Hello all,

I just had two sheets of 3/4" Birch Plywood ripped and cross-cut into 16" x 72" pieces to make a damp box for rust bluing a la John Bivins' Mark II design (courtesy of "Gunsmithing Tips & Projects" from Wolfe Publishing, 1989).

Before I bgin to glue and screw everything together, does anyone have a specific recommendation for an interior wood finish. This would be, as in, oil versus varnish. The box interior will be kept at about 90 degrees and 90% relative humidity.

Many thanks,

LD

I really can't see any finish holding up very long on the inside of a damp box. The boxes I've seen were pretty simple, usually unfinished exterior plywood. If anything, I think I'd use something along the lines of Thompsons's Water Seal.

I never finished the inside of mine. Not sure I would mess with it.

Does the orientation of the box matter? Horizontal or Verticle?

I used Thompson's Water Seal for the best reason there is-I happened to have some in the shop at the time I built the Bivens Box. Any wood finish you have handy is fine, and I suspect that no finish at all is just as good.

An exterior grade plywood would have been best to start off with.

For a waterproof finish - West System Epoxy - w/ special coating catylist...Pricey but bombproof.

me? I would use kilz exterior paint ... the ORIGINAL one....

Could you wax it?

quote:

Dart, Just an idea, the Bivins box was based on browning a 44" longrifle barrel. You won't need anywhere near that space and the smaller it is the easier it will be to control heat and humidity. Take the bottom working space, add the length of the longest barrel, add 4" for room to move, and that will be plenty.

Thanks for the tip SDH. I'll measure the longest rifles that I have, and adjust the length of the wood with the table saw. If necessary, I can put a little computer ventilation fan in as well. I found a source for digital hygrometers for just $11.95.

I'll put a couple little windows in the door so I can read the pertinent information without opening the box.

quote:

An exterior grade plywood would have been best to start off with.

For a waterproof finish - West System Epoxy - w/ special coating catylist...Pricey but bombproof.

The exterior grade plywood they had for sale was pretty sad looking stuff. I might have some West system epoxy left over from sprucing up a boat a while back....good idea!

Like Marc_Stokeld, I used what I had around.

In this case it was exterior flat water based for my garage door.

Of course, being in California it was something close to teal.

I have a designer humidity box.

flaco

quote:

I used Thompson's Water Seal for the best reason there is-I happened to have some in the shop at the time I built the Bivens Box. Any wood finish you have handy is fine, and I suspect that no finish at all is just as good.

Hi Marc,

God bless John Bivins for all those great articles.

I'm usually the last to know...did you move from North Carolina up to Minnesota for the walleye fishing or the mosquitos ?

Dam LawnDart !.
One of the areas of my expertise and I didn't see it in time !.
When ever finishing wood metal almost any substrate . It needs to be Clean Dry and primed !. Priming can be of a diluted mixture of the very same top coat . Urethane is almost always the material of choice when " Water Proofing "or Vinyl painting or rubber based paints . Used for swimming pools and spas !. Remember the Higher the Gloss the more moisture resistance the finish is !. :

Dr. K, SDH,

You got to me in time. This is a busy season at the ok clinic corral. I shop for parts to and from medical meetings in Boise. I have to grab the saw horses from the storage unit tomorrow. My old West Marine epoxy is kind of cured (as in kind of ten months pregnant). I do have some decent polyurethane in good shape. The birch covering sheath of my plywood is very light colored. With some glossy polyurethane (over the thinned coat, of course ) the light should bounce around.

My modification to the basic design is to put in three small windows so I can see how things are coming along without opening the door.

These days, I don't have much money, but I have much less time. I make a list of parts, then do a shopping spree at Home Depot and Grovers light bulbs and shitter supplies (sounds better than electric and plumbing).

SDH, I decided to keep it full length, only because I will likely have a couple 50 BMG projects in the future.