To date I have refinished over 20 stocks from Tung Oil, Linseed mixes, Urethane mixes with oil even some spray ones that when taken down with wet sanding and rotten stone give an oil 'look'and really bring out the grain. My question is about drying. I live in Central TX where the temp hovers around 100 and the humdity is always high (80-90%). I get my best results by waiting at least two weeks before knocking a final finish down. Less and it is just not hard below the surface
Have any of you constructed a drying box (or have any other method) that cures finishes quicker in HUMID climates. So far I have found no substitute for time but that gets tiresome. At this point I really like the poly/oil mixes like Permalyn and Pro-Custom as Igot tired of waiting months for Tungs to cure.

I took my "Drying Box" to the dump a couple of weeks a go. The problem is that the solvents boil and air comes out of the wood. Both ruin the finish. Mine was thermostatically controlled with fans and baffels to let in however much air I wanted. It is a logical idea that does not work.

Use a catalized finished, matt or satin conversion varnish.

Here's a tung oil story:

About twenty years ago, I ordered a custom rifle in .270. The stockmaker (a good and famous one) used tung oil for a finish material. He said it was a superb finish, and so effective against the elements that the Great Wall of China was originally preserved with it. For all I knew, he was right as I never hunted with the rifle he stocked.

About sixteen years later, I owned another Famous Maker custom rifle, the stock of which was also finished in tung oil. This rifle I hunted with quite a bit; mostly in the southwestern U.S., Northern Mexico, and the Great Basin country of SE Oregon. I took it on a British Columbia goat hunt, and during a wet snowstorm the finish was washed completely out of the pores and the stocked looked and felt like a piece of driftwood. Tung oil might or might not have actually been used to preserve the Great Wall - I don't know - but I do know for a fact that it didn't last for one day of wet hunting!

Point being: "Traditional" oil finishes are very much iconic, and aren't worth a damn unless you hunt dry country exclusively. Tough synthetic finishes are much more practical (like the ones the Biesens use), and synthetic stocks are better yet for all around use........

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Ultraman---

I wrote this up not long ago but can't find a copy. Here it is again.

"Oil" finishes, which includes all the organic varnishes "dry" by viotile solvents evaporating into the atmosphere. Temperature makes NO difference. Relative humidity doesn't either. Oxygen does.

In central Texas a stock will cure faster than Denver because of how much "air" is in the atmosphere. Here's how to get more of it across the finish.

Take a sheet metal wall locker with vents on the bottom and top portion of the door (and sides if there) and make a frame to fit an air conditioning filter just above the bottom vents. Install a 100 watt bulb under the filter. Hang the stock in the upper portion.

The bulb heats the air in the bottom chamber. Hot air rises through the filter and draws in cool air through the bottom vent. The warm air flows over the stock and out the top vent.

This box supplies clean moving air at low cost and takes up little room in the shop.

Jack

For years I've used a drying box consisting of a light socket on a rheostat and a miniature fan to circulate air. But I like the design you described, I think I will give a try.

Allen the problems you described sounds like the gunsmith might have used sttraight tung oil with no additives. The Pro Custom Oil Ultraman described is a blend of tung oil and polyurethane that is a very good finish. I've gottens some good results with it.

JBELK, Thank you for the info. A questons about air flow. If it is of key import and temp and humdity are not a factor, how about hanging in front of a fan or placed in an air return closet of an a/c? Your opinion really interests me as I have always read in all the old gunsmithing books how important humdity (or lack of ) is. On my last stock, after a day of drying in my shed (I always start there for a lack of dust and air movement) I had it inside in front of an a/c duct. It seemed to cure faster. I thoughtit was due to an absence of humidity but you have me thinking otherwise.

Ultraman---

I *think* (because all I have is limited experience), that too much airflow actually slows down curing of the finish. The rapidly moving air seems to form a hard skin before the interior of the finish is cured. If it's proper to compare stock finish with a steak, it'd be like the difference between a slow cooked steak and one on a hot fire that seals the juice inside by making a "shell" on the outside.

I've had the best luck with just a slow flow of filtered air.

I'm still using a mixture of poly-urethanes, spar varnish and thin, marine sealers. I like a very deeply penetrated finish that's dried at least 6 weeks before any kind of top coat is applied on the completely sealed stock. If it's sealed everywhere with a hard varnish like a true (phenolic resin) Spar varnish, a couple of weeks of rain, snow, cold, etc. won't hurt it a bit.

The new deep penetrating oil and sealers are a weatherproof marvel but they need TIME to cure. Don't rush 'em.......