Wahkon Bay

[A.Merrill]

 What ever happened to Wahkon Bay tru coat gun stock finish? I liked to use it for the last 3 or 4 coats.   Al

[Birddog6]

William retired 8-10 yrs ago & moved to Yellowstone area. A vendor gunsmith from Columbus or Dublin OH was selling his stuff. Used to advertise in MB.  He used to set up in a tent in the 1 or 2nd place on the left on venders row at friendship & was always engraving. Can't think of his name.  William gave me 2-3 large bottles of the browning solution when he retired, I love the stuff & have good results with it. William is a wonderful guy.  Most don't know it but for prob 25 yrs, he did all the barrel work for TOW.  Dovetails, special breeching, under ribs, etc. and can run about any metal working machine.  He is probably the smartest man I ever knew, several degrees in several dif. fields & old school where you actually had to learn & actually KNOW it.  When I would ask him a technical question, I always have to stop him about 1/4 of the way in, & say Whoa, William.  This is Keith in AL.   Speak in Alabamian cause I don't have a dang clue of what you are saying.     He built a couple really nice Hawken rifles, I sure wanted one & but they were not for sale.

[A.Merrill]

Thanks Birddog6. I was hoping someone my have the recipe.   Al

[Birddog6]

He said the old name for it was Stinkwater.  But if you have any Aquafortis he made, just cut it in 3 with water & same thing. 

Now this is something I found out & sounds crazy but it worked for me.
You have a banana trees in your yard ?  If ya do, pull one up & cut it at the base & let the juice run into a bucket. That stuff will blue a barrel Instantly & I mean Right now.  Or it will in AL on this mountain anyway.  Don't know what is in that sap or juice, but it will dang sure turn a new saw blade blue/black.  I cut my trees off at the base every year & every single time, the saw turns black.  Every year I say I am going to save some & see if it will keep, but by the time I cut all the trees & elephant ears getting ready for winter, the ol man is done in & will gladly buy a bottle of stinkwater rather than try retrieve some.

But just for fun, you guys with some banana trees, try it.  Take a saw or machete & whack one off & rub that juice on a piece of clean steel & watch it.  Maybe it is the soil here has a mineral in it ? I don't know. But it will black/blue a piece of steel lickety split. 

It may brown a barrel too, never tried it.

[scottmc]

It's interesting he said to cut it with water 3:1.  I have a big bottle of it and just did a stock and it really wouldn't turn a nice brown.  Stayed at a grayish greenish look no matter how much heat I applied.  I never heard of reducing it but maybe that is the issue.

[t.caster]

Guys...Tru Coat was an OIL FINISH, not a stain!
I now use John Beck's (Beckflintlocks.com) oil finish with great results followed by his stock wax! He also markets an A/F stain, I haven't tried yet.

[Birddog6]

It's interesting he said to cut it with water 3:1.  I have a big bottle of it and just did a stock and it really wouldn't turn a nice brown.  Stayed at a grayish greenish look no matter how much heat I applied.  I never heard of reducing it but maybe that is the issue.

This was for Browning.  Not as a stain.  I never tried the Aquafortis as a stain as I have removed several finishes on rifles with it that were basically black & had beautiful  wood under them..

Also it needs to spend it's life in the dark, he told me.

[EC121]

Bill is in Cody , Wyoming.  He sent me a nice card when my wife passed away.  Great guy.

[A.Merrill]

The stuff I'm asking about is a gun stock finish. It's got a linseed and citrus smell to it. Anybody got the recipe for it?   Al

[blienemann]

Last I knew, Michael Lee and Daughter - Gunsmiths were offering the Wahkon Bay products. I think they are in Ohio, he teaches engraving at Log Cabin, they might know how to find him. Bob

[A.Merrill]

Thanks Bob, I'll give them a call.   Al

[Birddog6]

Sorry.  I totally misread that.  I had it in my head the Browning solution, not the stock finish.
Unfortunately, some days are worse than others.

And it is Michael Lea I was referring to, that was selling the product. I couldn't remember his name.

[L T Grey]

Bird Dog & EC121 William did several breeching jobs for me way back in the 90's. He's everything y'all said. I'd call him for advise or just to say high and end up talking for and hour. Bird Dog he mentioned "Keith in Alabama" several times in our conversations. He called me "Keith in GA" to keep us straight. EC121 I wish I'd known he was in Cody now. My wife and I were there back in July. I would love to have visited him.
 

[Birddog6]

That is funny.  I met him buying his Browning solution prob 35-40 yrs ago. Then later was talking to a friend rifle builder here & mentioned the Browning solution.  He says Oh Yes you mean William Young? I went to college with Bill & another friend here. He has a master in Engineering & Literature & maybe more. I had no idea he went to college here, cause I was calling him up north. He is quite enjoyable to talk to. 

[Ted Kramer]

I first met Willie in the late 1980’s when he rebreeched a replacement barrel for me. Since we lived just 75 miles apart I drove over to Wahkon to pick it up. We had a good visit and became good friends. Over the following years we did lots of shooting together and with mutual friends. He helped me carve a shooting range out of a clearing in a woods here on my farm where we had, and still have, shooting events. A few years ago he mowed out a range on his farm where we shot rim fire and muzzle loader matches. Over the years Willie cut many barrel channels and breeched many barrels for me. A true friend for sure. He’s a master gun builder but has retired from that. I was surprised and humbled when he asked me to build an English style rifle for him. He came back here for a shooting match a couple years ago and picked his rifle up.

Here’s William and his rifle.

I miss him, it was hard to see him move to WY but he’s happy and that’s all that matters.
Ted K

BTW, Pretty sure he attended college in Michigan

[snapper]

I was waiting for you to chime in Ted.  I know you guys were very close and it is hard to have a friend like that move away.

I like most of you met him the first time as he was doing some work for me.  I had him do work for me over the years and it was always perfect, and cheap IMO.

We became friends over the phone, and I always allowed at least an hour for any phone call with him.

I remember the first time I met him and Ted K. in person here in Iowa at a shoot.  I only made the trip up North to shoot at Ted's range once and that has been a long time ago.

My oldest son and I were fishing up near him and he and his late wife had us over for lunch.   We had a great time.  I remember that he and his wife were working on learning Russian, just for fun.

He always told me he had a son in Iowa that was the head of a neuro dept.  No surprise he raised a very smart kid. 

I forgot he was in Cody.   Wife and I were there a couple of years ago, I would have looked him up.

He wrote a few articles for MB on rusting a barrel.   He did not use his own name, but names like Rusty Nail or some such.   Got the articles somewhere here on my computer.

Ted I would love to shoot with you Willie again sometime.  Wished I would have made more of them.   He was always trying to get me to come North to shoot.

Fleener

[Birddog6]

BTW, Pretty sure he attended college in Michigan

Now that I think on that, very well could have been in MI or WI, as my friend has a northern accent,
and I can't remember where they were from up north. When I met them, we were in their 30's & our kids went to school together, & he said he went to college with Bill, didn't even think of up there. I know Bob got his masters at B'ham Southern, and I just took it he meant they went both went there. But very well could have been MI.
I have some photos of a Hawken rifle Bill made & man I would have loved to of had it.  He was a superb builder & did some really nice metal work as well.  Allot of the TOW barrel work was done by him.

[snapper]

Yes, Willie got a degree from MI.   I have another shooting buddy that got a degree from there as well and whenever they were together, they talked about MI.

Fleener