oiling a new stock

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Light Infantry

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I know there are a few posts on the subject, but cant seem to find them. I have a new unfinished walnut stock from Boyds. What is the process and oil to use to finish it. I want a military type finish on it.

Im thinking Tung oil. Do I do multiple light rubs of the oil and let sit for a day or 2 in between coats?

Any sanding to do prior to the 1st coat? Between coats?
 
50/50 blo and varsol, hand rub in and wipe of excess. I usually heat up the oil or put the wood in the sun between coats to let things soak in. I do multiple coats over consecutive days till I’m satisfied, then every now and then I’ll recoat. Couple layers of furniture paste wax rubbed and buffed out to finish it always looks nice, blo gives you a nice matte oil finish.
 
Light Infantry said:
I know there are a few posts on the subject, but cant seem to find them. I have a new unfinished walnut stock from Boyds. What is the process and oil to use to finish it. I want a military type finish on it.

Im thinking Tung oil. Do I do multiple light rubs of the oil and let sit for a day or 2 in between coats?

Any sanding to do prior to the 1st coat? Between coats?
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Military finish?? Soak it in a vat of boiling linseed oil for half hour, let it drain dip it in cosmoline, wrap it in paper and let the grunt worry about cleaning the goop out from under his fingernails for the next month... :)

Seriously though.

Pure tung oil cures faster than linseed, I far prefer it - between coats is dependent on conditions, a "day or two" is very optimistic - can be up to a week or more for pure tung oil 3-4 times that for linseed. You won't need or notice more than 2 or 3 applications of pure oil. reapply when you feel the finish is looking worn.

For a polymerized tung, follow curing directions, usually 24 hours is safe - best leave for a little more if you can. again, generally 2 - 3 applications is all that is needed.

Sanding ... you should not need to sand a "finish" ... finish means "finished" if applied properly, no sanding needed. (that means steel wool too)

Sanding a finish usually means someone is trying to fill pores. use a pore filler or sanding sealer before finishing. or many many many applications of finish. military finish? - don't bother with pores.

If you want fast: pore filler/sealer, polymerized finish (tung or linseed, tru oil - once polymerized the type of oil does not matter) if you use Lee Valley poly tung and sealer, you can mix them to get anything between a high gloss to a dead flat matte finish.


Don't take my word for it. there are literally hundreds on hundreds of articles, comparisons, reviews and rants about penetrating wood finishes on the internet (Fine woodworking, Canadian Woodworking, etc-etc-etc)

FWIW - I am not a subscriber to the cut oils with solvents for deeper penetration. I find it just keeps the oil from curing as quickly. If you want deep penetration; keep the oil from curing at all. i.e. slather it on, leave the excess, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it for a week. Dry wood will suck up all the excess. (won't work with polymerized finishes)
 
Iv always used tung oil and wet sanded to fill the pours, then light coats afterwards letting lots of time to cure between coats. If you want a little more scheen, you can add 5-10 % spar varnish in with your oil for your last coat.

Iv been playing with Danish oil a bit lately, really liking how it finishes out.

For “military look”, I think a guy would want linseed oil, Iv heard to many mixed reviews to test it myself personally.
 
Tung oil. Not Canadian tire stuff - go to a quality finishing store where you know what you’re getting in the can. Cheap tung oil has additives and curing agents added. Very thin coats rubber in with your bare hands. It needs the heat and friction generated from your fingers for best results. You can finish with a microscopic coat of again hand rubbed and then thoroughly buffed 50/50 tung and melted bees wax if that’s your thing (I wouldn’t but some like the semi-satin finish it creates).

Boiled linseed oil can be used too, but the process is a bit different.

Tru-oil can be nice if you take your time and sand between coats. It can also make a real mess if you don’t know how to do it. If you’re going this way, don’t make a fine stock your first try. Tung oil is foolproof and will look better than tru-oil in the end. In my opinion.

Good luck.
 
I will be a bit contrary to above posts. First, appears to me that many today want a "shiny" looking finish on their rifle - I do not think a night-time soldier wants "shiny" stuff on him?? I think elder milsurps were not shiny. And what I read says raw wood stocks were dunked and soaked in heated linseed oil vats - to soak in the oils - at least in war-time Britain. And I believe that rifle units were issued a periodic (monthly?) ration of linseed oil to hand rub into their stocks.

