Tung Oil

"...Is staining necessary or is it a matter of preference?..." Absolutely the latter. However, if you want to stain it must be done before you apply any tung oil. Tung oil soaks into the wood and keeps anything else out. There's no need for a polyurethane at anytime. Either after oiling or in the oil. The biggest advantage to an oil finish is that if you scratch it, you only need to put a bit more oil on and the scratch is gone. ANY plastic finish will need a complete re-finish or you'll have a blob of plastic where the scratch was.
Use a clean lint free cloth to apply it, let it dry a few minutes then rub it in with another clean cloth until the wood gets warm and leave it to finish dryig for 24 hours an drepeat the next day. A good tung oil finish takes at least 5 days to do it right.
Any furniture finishing book that shows how to do a 'french oil' finish will show you exactly how to do an oil finish. It's exactly the same process.
 
Why not use Schaftol which is available in various colours? This stock was done with Schaftol dark.

Schaftolbeforeandafter2.jpg


More pictures on our website:
http://bitsofpieces.com/v-web/gallery/album15
 
If you really want to work up a deep, deep lustre without any shine, try the buffing wheels from Lee Valley Tools, along with the various polishes and waxes that come with the kit. Of course, it all starts with tung oil sealer.

You won't believe the finish you can get!!! :cool:
 
If you go for using Tru-Oil you'll get an exceptionally nice finish if you let each coat fully dry, lightly sand it with 600 grit paper to remove any minor imperfections and then wipe with a tack cloth in between coats. If you do this and make sure to put the Tu-Oil on an thin as possible it will be glass smooth.

I have to say though, this thread has me intrigued about trying a tung oil finsh. In fact I even have some rust blueing solution that I've been wanting to try. It looks like it would be a nice combo on the right gun. Now I just need to find a good project gun.

Chuck
 
We first came into contact with Schaftol 25 years ago in South Africa, where we used it on many of the fine custom African hunting guns. After we immigrated to Canada, we were surprised to find that Schaftol was virtually unknown in North America. We therefore decided to become the North American distributor for Schaftol, and have been importing and distributing Schaftol ever since. Schaftol holds 73% of the European stock finish market and is used by antique restorers, museums and the major European manufacturers of fine firearms.

Schaftol stock oil is a 100% natural product, made from refined linseed oil and natural plant pigments and oils for colouring. Schaftol is available in 5 different colours and they can be mixed in any combination to achieve a custom colour.

There is more info on our website
http://www.bitsofpieces.com/schaftol.html
 
I'm looking at LVT's selection of Tung Oil based finishes - Could you folks who've used Tung Oil to finish a stock clarify - are you using the "Polmerized Tung oil", or the '100% natural' tung oil. Has anyone used the Tung Oil sealer product as a base coat?

Thanks -
Gray.
 
If you are going to stain it, then you may want to start with Watco's Danish Oil from Colour Your World. Is basically a stained tung oil, in a variety of colours. I use it for mr base coats followed by straight tung oil. Comes out nice.
 
When I was cleaning the cosmoline off my still in the factory wrap Lee Enfield I put the wood through the dishwasher, single life has at least one advantage. I then LIGHTLY sanded the raised grain with steel wool. Then I rubbed in 3 coats of 50% Boiled Linseed Oil and 50% Turpentine. Then 3 Coats of BLO. Finally I made a paste wax of 1 part BLO to 1 part Turpentine and 1 part Bees wax. Melt together in a double boiler. I put it into an old well cleaned shoe polish tin. I now have a beautiful blonde that beads water.
 
The techniques for stabilized oil finishes are all basically the same (so are the oils - just different plant species, and different degrees of refinement). The oils are all wood oils with varying content of "solids" (the drying part that gives the shine.) The secret to a good finish is very smooth surface with plenty of dry time between coats. The rule of thumb for boiled linseed oil is one day of drying per number of coat. I.e., first coat dries one day, second coat drys two days, 3rd coat etc. (use no other kind of linseed oil in the home shop - the non-boiled varieties are extremely susceptible to spontaneous combustion. This is always a general caution for any plant oil finishes - do not leave oil wetted paper towels or rags in closed containers like garbage cans - air is needed to prevent spontaneous combustion.)
This general rule works for most other oils as well. If the oil doesn't dry thoroughly, the next coat dissolves the first, and then the whole mess takes longer to dry. These are rubbing oils - you put them on, wipe off the excess. Diluting the first coat is a good idea for penetration. Sanding out with 4-0 steel wool between coats will give a nice finish, followed by a good wax out and fairly heavy buff when you're done.
Note that oil finishes are quite waterproof but they are NOT particularly solvent proof. If you have a good oil shine, watch gun cleaning solvents, they'll often streak and strip oil. Take the action out of the stock if possible if you are giving it an agressive clean.
Staining is done before oiling, and must be thoroughly dry or the oil will dissolve it in most cases.
 
I just went through the exercise of refinishing an old sported P-14 stock, as an experiment. Stripped off the old finish using stripper - did it twice, with a focus on the darkened areas.
Put on three coats of Min Wax Tung Oil, as per instructions The oil itself has some tint - it tended to darken the walnut, and provide a reddish tinge - not undesireable. What I didnt like was the gloss finish it left.
So I sanded it with 320 grit paper, and put a single coat of 10% thinned satin varathane. Voila - I got what I wanted, and it should be reasonably weatherproof. In the end, I have a rather nice looking piece of walnut - now its making the rest of the rifle look bad!
 
Just so you know, Tung Oil is not a waterproof finish, no matter how carefully or how many coats you apply.

It does give a beautiful finish, and I have used it on a number of rifles, but it is not waterproof.

Please don't shoot the messenger. :D

Ted
 
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