Question of the day, I am working on my Dutch Mannlicher stock. I have wet sanded three times, let dry a couple of days since then have put two coats of tung oil on with some jap dryer hand rubbed letting it dry 24 hours between coats. Right now it is smooth as glass but the question is....how many coats should I apply. and what if any top coat.
This is my first oil finish have always used Birchwood Casey finish.

Oil and sand until the grain pores are filled and the whole surface of the wood is level. Then another 2 or 3 coats should do the job. I could get a lot more detailed but I really hate seeing a stock with a finish on it and the pores still unfilled. Did you start with a filler or just the oil?

I used Duane Wiebe's formula to do several stocks and they turned out great.

Wiebe Stock Finishing
Duane widely uses products by Daly's Inc. in Seattle for stock finishing. After sanding to 400 grit, follow these steps:
1. Raise the grain with a weak solution of oxalic acid (a powder), to cleanse and bleach the wood.
2. Apply a solution of Daly's "Ship n' Shore " sealer using alkenet root powder in the ratio of about one 1 1/4 oz packet to a quart...you can "strengthen" as you see fit...maybe up to 50%.
3. Liberally slop on the sealer combo over a period of about 2 hours until the wood will not seem to take more.
4. Wipe off excess with a paper towel and set stock aside for a day or so.
5. Do it again..set aside for a day and do it again. You are tring to get as much finish as possible into the pores.
6. Now...with alkenet root and "Sea Fin" solution, repeat as with "Ship n' Shore"..maybe two or three times. You have come a long way towards filling up those pores!
7. Not done yet!
8. Buy some rottenstone and mix with Sea Fin solution to a tooth paste like consintency and using a piece of felt or a pad from an old t shirt, "scrub" this mixture on the stock across grain. You are filling the pores and polishing as the same trime. Don't let it get too hard, wipe off the excess across grain, being very careful to not allow build up in the nooks and crannies.
9. Do this over and over again until satisfied with the result…typically 20-30 times while allowing a drying time of 24 hours or so between treatments. This is not a quick way, but you will be very proud of the result

I did 20 coats on my two Mannlicher Schoenauers!

Are you using just Tung oil & dryer or is it a premix?

I have used TruOil dilute to 30%, BLO with IPA & mineral spirits, Then added Danish oil to it. I have also added Carbauna wax to the mix.

Oil finished wood warms my heart and soul!

Its Tung oil and a dryer. Have been putting on thin layers and letting it dry 24 hours between coats.

I once gave a seminar on stock finishes and had the advice and help of an MD. Japan drier should not be used with bare hands..and then with plenty of ventilation..Cobalt drier is REALLY toxic..great product, but use with care

Toxins from these driers are absorbed both thru inhalation and through the skin....likewise with any product that ends with an "ine" or "ene" i.e. toluene, xylylene, etc.

Read the label!

In this day and age I can't fathom why guys still use home brewed stock finishes when there are so many good ones on the market. Notwithstanding the fact that some of them will kill you. Like we used to treat mercury like it was inert; now we know better.

Yeah we all used the bad stuff, its a wonder Im still alive and kicking at 85..I do have some lung issues, but that's from smoking, everybody smoked in my day, I mean everybody..

Yes, Ray, and in the cattle business you've probably sprayed the cows with some deleterious substances, too. My father used to use stuff called Nucidol and had a habit of washing out his sprays over an open drain behind the house. Trouble was my mother's Siamese cat drank from that drain on occasions - Mum was not pleased when she found Kimmie stretched out dead on the lawn. Dad was lucky not to have met his own quietus at the end of a frying pan.

On the issue of stock finishes, I always raise the grain and used to use hot linseed oil massaged in over a week. I recently got some of that True-Oil, though, and am amazed how good it is. I was going to try Tung oil but found the local shop only sold it in such enormous quantities I'd need nine lives to use it all.

Ray, I think you're onto something with that smoking and lung connection! My dad is about your age, no lung problems, and he lived in Filer most of his life too. But, he didn't smoke. He was a welder at Amalgamated Sugar, though and that's almost as bad as smoking.

My stock finishing is about the same as what others have described here. I use tung oil cut 50/50 with turpentine, I cut 400 grit wet/dry into 1" square pieces, and sand the finish in with those. I mix about 10 drops of tung oil with 10 of turpentine each day, that's about the right amount for a stock. By the time you've covered all the stock, the finish is about dry. Repeat daily for a month or so, and the pores will be filled and the stock finished.

quote:

Originally posted by ssdave:
He was a welder at Amalgamated Sugar,

Now that's living dangerously!

Like you guys, I used to spend weeks filling grain with linseed oil. Now I wet sand with a thickened polyurethane. I can fill any coarse grain with three coats. One or two coats on good Juglans Nigra. It produces a satin finish that is Very much like linseed. If I want glossy I top coat with Tru-oil.

Lots of good finishes out there today, the best Ive found and easiest to use is GUN-SAV-R from Brownells..but True OIl and Linspeed, are all good...

The main ingredient to a stock finish is the FINISHER..Ive noticed that one guy can do a beautiful finish with a certain product and the next gun can't, each one of us has to find what works best for him..

Ive made small blocks of walnut finished them and nailed them on the roof, some were there for several years, what worked best was a well known product with the consistency of water and contained tuenol and took forever to fill, but when done it lasted like stainless steel..

Also, using two finishes can work but be sure they will interlock..I've use Gun sav R to a completed finish, then rubbed it down with rotten stone and Linseed oil to a satin sheen and its beautiful..Something about plain ole Linseed that's just purty..I see it condemned by many, but the bottom line is I see 100 year old rifles finished in it by the Brits and its still beautiful and durable it has t be..???
a beautiful finish is simmered Linseed with lead oxide scraped off the lead pot..makes walnut very dark and pretty, and loaded with carcenigens Im sure..

Also it depends on the wood, our black walnut is the least usable and most used stock wood..I wont use it, I mostly use Russian walnut today but European, Turkish, any of the soft shell walnuts have fewer pores and better in all respects..

Ive used all the bad stuff,bathed in it, smoked, played with mercury cleaning pistols and so far Ive made it to 85 and Im pretty healthy and active considering,

Sometimes I think you just roll the dice and play the game..The sky boss calls the shots..

My last stock I used GunSaver. I was very happy with the results.

quote:

Originally posted by clowdis:

quote:

Originally posted by ssdave:
He was a welder at Amalgamated Sugar,

Now that's living dangerously!

Two of the guys he welded with died when I was in high school. Both in their 40's and both of lung disease. A lot of confined space welding, and a lot of contaminated materials. Not a good environment to breathe in.

lin speed oil is the way to go.

https://www.lin-speed.com/

LInspeed is a good way to go, but start by cutting it half and half with thinner..again knowing how to use it is the trick of the trade..What works for one Gild member, it trash for another, just talk to them, you will get as many different answers there as you do on AR.. and none of them are necessarily wrong..

Got it finished and is being checkered. I used wet sanding method and ended up with 10 finish coats of hand rubbed tung oil with a small amount of Japanese dryer and thinner. let it dry 24 hours between coats and two weeks curing on the last coat. I think it looks pretty darn good in my humble opinion.

Let's see it Rolland.

Th only linspeed I've finished turned
out way too dark for my liking. Can
barely see the nice grain. The others
I've finished with TruOil show the
grain beautifully.

George