The LO is boiled linseed oil from arts store originally for oil painting base. The label said this product can be used to finish wood products. Claimed drying time is 12~18 hours.(I don't like the usual modified & stained gunstock linseed oils, I think they dry too fast)
The handguard is washed with paint thinner and properly dried. Liberal coat is applied till the wood can't take anymore(30 min), excess wiped off. Then I waited 24 hours, applied second coat with a piece of cotton patch, the surface look shiny from freshly applied oil. But 24 hours later the wood is bare without any "coating" on it. Does linseed oil leave a coating on woods at all or should I apply more coats of oil till it looks good enough, what kind of look can I expect?
How do YOU finish a gunstock with BLO?
Input appreciated.
Take a half-teaspoon of boiled linseed oil into the cup of your hand.
Apply it to a small area of the stock.
Rub it in with your fingers & hand until your hand feels hot and your muscles get tired.
Repeat all over.
Leave overnight.
Wipe off any excess.
Leave it at room temp for a week.
Repeat all over again. And again.
If your wood is dry and thirsty you can expect to lose several coats before seeing anything for your endeavours.
I reckon my Lee Enfield has taken five coats like this.
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tikka 3 barrels
Pete has the right idea and I bet his first
experience was with a cricket bat.
I guess you never had a cricket bat.
When you get a new cricket bat you get the bat to soak up as much linseed oil as possible before you use it.You basically stand the bat in linseed oil and let the wood draw up the oil into the wood.A "dry"
bat is too brittle and a well oiled bat has more strength and stability.
When they were assembling SMLE's in Australia
at Lithgow they would soak the butt stock in linseed oil before squeezing the butt into the butt recess.
Linseed oil tends to "feed" the wood as it soaks right in.
The warmer the temperature the easier it is to get the oil "into" the wood.
The rubbing you do is important to the finish.The more you rub the more of a polished look you can achieve.
Regards
Deafdog
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deafdog@turboweb.net.au
http://deafdog.turboweb.net.au
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BigBob
I, too, am in the process of preparing an M96 Swede for refinishing.
What I want to do is to use the finish on this stock (when I finish) as an example of how to do another stock--my next step will be my Garand, then my M1A.
Here's the question: Take a look at a new Browning rifle. Note the finish--absolutely beautiful!!!
That's what I want to duplicate. How do I do it?
Any and all suggestions, comments, and tips are welcome.
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Happiness is a 200 yard bughole.
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But hey, whatever floats your boat. But, to me and I bet most, knowledgeable shooters, a gloss finish on an old war horse like a Garand, looks like hell. It looks plain cheap and out of place. Kind of like a an original Pennsylvania long rifle that has been reblued with a buffed gloss hot dip finish and a gloss bar-top finish on the wood. But hey, like I said suit yourself.
To get that kind of finish you spoke of you want a catalized resin finish, like Fullerplast. This stuff is best sprayed on. There are health issues. Do your research.
Better for the old military stuff is something I call stock spit shine. Take a lump of bee's wax and add a good squirt of tung oil finish and a bit of mineral spirits. Maybe 1/3 of each ingredient. Possible 50% wax and 25% of the others. Experiment. CAREFULLY melt these together, use a double boiler!. Let is cool. It will be like peanut butter. Leave the sandpaper out of this. Sandpaper makes the job look over done. It messes up the cartouches, rounds things, it never looks right if you attack the wood with sandpaper. Leave the dings! Rub the "spit shine" it into the wood real well. Buff it off with a cloth. It will look really nice. Very warm glow. IT will most importantly, look correct, not cheap.
The biggest mistake with old military rifle stocks is refinishing them to agressively. I messed up my share of stocks before I figured that out.
Most finishes are good today, oil modified urathanes like Tru oil or Linspeed, stright tung or polyurathanes work wonderfully if the application is done correctly..Polyurathanes are probably the most moisture proof...but if you really want a water proof stock then use three coats of outdoor house paint, think I'll pass on the last one.....
But really, Linseed is a 100 yr. old finish that never was worth a flip and the wonderfull luster it gave can be duplicated by adding a couple of hand rubs to a properly finished (completed) stock, after it has been cut back.
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Ray Atkinson
the difference in most finishes is the finisher IMHO...they all work pretty good including Spar VArnish.
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Ray Atkinson