Woodsrunner almost complete and a question

[koauke]

Just a couple more things to do and my woodsrunner kit will be completed. I finished the barrel and trigger plate with jax black the other night and last night I sanded out the butt plate and re-assembled the rifle in its entirety. I left the stock at four coats of permalyn sealer. I was afraid to go any further with it as I didn't want a high gloss finish. Right now it has a satin sheen to it which is what I was hoping for and the curl in the maple has that holographic look especially in the sun.

Question: Again as a novice to most of this type of work, I'm wondering if four coats of permalyn sealer is enough? Or is that a subjective. When using an ultra fine scotch brite pad between coats I could definitely feel the finish had built up and I wasn't coming in contact with the wood. So I'm assuming I'm good to go?

The butt plate turned out pretty nice, a few light scratch marks left on the flats from the 320 grit paper, but don't think I'm going to fret about it. Most of it was just done with sand paper in hand as I was afraid it might distort if I filed on it too hard. I had a little of that with the trigger guard and it was a bit of a pain to get it into the stock. I filed the flats on top of the but plate and did the rest of the work with sand paper down to 320 and then very fine and ultra fine scotch brite pads.

Now, all that's left is to get the machine marks out of the lock and finish it up with jax black to match the barrel. Then the ramrod needs to be sanded down a little more as it now fits too snug and then put some coats of permalyn on it.

Some pics







Pic after finishing the barrel with Jax Black, I rubbed it back slightly with an ultra fine scotch brite pad.



uploading pictures

[koauke]

Guessing no strong opinions on how many coats of permalyn sealer as a finish are enough?

[duca]

Looks good!

[Daryl]

Few thin coats of tung oil, rubbed back with pumice or rotten stone would made a really nice, strong finish.

[koauke]

Thanks for the input.  I have just been following Jim’s woodsrunner video on finishing.  Does the Tung oil work fine over the permalyn?

[Daryl]

No reason not to, as long as the permalyn has had lots of time to harden properly, each coat. That is the most important factor of any finish.

[Marcruger]

Rather than risk as mis-mash of finishes, I would carry on with Permalyn until you are done.  I never like mixing anything that can cause an incompatibility.  Daryl is correct that you should let each coat cure completely before moving forward. 

[sdilts]

I don't like to mix finishes either. I put some Chambers oil over Permalyn sealer and some of that has worn off the forearm after 2 years.

[bob in the woods]

The permalyn sealer /finish is a poly type finish if I recall , so each successive coat binds mechanically to that under it. It doesn't "melt" into the last coat like some other types . That's why you need to fine sand the last coat to get good adhesion of the next. It's also why I'm not surprised that a top coat of Chamber's oil finish wore off. Different finishes can be tricky...I see this all the time doing instrument repairs.

[koauke]

Thanks again for the extra input.  I may just see how it does with the 4 coats.  Unless this is a terrible Idea, I figure I can wipe it down, give it a light sanding and add additional coats if needed later on if something starts to wear prematurely or I change my mind.  I'm easy on my firearms and keep them virtually pristine, so I'm thinking it will probably be OK.

[smallpatch]

A good way to assure bonding of successive coats, is to put subsequent coats on with a maroon scotchbrite pad.

It is best to NOT mix types of finish, unless you know the chemical makeup, and characteristics of both.
Chamber’s oil, and spar varnish make a REAL nice, weather resistant finish.

[Daryl]

Has anyone tried a good spar varnish, with added dryers? The problem I had with spar varnish, was the long, VERY long drying/hardening time. It's a great finish for a gun stock that will see wet
weather. Just takes forever to harden & thus, dust adhering to it can be a problem.