I've been playing around with my automotive gravity feed sprayer over a filled and leveled grain. The results. What say you?

1. Full strength Tru-Oil sprayed with a dull coat followed by a wet coat 10 minutes later.
Not acceptable. Finish dried saggy and thick.
2. Same as above, thinned 1/1 with pure mineral spirits. Much of finish had heavy runs, some of which sheathed off the butt. Gloss was excellent.
3. Same as above, thinned to 2/1. Less runs, excellent sheen. Still not "there".
4. Same as above 3/1. Great improvement, light sheathing, light runs.
5. Final. 6/1. No runs, only minor sheathing at butt.
6. Also tested with GunSavr. Results were similar.
My spraying technique probably improved over the course of testing.
Final note: There's a fine line between just wet and too wet.

I got a rattle can of True oil here somewhere, probably 20 years old.

thanks for the info.

Turbo (hvlp) or compressor?

Compressor dialed in at 45 psi, full width fan, half throttle. Atomization was superior to the T.O. rattler I used previously.

quote:

Originally posted by richj:
I got a rattle can of True oil here somewhere, probably 20 years old.

thanks for the info.

Turbo (hvlp) or compressor?

I have used Brownell's Gun-Sav-R comes in can or spray can, gloss and satin..Im fond of the spray can, Its easy to apply and finishes as good as anything else and Ive tried them all...Did I say it last forever under the most harsh conditions like setting a sample on my shop roof thru several Idaho winters, passed in flying colors,compared to others tried..

I like rattle can finishes for a quick low cost job, my favorite is Deft Semi-gloss. As a durability test I've used it to finish several bench tops in the shop, it stands up well to daily use gun oil, solvents etc..

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I have use Brownells Gun-Sav-R comes in can or spray can, gloss and satin..Im fond of the spray can, Its easy to apply and finishes as good as anything else and Ive tried them all...Did I say it last forever under the most harsh conditions like setting a sample on my shop roof thru several Idaho winters, passed in flying colors,compared to others tried..

Agree. It's so simple I'm ashamed to use it, so I spray it when nobody's looking!

Yeah me too, but don't tell the pros, they like to mix components like a mad scientist!

Oh. By the way, the first 3 coats were sanded in with fine paper aross the grain.
The spray app was for the final 3 finish coats.

I’ve tried numerous rattle can finishes on various rifles and have never been satisfied with the results. I only use oil now applied by hand. Always get a beautiful finish.

there is a new wipe poly designed to be hand rubbed - nice hard finish lots of hand applied sandpaper to remove it

Ray, which Gun- Save- R spray did you use? Gloss or Satin?

Nobody out there uses an automotive pneumatic gun? The quality of the spray is superior over a rattler.

Quality of the spray doesn’t matter much as the Guy-sav-r lays down nicely and I always polish it out with rotten stone. I closely follow the instructions on the can and can fill most grain with four coats or so. Great stuff.

The goal for this last project (see custom thread) was to get a fine gloss.
Best about a gravity sprayer for me is thickness is much more consistent over hand application and even what spray can tips can produce. Aerosol runs are usually thick and take a lot of work to remove them and one can't help but remove some of the previous coat(s) in the process. Runs (if any) of the TruOil with a 10% reduction can be bled off with thinner with little residual run remaining.

It's all good to hear from others.
To each his own. Thanks.
Ray

Ive used both Hi gloss and satin Gun sav R, but either one works, wet sand the gloss back to satin is the best option and tougher for the using rifle.or polish the satin to a hi gloss..

I used about ever finish one can imagine and decided its the applicatee (the stock finisher) that makes the difference, most of them work fine..some folks use one finish better than others is the fact of the matter IMO..Ive seen good work with shellack mixes.

What is disgusting is hi gloss is more water proof than satin and folks that have a "magic potion" of home made finish!!

I, also have a magic potion that I used on my personal rifles and that is use a good hard filler and fill ever pore level by wet sanding, polish and let it sit to cure then hand rub LINSEED oil with a
added dryer from Brownells to get that beautiful egg shell finish..It seems to be working well on two rifles and a back yard table top I did 5 years ago..

100% of my synthetic sporting stocks and AR platforms are sprayed on

Either two part polyurethane or Cerakote.

I experimented a few years back with spray on lacquer. Now I know no one uses this because it degrades from exposure to sunlight. But unless you're a hunter your gun is probably not going to see enough sunlight to cause a problem.

I can tell you that spray lacquer from a can is very durable and easy as hell to apply. Just don't let it pool up and it dries in minutes with no streaks. You can keep recoating for a thicker coat. You can get a gloss or satin finish. I've done some handgun grips with it and it works great. Maybe a rifle stock next time?