Dennis,
I have a very old can of Watco Danish Oil that I use.....although I don't really believe they squeeze Danish people to get oil out of them.....I think it's mostly linseed oil. However, for small items like this, I put the item in a steel pot, cover the part with Watco, and then draw a vacuum on the pot with a special gasketed lid I made up out of plexiglass (so I can see what's going on in the pot.). The Watco foams around the wood item as air inside the wood makes its way out through the cellular structure. I leave the vacuum on for a few minutes and then release it. The oil is drawn very deeply into the wood fibers because all the internal air has been removed and is now replaced by the oil. I wipe the excess off and then cure the item in the sun for a couple of days.
By the way, I have done the same vacuum impregnation on full sized rifle stocks as well. Instead of a pot I seal up the stock in heavy polyethylene. The "bag" has a plastic hose attached at both ends with shut off clamps. I draw a vacuum from one end of the close fitting bag and then put the tube on the other end into a can of oil finish. When I open the clamp, the oil is drawn into the evacuated bag and completely surrounds the stock. All the air has been drawn out of the wood fibers (more or less depending on the cell structure of the particular type of wood) and the finishing oil replaces the air. Again, wipe off the excess and then cure. I don't think there is any way to get a finishing oil deeper into wood than with this vacuum arrangement.
