Stock Finishing - Any Suggestions, Please
 

I have acquired un-finished walnut stock from Boyd's Gun Stocks and now need to put a finish on it. Any suggestions as to how to go about this would be appreciated. Should I be staining it, if so with what? I was thinking about spraying it with a lacquer, is this OK? Any advice would be appreciated. gg.

RE: Stock Finishing - Any Suggestions, Please
 

There's a good article in Outdoor Life this month about stock finishing using the Birchwood Casey stock kit. I've used their Tru-oil kit to do a few stocks with really nice results.

RE: Stock Finishing - Any Suggestions, Please
 

Hi goodguy. I've finished a few stocks several different ways. Earlier I used to use a product called Linspeed (linseed oil). This was put on by hand with very thin coats, spreading it evenly onto/into the wood. Then allow to dry overnight, sand with 00 or finer steel wool, wipe off and recoat with more linspeed. Usually about 7 coats gives the stock a nice luster. It takes a long time for this finish to completely dry but when it does, a good waxing with a quality furniture paste was brings a nice shine to the stock.

Lately though, the last stock I finished was much faster and it really looks nice. I have a T/C Hawken .50 cal that I stripped off the shiny finish and removed the brass. I used brass black to darken the brass and applied a couple coats of satin finish polyurethane allowing it to dry between coats. This really brought out the grain in the wood and brought out the grayish brown color of the walnut. Matched up with the black "brass", Makes for a really neat looking piece.

RE: Stock Finishing - Any Suggestions, Please
 

DO NOT STAIN the walnut wood.....walnut stain is for birch and other light colored woods to make them look like walnut.....

I've had great results with a product from Brownells called custom oil.....It's from Chem Pak, available only in satin and it produces a fine finish but requires many coates to fill the pores of the wood.

I like to fill the pores with the same finish thgat I'm using to finish the final coat.....wood fillers for the pores are easily seen in the final product.....

Birchwood Casey Tru-oil can also be used and it's hand rubbed the entire way. The Brownell's product is an aerisol spray.....I like it a lot.

RE: Stock Finishing - Any Suggestions, Please
 

Sand that stock smooth. then go over it with a damp rag. When its wet, you wil feel the grain "lift". Sand it while it's still a little wet. Let it dry, go over the stock with linseed oil, for two or three coats. Let it sit on the wood for about five or ten minutes, then wipe it off. Go over between coats with very fine steel wool. You will have a rifle you can be very proud of. I did a model 70 like this about two years ago. I think it turned out quite sharp.

RE: Stock Finishing - Any Suggestions, Please
 

Appreciate all the advice and suggestions. I certainly feel better informed now in learning that different methods will work. Also checked out that article in Outdoor Life. I went to the local shop today and they had the Tru-Oil so I guess I'll try my hand with it. Thanks again all. gg.

RE: Stock Finishing - Any Suggestions, Please
 

i did my tc hawken with tru oil........stripped the old finish then sanded it with very fine paper to finish the wood....then rubbed truoil on it let it dry 2 hrs then went over it with fine steel wool then re did the tru oil....did that about 8 times i think......i think ill do one more coat before i take it out......looks good....but some spots turned whitish if you look at it a certain way....i dont like that....another coat should fix that........it looks great.....brings out the natural wood......before i thought i had a junk stock.....but when igot the practically plasitc finish they had on it off i found a great piece of walnut......great grain and lines.....now it looks great......

RE: Stock Finishing - Any Suggestions, Please
 

I'v used Tru oil a couple times & liked it alot. Used Tung oil a few times too & liked the way it looked a bit better than the Tru oil but it didnt seem to offer the same protection.
A post above mentioned a whitish area in the finish. This only happened to me once, on my first try. I kept recoating it & hitting it with steel wool but the trouble turned out to be under the finish. I hadnt done a good enough job removing the old finish & this was preventing the new finish from being absorbed into the stock. In the end I had to restrip the stock & start over. Your wood being new this shouldnt be a factor but if your refinishing an old set I cant stress enuff the need to be certain the old finish is really all gone.
Another bonus to using an oil finish is if it becomes a bit worn you can just scuff it up a bit with some xtra fine steel wool & rub in another coat

RE: Stock Finishing - Any Suggestions, Please
 

starting with a bare stock. use half Truoil and half turpentine with 2in squares of 120 grit emery paper. sand in the mix in small circular patterns with enough mix to keep it wet. cover all of the stock and let dry 24 hours. repeat 3 or 4 times. use 300 grit with same mix for 3 or 4 more coats. for a slick high gloss use 600 grit for 3 or 4 more coats. otherwise, use full strenght truoil with your fingers to rub in as many more coats as you want to get the look you want. use 4x fine steel wool to knock off any rough spots. the last coats should be very thin so as not to have any runs at all. check the truoil web pages for more help. good luck.