Of the ones that I have re-done - strip to raw bare wood with Circa 1850 or similar - I do not like to use abrasives on wood stocks, if I don't have to - too many cartouches and stampings just disappear and owner never knew (or did not care) that they were present, if sandpaper used. Then, on dry bare wood, I liberally slosh on "Double Boiled Linseed Oil" - because I can get it at local Home Hardware Store. Let dripping wet for perhaps 10 minutes, then use old terry bath towel and rub HARD to remove as much of the liquid as I can. Let that hang to dry perhaps a day. Then a few drops on fingers - for entire rifle - or small amount in pill bottle and dip finger in there to get some drops of it - rub in hard so that it feels almost dry - subsequent coats seem to go right through first coats - is my impression that this stuff applied over varnish will not go through - why to strip the thing to raw wood at the start. Is not an attempt to build up layers - actually I think the idea is to have microscopic thin layer on top of wood surface and most of it soaked into the wood fibres.

An acquaintance and I each have had examples of linseed oil applied much too thickly and likely never wiped off - was still soft, 20 years later - still had not dried or hardened.

For first coats - can mix in MinWax stain with the linseed oil - I use Red Mahogany - seems to allow lighter woods to be made darker to match up to other pieces of wood. Definitely some "art" involved regarding how much stain to mix to that oil to get the colour change that you want. For subsequent coats, I try to have the piece totally dry, before another coat - usually one coat a day. Until you get bored with it. Then every month or so. If you think of it, every year or so. Down side is, I think, that linseed oil reacts with oxygen in the air - so it gets darker over time. I think is why so many WWI stocks look nearly black - they were not made that way - probably a combination of oxided BLO, plus sweat, plus dirt and dried oils and so on.

And, in opposition to what I do - I suspect that more modern varnish and similar epoxy type finishes - like you see on some Brownings - probably shed water pretty good. Until you remove butt plate or remove metal parts and see how much wood was never coated at all. So my thought for doing that is to remove EVERYTHING from the wood - recoil pad, sling swivels, etc., and get that oil applied inside and out - even into the wood screw holes. Most definitely could be wasting my time, but makes me feel better about it.
 
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Potashminer said:
And, in opposition to what I do - I suspect that more modern varnish and similar epoxy type finishes - like you see on some Brownings - probably shed water pretty good. Until you remove butt plate or remove metal parts and see how much wood was never coated at all. So my thought for doing that is to remove EVERYTHING from the wood - recoil pad, sling swivels, etc., and get that oil applied inside and out - even into the wood screw holes. Most definitely could be wasting my time, but makes me feel better about it.
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I've had at least one (reputable) gun smith tell me not to do that ... "that wood needs to breathe" - 100% crap. Seal it up 100%.

I get some kind of oil/sealer in all the unexpected places - lock mortises, patch boxes, under inlays and even down the ram rod hole. Seal the darn thing up so it doesn't start moving around and crack etc.

FWIW - depending on the stock, it will swell a little before it cures and some tightly fitted parts parts (locks, inlays mostly) won't fit any more. needing to be scraped back a little.
 
I'm a tung oil guy also, a coat a day for a week, a coat a week for a month and then every month till you get the depth of finish you're happy with.
I also steam bare wood with an iron and damp cotton cloth before any coating and then fine wet sand to cut the "raised fingers" off the wood. This can also be done while applying the finish by wet sanding with the sand paper soaked in tung oil.
 
Pretty much like Potashminer said, except that for the first few applications, I thin the Boiled Linseed Oil with Turpentine.
That helps to soak it deeper into the fibers.
Also, don't forget that linseed oil is exothermic as it cures. The dirty rags, if dumped in a trash bin, can burst into flame and burn your place down.
I always spread my rags and hang them to dry so they don't build up heat. They can be reused, even if they feel somewhat stiff from the last time.
Also, never sand. I just use a bit of steel wool to fight the fuzzies if need be.
 
I'd steer clear of tru oil, unless your just making a truck gun or not worried about the finish.

