quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
so what are all the finishes made from? Like Tru-oil; Dembart finishing oil, etc?

Linspeed, Tru-Oil, Dembart and many other finishes are a mixture of mineral spirits(thinner) boiled linseed oil/tung and proprietary modified oils(alkyds,polyurethanes) which are usually modified soybean oil. They can be modified drying oils. The soybean oil is modified to plasticize and dry hard. That's why you get better waterproofing with these finishes and faster drying. Some commercial finishes are all polyurethane and thinner.

In the old days finishes were called varnishes. Authentic varnishes are drying oils cooked together with tree rosin and thinned with turpentine. They were used on fine furniture, wooden musical instruments and some firearms. The problem with varnishes and built-up finishes on firearms is that after a few seasons in the field the look like crap. Repair usually involves stripping and re-finishing. For a field gun, I just think a drying oil is more sensible, looks good and is easier to repair. All you have to do is rub another coat in. However, some of the wiping varnishes like Formby's do a real good job on gun stocks because there is not a lot of build to them. You can make a wiping varnish out of the thicker finishes like Tru-Oil and Linspeed just by thinning them with mineral spirits. Used straight and brushed on they are more of a varnish. Marine spar varnish is great thinned and rubbed in too. Some folks use poly floor finishes the same way.

Varnishes are very useful as non-obscuring filler for wood pores when finishing stocks. Apply multiple coats to fill the pores and sand/scape back to wood. Then you have a smooth surface for the drying oil. I personally like the pores to show and just finish with a drying oil.

Another method that Mauser used was to buff the stock with a clean muslin wheel after sanding to polish the wood. The same thing they do to baseball and cricket bats. Then they applied boiled linseed oil. It produces a very nice effect.

Other finishes are lacquer and shellac. Lacquer is a nitrocellulose product dissolved in an aromatic thinner. A by-product of explosives and propellant manufacturing. One of the early plastics. Acrylic resins are used in most lacquers these days. Actually not a bad spray on finish for gunstocks if you use the automotive variety. Shellac is a drying resin made from the excreta of the lac bug dissolved in ethyl or methyl alcohol. Also makes a decent finish, but gets cloudy when exposed to moisture. Both of these finishes are highly resistant to oil and an undercoat can prevent oil from soaking into a gun stock. They can be damaged by gun cleaning solvents. 35 years ago I finished a pair of walnut end tables for my dad using a thinned base coat of orange shellac and two coats of linseed oil varnish as a top coat. They still look as good as the day I gave them to him.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
so what are all the finishes made from? Like Tru-oil; Dembart finishing oil, etc?

Linspeed, Tru-Oil, Dembart and many other finishes are a mixture of mineral spirits(thinner) boiled linseed oil/tung and proprietary modified oils(polyurethanes) which are usually modified soybean oil. The soybean oil is modified to plasticize and dry hard. That's why you get better waterproofing with these finishes and faster drying. Some commercial finishes are all polyurethane and thinner.

In the old days finishes were called varnishes. Authentic varnishes are drying oils cooked together with tree rosin and thinned with turpentine. They were used on fine furniture, wooden musical instruments and some firearms. The problem with varnishes and built-up finishes on firearms is that after a few seasons in the field the look like crap. Repair usually involves stripping and re-finishing. For a field gun, I just think a drying oil is more sensible, looks good and is easier to repair. All you have to do is rub another coat in. However, some of the wiping varnishes like Formby's do a real good job on gun stocks because there is not a lot of build to them. You can make a wiping varnish out of the thicker finishes like Tru-Oil and Linspeed just by thinning them with mineral spirits. Used straight and brushed on they are more of a varnish. Marine spar varnish is great thinned and rubbed in too. Some folks use poly floor finishes the same way.

Varnishes are very useful as non-obscuring filler for wood pores when finishing stocks. Apply multiple coats to fill the pores and sand/scape back to wood. Then you have a smooth surface for the drying oil. I personally like the pores to show and just finish with a drying oil.

Another method that Mauser used was to buff the stock with a clean muslin wheel after sanding to polish the wood. The same thing they do to baseball and cricket bats. Then they applied boiled linseed oil. It produces a very nice effect.

Other finishes are lacquer and shellac. Lacquer is a nitrocellulose product dissolved in an aromatic thinner. A by-product of explosives and propellant manufacturing. One of the early plastics. Acrylic resins are used in most lacquers these days. Actually not a bad spray on finish for gunstocks if you use the automotive variety. Shellac is a drying resin made from the excreta of the lac bug dissolved in ethyl or methyl alcohol. Also makes a decent finish, but gets cloudy when exposed to moisture. Both of these finishes are highly resistant to oil and an undercoat can prevent oil from soaking into a gun stock. They can be damaged by gun cleaning solvents. 35 years ago I finished a pair of walnut end tables for my dad using a thinned base coat of orange shellac and two coats of linseed oil varnish as a top coat. They still look as good as the day I gave them to him.