Care and feeding of wooden stocks
- Thread starter Big Bad
- Start date
Did I say something wrong? The msds on renwax is 80% naptha 20% microcrystalline wax. It was designed for metal. Use on wood *could* have the effects described, especially if the original finish is heavy on tree resins.
I tried using naptha as a thinner. It was a disaster.
What I should have said re traditional skill was, it is my understanding that the war killed much of the labor and the clientele, meaning that many tidbits of information died with them. Those who were left met perfect conditions for making nice guns: art deco, boom times, cheap labor, etc.
I tried using naptha as a thinner. It was a disaster.
What I should have said re traditional skill was, it is my understanding that the war killed much of the labor and the clientele, meaning that many tidbits of information died with them. Those who were left met perfect conditions for making nice guns: art deco, boom times, cheap labor, etc.
Looking at the works and subsequent careers of some of the few survivors of the trenches, I think it's fair to say that the losses to England, the Commonwealth, and human society in general that were inflicted by WWI are incalculable. Meaning, fortunately for our peace of mind, unknowable.
I like G96 and use it regularly. In addition to using it to clean the bores, I spray it on a microfiber cloth and use it to wipe the entire gun down. Clenzoil and a QTip for metal to metal surfaces. An application of Renaissance Wax every once in awhile.
1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
This thread has motivated me to pick up a tin of Conservators wax this afternoon. Now I have something to do over the weekend...
For those of you with experience using this wax, has anyone tried it on camo synthetic stocks? I recently picked up a Browning Gold 10 with the Dura-Touch stocks that many have complained about getting sticky...wondering if this wax would help prevent that..
For those of you with experience using this wax, has anyone tried it on camo synthetic stocks? I recently picked up a Browning Gold 10 with the Dura-Touch stocks that many have complained about getting sticky...wondering if this wax would help prevent that..
sportsmandiesel17
Member
- Location
- london ontario
i have used a few of the birchwood casey products and have liked all but one. the sealer and walnut stains were awesome, the tru-oil i really liked the outcome of it and how easy it was to use (my first gunstock refinish). the one product of theres i didnt like was the wax. it was more liquidy than i wanted and wasn't keen on its use and outcome. i bought a tin of johnson paste wax which i really like and 1 tin will last a long time. and i just picked up a bit of polish that i hope to try over the wax to get a bit more shine a couple of the stocks i really like
Try and google Purdy's maintenance videos. They say to hand rub in small amounts of boiled linseed oil and that is it. No wax. In my thinking wax creates a barrier to any future "feeding" of the wood in a high quality hand rubbed oil finished stock. Best to use whatever the stock is originally finished in. Otherwise why was the stock finished in that way to start with?
Try and google Purdy's maintenance videos. They say to hand rub in small amounts of boiled linseed oil and that is it. No wax. In my thinking wax creates a barrier to any future "feeding" of the wood in a high quality hand rubbed oil finished stock. Best to use whatever the stock is originally finished in. Otherwise why was the stock finished in that way to start with? Oops Purdey's.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVipIBpekU
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVipIBpekU
That was a great video, thanks from me.
Wax is really just oil that's solid at room temperature and in fact the Purdy tech states they use both in finishing their stocks so, having thought about wax vs oil when it first came up here, I don't imagine oil would be completely unable to penetrate a wax coating- worth finding out though. What really surprises me is that Purdy recommends BLO to touch up their wood because to my mind it's pretty crude stuff, more for me to think about now of course.
I see Purdy suggests the muzzle down storage method, but again the notion still makes me nervous, despite the fact that as stated earlier I did encounter an O/U whose action was frozen by hardened lube running down over the years it was kept in a safe unused. What surprises me most of all is that the tech handles those barrels with his bare hands and doesn't wipe them off or mention doing that- as we all know, surely, sweat is death to bluing and most any other fine metal finish in the DBBL world.
- Location
- Comox Valley Vancouver Island BC
Anyone have an Arbutus stock?
Do Brits sweat? I tend to store muzzle down any gun that I have done a proper internal clean and service. Then later move it to the muzzle up position after checking for and wiping any oiley residue I may have overlooked. I would need twice as many gun safes if I stored all my guns muzzle down. Also very lightly grease as per the Purdey advice otherwise wipe off any oil applied for surface protection or use a non oily protectant like Baricade on non moving parts. It also doesn't hurt to properly seal the hidden wood parts on the head of stocks or forearm wood. Most modern U.S. Marketed guns only properly apply finish to the exposed wood surfaces you can see. This is one of the problems with oil getting into the wood.
So having watched the Purdey video, I'm reconsidering this Birchwood-Casey Tru-oil stuff that's sold, for instance, by Lee Valley. I had thought it might be too radical and irreversible, may have to try it out now. Pretty sure you would not want to apply it over wax though. And I do read that it's 'polymerized.' suggesting that it's more of a varnish than just plain BLO.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=67594&cat=1,190,42942
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=67594&cat=1,190,42942
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1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
Dont do it big bad. Tru-oil is for refinishing and not maintenance. It applies like an oil, but dries like a varnish. If you want to just treat your stocks, do as suggested and occasionally use tiny amounts of BLO along with wax.
You will not be pleased with what tru-oil will do for your purpose
You will not be pleased with what tru-oil will do for your purpose
Falconflyer
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I'll echo that statement!
I just got done cleaning all of the dust, sunscreen and sweat off of my sporting clays gun that accumulated this weekend. Think I'll stop by Lee Valley tomorrow and get some of their Conservators wax to try out on it.
This seems like a sensible approach when the number of guns starts to become unwieldy in the safe. I have a custom walnut rack in mine that allows for 27 guns muzzle up. I have yet to figure out a design that would hold the same muzzle down. BB, the solution to the concern you have about the muzzles, when stored muzzle down, is to make sure they don't rest on carpet or whatever fabric lines the bottom of your safe. Part of my solution, should I ever redo the rack, is a walnut base (probably three strips as I have three rows of guns), with dedicated "sockets" so the muzzle is resting on hardwood but yet won't slide or slip. No retained moisture in the material and enough angle to the barrels to ensure they aren't sitting dead flat and air circulates into the barrels.
As a non oil protectant for use on metal, I love Eezox.
Thanks guys. In my experience, all BLO dries like varnish though, I used to use it by the gallon to weatherproof concrete, for which purpose it's very effective. When they talk about plasticising it, that's a caution for sure.
Thanks CB. It occurred to me last night that I have take-down cases for 2 of my better guns, so if there's room I can use both instead of just one to store them in my good safe. That will not only prevent oil creep doing harm but will protect the second gun from dings as it gets jostled around. Getting fussy in my old age I guess.
BB, be very careful about long term storage in take down cases of almost any sort. Moisture traps. I've seen more than one newish English Best in for rust removal requiring complete new bluing and CCH because the owner thought storage in the case was fine. You were on the right track being concerned about air circulation into the barrels. Astounds me that after paying over $100K one wouldn't learn how to store it properly however......
I am in the camp that would not consider using Tru-oil as a "barrier" to protect the wood finish of a gun stock. I am about to refinish a stock on a Husqvarna using Tru-Oil. It will be the Tru-Oil finish I am looking to protect when wax is eventually applied.
