newbie to gunstock work but i've gotten pretty good at inletting and bedding - with the requist number of near disaters for not using the right tool for the job ( meaning put ur dremel tool away ). been messing around with a few stock from the boyds seconds page on their website and have been getting nice finishes with Minwax spray on Spar Varnish. What does convention wisdom say about this stuff....good, great, lousy?

Thanks guys.

I am not a stock refinisher or stockmaker, but I do have many years experience running the sales department of a large coatings company. It is from that history that I am making this suggestion. My recommendation is to use a "firearms type" product like Tru-Oil. The minwax Spar varnish probably goes on nice and levels well, but I think you will find that it does not wear well and will not stand up to wet conditions in the long run. Varnish is a smooth, hard finish and tends to crack, yellow and flake as it ages. It also is not very abrashion resistant. Products manufactured for the firearms industry would probably not have these flaws.
In the construction world, products that have been traditionally covered by varnishes are now trated with polyurethaines which are much more abrasion resistant, more flexable, more heat/cold resistant much longer lived.
Meaning no insult to anyone, the Minwax line is a home center/ DIY product line and not even the best quality (Contractor Grade)of Spar Varnish.
The Tru-oil product family has many years of use and even some of the Custom gunsmiths use these products-- they might be worth a try for your custom work.

I was not referring to a DIY product as no good because of where it was marketed, only stating that lab testing has confirmed that there are other products of considerably better quality. Generally, the professionally engineered products have better abrasion resistance and durability.
Hey, like I said, I come from a coatings chemistry and sales backround-- not a stock building backround.

Dont write of a product as no good just because it can be had at any Wal-Mart. Generally speaking spar varnish does a nice job on riflestocks and is quite durable as well as having good protection qualities. Personally I prefer Tung oil though.

The problem as I see it with a spray on finish is that is will barely be ON the wood and cerainly not IN the wood where it does the most good.

I also prefer tung oil. Specifically, tung oil based spar varnish. I find Waterlox is great. The sealer is very thin and really soaks in. The Marine is 49% solids- I thin that out and soak it in gooping on the stock letting it suck up as much as it can. Then I set it aside for a month or two while I work on the metal... Then you must sand all the excess off until you are back to the wood. Then I go for more spar varnish as a topcoat- either ManOWar SemiGloss or Matte. Others swear by Permalyn. Use some of these and you won't use Minwax products again...

Tung Oil is expensive. Minwax products are cheap. Good varnish (or paint for that matter) is expensive. Formby's Tung Oil has very little tung oil in it- more varnish. The high end polymerized tung oil finish is JE Moser or Sutherland Welles and the like- I haven't tried them yet...

Do yourself a favor and perform a search on this forum= stock finish- and you will be reading sage advice for hours...