From now on I'm using this method on any stock in need of a linseed oil finish. It saves a ton of time and it looks great.
When I picked up my P-14 a while back, the stock was black with oil, dirt, cosmo, and other unknowns accumulated over it's 90 year life span. To strip it I initially used 'Circa 1850, Heavy Duty' furniture stripper and a plastic scraper, but that took forever to do, and the round surfaces of a stock don't lend themselves well to scraping. So I took some TSP salt and went at it with a plastic brush. Thanks to Claven for that tip.
Anyways, when all the stripping was done I did the following (after letting the stock dry for 24 hours):
1. Applied two coats of BLO and turpentine in a 50/50 mix. Wait a few hours between coats. The turpentine will let the BLO soak into the wood grain better and it will dry a little faster.
2. Apply 5 coats of BLO. Apply the BLO in a solid coat, let sit for 40 minutes and come back with a rag and rub the stock down like crazy. The heat and friction help work the BLO further into the stock. Set aside for 8 hours and repeat. Generally the more coats the better, but with the 3rd step you don't really need all that much.
3. Take 1/3 all natural beeswax, 1/3 turpentine, and 1/3 BLO and mix in a metal container. Keep away from open flame or sparks! Heat it over an element until the wax dissolves into the mix, when that happens, set the concoction aside and let it dry into a waxy paste.
4. Wax on, wax off. Take the waxy substance and rub it all over the stock. As soon as that is done, take a clean rag and rub the stock down vigorously, friction is our friend here. Let it heat up a little and move on to the next spot until all the paste has been rubbed into the grain... shouldn't be more than a 5 minute job.
Voila... you have a stock that looks like you rubbed 20 coats of BLO onto it, and a finish that is much more durable than regular BLO and with better water protection. Scratches are an easy fix, just rub more over top.
The result:
An authentic finish with a nice low sheen that looks nice, feels nice, and even smells nice. I'm now convinced that this is the best way to do a BLO finish on any stock that needs one.
When I got the P-14, the stock was almost as black as the metal.
When I picked up my P-14 a while back, the stock was black with oil, dirt, cosmo, and other unknowns accumulated over it's 90 year life span. To strip it I initially used 'Circa 1850, Heavy Duty' furniture stripper and a plastic scraper, but that took forever to do, and the round surfaces of a stock don't lend themselves well to scraping. So I took some TSP salt and went at it with a plastic brush. Thanks to Claven for that tip.
Anyways, when all the stripping was done I did the following (after letting the stock dry for 24 hours):
1. Applied two coats of BLO and turpentine in a 50/50 mix. Wait a few hours between coats. The turpentine will let the BLO soak into the wood grain better and it will dry a little faster.
2. Apply 5 coats of BLO. Apply the BLO in a solid coat, let sit for 40 minutes and come back with a rag and rub the stock down like crazy. The heat and friction help work the BLO further into the stock. Set aside for 8 hours and repeat. Generally the more coats the better, but with the 3rd step you don't really need all that much.
3. Take 1/3 all natural beeswax, 1/3 turpentine, and 1/3 BLO and mix in a metal container. Keep away from open flame or sparks! Heat it over an element until the wax dissolves into the mix, when that happens, set the concoction aside and let it dry into a waxy paste.
4. Wax on, wax off. Take the waxy substance and rub it all over the stock. As soon as that is done, take a clean rag and rub the stock down vigorously, friction is our friend here. Let it heat up a little and move on to the next spot until all the paste has been rubbed into the grain... shouldn't be more than a 5 minute job.
Voila... you have a stock that looks like you rubbed 20 coats of BLO onto it, and a finish that is much more durable than regular BLO and with better water protection. Scratches are an easy fix, just rub more over top.
The result:
An authentic finish with a nice low sheen that looks nice, feels nice, and even smells nice. I'm now convinced that this is the best way to do a BLO finish on any stock that needs one.
When I got the P-14, the stock was almost as black as the metal.