I know one guy on here uses Dalys seafin ship n' shore sealer.

Basically anything that is used on wood that will be exposed to water would be good.

One method to make it extremely water proof is to apply epoxie and set the stock in a pressure chamber, epoxie gets sucked in, then you can apply a top coat of your preferred finish.
 
Bubba Yugga said:
Pretty much like Potashminer said, except that for the first few applications, I thin the Boiled Linseed Oil with Turpentine.
That helps to soak it deeper into the fibers.
Also, don't forget that linseed oil is exothermic as it cures. The dirty rags, if dumped in a trash bin, can burst into flame and burn your place down.
I always spread my rags and hang them to dry so they don't build up heat. They can be reused, even if they feel somewhat stiff from the last time.
Also, never sand. I just use a bit of steel wool to fight the fuzzies if need be.
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Some years ago, I bought some New, old Lee Enfield wood stocks. They arrived from England in original wax paper wrapping. Appeared to be raw wood - no finish at all. I glued an ABS end on a length of 4" ABS pipe and slid the fore-end and hand guards in there. Filled with 50/50 mix of Boiled Linseed Oil and Turpentine. Put one of those light plastic "test" covers on top and lashed the tube to work bench so it would not fall over. Sort of forgot about it - soaked more than a day - maybe two or three? Eventually, I pulled them out and rubbed off excess with rags, then hung to dry on wires in garage - three or four days? Then assembled onto a rifle - was the only finish that one ever got - seemed to work. That butt stock would not fit into that pipe, so I did similar with it in a plastic tray with a lid - I had to use something - do not remember what I used, to keep that butt stock submerged in that juice - it wanted to float in there, I noticed. I figured that juice could go right up inside that butt stock bolt hole, and get into all the nooks and crannies that way. I could not really rub to remove the excess in there - but did get a bit of towel in there to get most of the liquid, I think.
 
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MilitaryCollectorMark said:
One method to make it extremely water proof is to apply epoxie and set the stock in a pressure chamber, epoxie gets sucked in, then you can apply a top coat of your preferred finish.
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This is commonly known as "stabilizing" - while it sounds like a great idea, there are more than a few drawbacks, particularly for this type application. (sorry, gonna burst your bubble :( )

- causes warping in larger pieces of wood
- causes swelling
- weight. the material will be 3-4x heavier depending on species (think ebony weight)
- cost - enough epoxy resin to submerge a stock in is not going to be cheap
- cost - the process takes a long time, longer for larger items, a couple days.
- no finish options - this is now basically a piece of plastic. you can polish it, paint it, but thats about it.

There are 2 ways to do it, with pressure and with vacuum - pressure is generally preferred. The guys near me (Woodchuckers) do their own pressure stabilizing for small turning blanks, pen blanks etc & showed me the setup - really neat, took me through the whole process, ins and outs. You could get setup, there are "home" rolled kits out there (mileage may vary) But the biggest problem is that you are probably not going to find anyone with a reservoir large enough for a whole stock.
Grips, fore ends - even butt stocks may be too large.
 
sean69 said:
This is commonly known as "stabilizing" - while it sounds like a great idea, there are more than a few drawbacks, particularly for this type application. (sorry, gonna burst your bubble :( )

- causes warping in larger pieces of wood
- causes swelling
- weight. the material will be 3-4x heavier depending on species (think ebony weight)
- cost - enough epoxy resin to submerge a stock in is not going to be cheap
- cost - the process takes a long time, longer for larger items, a couple days.
- no finish options - this is now basically a piece of plastic. you can polish it, paint it, but thats about it.

There are 2 ways to do it, with pressure and with vacuum - pressure is generally preferred. The guys near me (Woodchuckers) do their own pressure stabilizing for small turning blanks, pen blanks etc & showed me the setup - really neat, took me through the whole process, ins and outs. You could get setup, there are "home" rolled kits out there (mileage may vary) But the biggest problem is that you are probably not going to find anyone with a reservoir large enough for a whole stock.
Grips, fore ends - even butt stocks may be too large.
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Maybe only good if your using it in a target stock? Probably better ways to watertite a stock.
 
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