fill and finish walnut as well as maple.  It is a solid process that I have used on numerous stock with excellent results.  There are copies of this article floating around out there.  A copy is reprinted in a book called Gunsmithing Tips & Projects, copies of which are still available.  If you can't find the article elsewhere, pm me with your address and I can send you one.

[moleeyes36]

Lists of favorite stock finishes are as long as lists of favorite patch lubes.  What is loved by one person is rejected by another.  The "best" stock finish for someone is the stock finish they personally like best.  And if they are willing to try other stock finishes, they might change their mind.  I've tried many and my current favorite is Jim Chambers' Traditional Oil Stock Finish.  I used it on the recommendation of many on this forum, but will continue to try others in the future.  I certainly want to try a bee's wax finish like Taylor did on that beautiful pistol grip Hawken rifle he made recently.  So if you are willing to try other finishes you may find a new "best" stock finish.

Mole Eyes

[fastfrankie]

         I like to use WATERLOX finish on almost everything. It was originally made for maritime use so it stands up to almost every thing, and it's easily repairable, just apply more to the effected area. Use the original sealer finish one not the other finishes that they produce.

[clockman]

Bigmon,
    I think you'll find that most traditionalist think that linseed oil is the only finish that should be used on long rifles. I have finished guns with linseed oil, but I used true oil in the barrel channel, lock mortise, and under the buttplate just to seal out moisture.  I've also used true oil on gun stocks that I planned to use for hard hunting in all kinds of weather.  I think it gives excellent protection against the weather and also provides a hard finish for little bumps and dings.   True oil will give a high gloss shine. The way I dealt with that is  I used steel wool to take off the gloss and used a cotton cloth and buffed by hand to a satin finish.  A couple of coats of true oil and your done.  Linseed will require many coats to start with and again and again over time.
    Either choice would not be wrong.  Sounds like you'll be the one using it.  Suit yourself. 

[Bigmon]

Thanks again to all.
Sounds like there are allot of options.
In the past I have often used truoil, but never liked the high build shin.
I have full bottles of never opened truoil, so I might go ahead and try that again, yet I will rub down with steel wool.
I had truoil on my main hunting rifle, a 54cal From Dunlop I built 25 or so years ago.
After allot of hard use it started to wear thin in spots.  So I actually refinished with satin ployurethane.  It dont look too bad and for the purpose of a hunting gun serves the purpose very well
I have never used the tungoil, might try that if I can find some.
I think for another I am going to try the Chambers oli.  I like his other products and am sure he has this covered also.
Thanks again to all, if I ever get it finished I'll send some photos.

[Scota4570]

Walnut is porous.  You need to fill the pores.  You can do this by wet sanding with diluted finish.  Use #320 or #400 grit paper.  Let the mud build up on the surface.  Let it dry.  Wet sand again but remove the surface goop.  You now have a smooth level surface.  Apply more finish as desired.  One could got to linseed at this point. 

The exact type of finish, within reason, is not important.  How you use it makes the difference.  I tend to use satan spar varnish these days, only because the home center has it.  For the bowling pin/weatherby look I use conversion varnish or fullerplast.  The old business about gillions of coats is amateur  stuff.  I is just filling the grain the hard way.  It only took me about a hundred stock finish jobs to figure this out.  : )

[Mad Monk]

Linspeed oil of thew 1980's was little more than hardware store oil-based spar varnish.  Good and durable.

Mad Monk

[Mad Monk]

A few comments on stock finishing and finishes.

I worked in a synthetic polymer manufacturing plant.  A lot of work on solution resins for various applications.  Access to a very big technical library on industrial coatings.

With wood objects.  The purpose of a finish is to limit the rate of change in the moisture content of the wood.  Specifically rapid day to day changes with changes in the relative humidity of the air surrounding the object.

There will be great differences in the moisture content of the wood in seasonal change.  During dry winter months in a heated house you can expect to see about 5 to 8% moisture in the wood.  Summer months with high temperatures and high humidity will give about 15% moisture in the wood.  And no finish on the face of this earth will change that.  It is rapid day to day changes in the moisture content of the wood that causes stresses within the wood and checking.  The seasonal changes do not build up stresses in the wood the way rapid day to day changes do.

When wood adsorbs moisture from the air 80% of the pick up is via end grain.  Only 20% across the grain.  Almost impossible to totally seal end grain to prevent any moisture from entering the wood.  You can "temper" the rate of pick up or give back but you cannot totally prevent changes in wood moisture content.

Use the polyurethane finishes with caution.  Back in the mid-1980's I was at a Morgan's Rifles shoot at Winchester, VA.  Sitting on a trade blanket was a Biven's rifle.  We looked at it closely and wondered why it was on a trade blanket.  In the sunlight the stock finish had an odd appearance.  It sparkled.  A close look showed the finish full of very tiny cracks that followed the "ticking" in the grain.  A few years before that I had replaced our home's front door with an expensive wood door that I stained and finished with an exterior polyurethane varnish.  It too took on the sparkling look at the varnish micro-cracked.  A search of the industrial finishes book in the company library had some comments on that.
Polyurethane coatings were developed in the 12930's to replace baked enamel on metal signs.  These polyurethane coatings are very hard and very inelastic.  Ideal for steel signs where the substrate (metal) has a very low rate of expansion and contraction.  Wood on the other hand has some wild changes in dimensions with wood moisture content.

When I had talked to the solution resin engineering staff of my work and experiment with gunstock finishes they laughed.  A hunk of fancy curly maple in the form of a gunstock would be their application nightmare.

Mad Monk

[Kevin Houlihan]

Big on
I've always had good luck with Permalyn stock finish. I have a rifle finished with Permalyn that has been used once a month 12 months a year for about 15 years. It's been out in 10 deg - 100 degree weather and has held up great.
Kevin

[Mad Monk]

Big on
I've always had good luck with Permalyn stock finish. I have a rifle finished with Permalyn that has been used once a month 12 months a year for about 15 years. It's been out in 10 deg - 100 degree weather and has held up great.
Kevin

And the secret to that is how it is applied.  You must get it down into the wood.  Without good depth penetration you have the film sitting on top of the wood where it can easily crack with changes in the wood's expansion and contraction.

Mad Monk