Questions on obtaining a deep sheen on a gunstock

VictoryXC said:
A couple picks of my 100% Pure Tung Oil, Tru-Oil, Mineral Spirits, Renaissance Wax refinish job on a Beretta 425.

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And to give an idea of the before condition.....

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That looks nice. Sure brought some life back into that ol girl. Well done.
 
So a little update. Last I posted I had just laid on a coat of slurry. That afternoon after 7 hours of dry time the slurry was drying to the point that I could roll if off with my finger. So I figured lets play with it. I tried using the heel of my hand to rub it in more but that wasnt working so hot. I grabbed a paper towel and started working across the grain with the slurry and got more of a fill from it. Then I wiped it down with the grain to get rid of any streaking from the slurry. When it looked good I hit it with a coat of red oil to "melt" the slurry together and help smoothen it out more. Even with that one more coat of red oil it was getting just a little redder then I wanted. I hung it up for 4 days and let dry.

4 days later I mixed up another batch of slurry but this time I used just straight tung oil and not my tinted stuff. I repeated the above process and now have about 80% fill. I left it for a few days and then coated it again with tung oil straight. That put me at this past Thursday. Its Saturday morning right now and I was hoping to start wet sanding it tomorrow but its a little tacky yet. If its not good tomorrow morning to wet sand it might get till next weekend to dry and then start wet sanding it or maybe mid week coming up. Its a slow process which I expected, but I am sure loving this tung oil for a finish.

I also sanded up and oiled 3 more test walnut boards to play with for my final finish before I hit the stock with it. So all in all, its working!!
 
Besides sharing the amazing craftsmanship in this video, thought the way he finishes the stock (starting around 22:22) could possibly help shed light on some techniques to get the results some of you are after?
He has jars labelled Teak Oil on his bench.
Not sure what the final oil/polish is though

[youtube]_XzGyZUGWyU[/youtube]


EDIT:

I saw in the discussions on another of his vids that he used Pilkington's gunstock finish on that particular gun.
I'm assuming its the same for this one as the little bottle he used while hand rubbing looks similar to that

Quick look for the stuff, Brownells carries it and has reference to the technique suggested by the manufacturer
https://www.brownells.com/guntech/stock-finishing-with-classic-gunstock-finish/detail.htm?lid=17772
 
Last edited:
pauls said:
Besides sharing the amazing craftsmanship in this video, thought the way he finishes the stock (starting around 22:22) could possibly help shed light on some techniques to get the results some of you are after?
He has jars labelled Teak Oil on his bench.
Not sure what the final oil/polish is though

[youtube]XzGyZUGWyU[/youtube]
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Dang...link doesnt work.
 
Scarheart said:
I am getting to around 2000 to 3000 grit by the time it's looking polished.
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At this point the wood will be so smooth and the pores closed that it won't absorb the oil properly. There is almost 0 reason to EVER take wood past 600 grit paper. Those scratches are not visible in woods after finish.

OP, it sounds like you have too many options of the go. When it comes to finishes, pick one and stick with it. I'd use tung over linseed oil for 4-6 heavy coats, then add a varnish or film finish if you want more abrasion resistance (tru oil is just oil+whiping varnish) and finish with some sort of soft wax. THIS is what gives you that satin sheen/glow you are after. Apply with a rag or paper towel, with firm pressure to help melt it into the pores.

Source: built high end guitars professionally for 5 years and did all finishes myself.
 
Jahnj0584 said:
At this point the wood will be so smooth and the pores closed that it won't absorb the oil properly. There is almost 0 reason to EVER take wood past 600 grit paper. Those scratches are not visible in woods after finish.

OP, it sounds like you have too many options of the go. When it comes to finishes, pick one and stick with it. I'd use tung over linseed oil for 4-6 heavy coats, then add a varnish or film finish if you want more abrasion resistance (tru oil is just oil+whiping varnish) and finish with some sort of soft wax. THIS is what gives you that satin sheen/glow you are after. Apply with a rag or paper towel, with firm pressure to help melt it into the pores.

Source: built high end guitars professionally for 5 years and did all finishes myself.
Click to expand...

I know that guitars and stocks cross over, been watching guitar vids also for tips/tricks. Actually been watching lots of wood finishing vids. Right now I am about coat #8 of tung oil on the stock and this includes 2 filler coats of sawdust/red oil mix.. I went to wet sand it today and recoat it. My last coat of tung was last monday and I thought today being sunday it would be dry enough. When sanding it rolled a little so I just wet sanded it using tung oil as a cutting agent,wiped it down and will let it dry for another week. All the boards I am trying finishes on are just for my ####s and giggles factor to try different things out.

So from reading your post are you saying to just give a piece of wood a few coats and leave the grain open then use wax as a filler?
 
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