I'm about to finish my stock with Lin-Speed... any tips I should know?

Terry, I've used Lin-Speed for many years, and it can provide a very pleasing, long-lasting finish, provided that you fill the pores completely and allow plenty of time to really do it right.

After careful sanding and whiskering........

It's best if you apply "finger dunks" of Lin-Speed, that it is, until the final two coats, which should be really thin.

Over the course of two whole days, apply two coats by hand, letting each coat dry overnight. Then, with bronze wool, work these two coats down to the surface of the wood, removing any dust with an air-compressor (every nook and cranny), followed by a tack cloth.

Continue this process until the pores are dead-flush, completely filled, absolutely even with the surface of the wood. With open-pored factory stocks, I have applied as many as fifty coats in this manner, working every-other coat down to the surface of the wood.

At the end of the process, clean the wood with the air-compressor and tack cloth, then set the stock, by itself, in a clean cabinet in a warm room, and let it cure for a month.

At the end of this curing period, wipe down the stock once again with the tack cloth. Then, taking a small patch of wool cloth (like from an old wool shirt) soak it in Lin-Speed, wring it out, wipe your hands thoroughly, then apply a very LIGHT coat to the stock, and let it dry overnight. Apply two or three THIN coats, letting each one dry overnight, until you achieve the sheen you'd like the stock to have. After the last coat, set the stock back in your dry cabinet for another month or more for a second curing period.

Lin-Speed gets messed up by (A) not filling the pores properly, and (B) not letting the finish cure properly............

TIP: Buy a bag of cheap marbles, and as you use up the finish in the jar of Lin-Speed, add a marble or two as you go in order to keep the remaining finish near the top of the jar in order to keep as small an amount of air in the jar as possible. Also, wipe the threads of the jar, and the threads of the lid every time you use the product -- makes lid removal a whole lot easier.

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Terry

The best tip is not to use too much oil and keep it out of the chequering, or at least give only 1 coat to the chequering and work it in thoroughly with an old toothbrush or similar, failing which, the chequering panels will become clogged

If you are replacing a varnish finish with and oil type make sure you fully "whisker" the wood, this can be done by first sanding/ steel wooling the wood to a fine finish then wetting it lightly with a damp cloth and allowing it to dry off fully, this will usually see little whisker grains of wood raise out of the surface, steel wool these of with a 0000 grade (very fine) wire wool before applying the oil.

Some stock finishing kits with all the relevant oils are available, Kynoch (Kynamco) in the U.K list one on their web site, probably Brownells also. These oils have not only linseed in but also alkanet root dye to darken the wood and also hardening agents to permit the oil to go tacky and harden off.

The process from scratch can take many coats, which should be steel wooled off to remove the degraded surface oil.

once a sufficient amount of oil has gone into the surface and dried off you can start to burnish the surface by "palming with a little oil on the hand" and thorough;y rubbing it in until you feel the heat on your hand.

Some finishers apply a little powdered pumice or rottenstone mixed in with the final coat of oil to burnish the surface into a shine.

The final finish with oil will not be as shiny as those with a french polish, but they are easier to maintain and a scratch or a little wear and tear can easily be rectified with a further application of oil.

Linseed can then be used periodically to keep the finsih pristine.

Hope this helps

This is a good product. Apply as above but if you want a reduced shine lightly go over the final coat with 4 aught steel wool. Produces a nice low sheen finish that really enhances the grain of the stock.

If you want a moisture proof oil finish, then the best aproach is the seal the entire stock with epoxy, sand smooth, then apply the linspeed. I've done that with the stock on my 350 Rigby, and it simply does not pick up any moisture or move on the wettest of hunts.

Warm the stock so it will really suck in the epoxy, use your oven on the lowest setting. Mix up a batch and liberally rub it into the wood until it won't take any more. I use G-2, and it is a slow cure so plenty of time to work. Block sand down all the high spots, and you'll likely have to touch up a few dry spots that really sucked up the epoxy. Once sanded to where you like it, you apply the oil as normal.