I am thinking of mineral spirits to thin just a bit - anyone else have a better suggestion? It is just a little thick, and gets too sticky to smooth by hand within a few seconds of applying it.

Also, I am trying to get a matte finish, but if you just wipe and let dry it is ultra glossy. Here's the catch - the stock is stained, so I can't really use any abrasives during the application or to take the gloss off afterwards.


The working finish of the gun is going to be about 3 coats of GunSav'r Custom Oil, but I want the base coat of Truoil to give depth to the grain, and fill the remaining few pores. I have found with scrap the TruOil basecoat does make a difference - I just didn't have to worry about stain with my scrap experiment.

Any suggestions?

TG

I routinely thin Tru Oil with mineral spirits or turpentine.

The only way I know to make it satin is to build up enough coats to allow you to rub it out. If you use pumice and mineral oil on a soft T shirt wrapped around a piece of felt you will get a satin look. Oddly if you use the same technique with water instead of mineral oil you will get a gloss finish.

I do the same as Craftsman, mix it with mineral spirits. I do mine 50/50. No logic, it's just the way I do it.

As far as knocking down the shine. Put on the number of coats you want, then wet sand it with 1000 grit wet/dry paper. Use your 50/50 mix for the sanding agent. 1000 grit won't cut through to the stain, it's softer than most toilet paper you buy now days. If that doesn't give you the result you want, try 600 or 800 grit with easy pressure. I don't think even the 600 will cut through to the stain unless you're ham-handed about it....like me.

The thickness of Tru-Oil is why I eventually gave up on it and used G-B Linspeed instead. They are very similar products, the G-B just seemed a wee tad thinner straight from the bottle, and did not darken the wood as much as Tru-Oil. At least that was my experience with it in the late '50s, early '60s.

To get the matte effect, I used felt pads provided by Brownell's, and both pumice and rottenstone (also from Brownell's, differing mainly in fineness of grit size).

Check this link, everything you want to know about Linspeed.

http://www.huntamerica.com/linspeed/#Ordering

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried it, mixing it 50/50 made it much more workable.

I plan to put a couple of coats on, with a minimal rub-down with 0000 steel wool in between, let it dry a month, then hit it with 2 or 3 coats of GunSavr. Then I will try the pumice or rottenstone.

I had the stock completely finished with GunSavr, but overestimated the ability of it to fill pores. I ended with a somewhat orange-peely finish. That was what I just cut down with 400 grit to leave it nice and level, re-touched the stain at the edges, and then started with TruOil tonight. I will post some new pics when all done.

I would make sure that the modified urethane will stick over the alkyd varnish. I tried using permalyn over tru-oil and it peeled like a bad sunburn. I think that permalyn is similar to pro-custom oil. You might have good results until it gets checkered and then peels away from the checkering.

Craigster-

Thanks for the Linspeed link. I started using the product back in the late 1950's when I was making stocks for money.

My method did not quite match the "modern" Linspeed instructions posted in the link.

I found I was able to get a finish very much like polished marble by using 7 to 9 coats. After each coat except the last, I would sand all finish off back down to the wood, with no finish remaining atop the wood,but lots of finish IN the wood.

The sanding was done in several steps after each coat...first with medium grit paper (never cloth), then finer and finer grits of paper...each one done WITH the grain of the wood (never across it) until all signs of the previous grit's sanding were removed. I always let the stock dry at least 24 hours after each coat was applied, before beginning to sand.

I never found steel wool as useful as proper sand paper, IF I filled the wood pores adequately with finish. The object was to so fill the wood with finish that there was no untreated grain left TO rise, so there was no question about the sandpaper cutting the wood or finish. Of course it cut both if one wasn't meticulously careful to just remove the finish above the wood..

The method I am describing is very labour intensive. I doubt very many stockmakers could make a living using it today because it would make the price of the stock(s) so high as to turn away most prospective purchasers. The sanding alone took half a day or so after each coat of finish, and then there is that 24 hours of drying time after each coat slowing the end product up too. And none of that includes the fitting and shaping of the stock to the rifle to begin with, nor any checking, or the application of each new coat.

(BTW Al Linden used to hate the term "checkering". He insisted that applied only to square-shaped "diamonds", like on a checkerboard. The diamond shaped work of today and then, he insisted, was correctly termed "checking". Another of Linden's unusual preferences was that he used car motor oil cut with a thinner to coat checking. He felt it actually made the area show wood grain better than the unchecked areas (!) and would never gum up like Linseed oil is so quick to do when applied to checking.)

Although today's wood is generally not up to the quality of 50 years ago, I think one of the major problems with it, even on some high-priced custom guns, is that the finishes are often applied too quickly, in too few coats, to really fill the grain and bring out the best in the wood.

Best wishes, and thanks again for the link...

AC

Final coat with the pro custom gun oil matte/satin. The finsh is as a result of the solids, and I don't THINK there is a practical way to make it matte, without sanding

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
I don't THINK there is a practical way to make it matte, without sanding

Which is what one IS doing when he rubs it with either pumice or rottenstone....I used them with a felt pad because it provided a "straighter" (more level) surface than if I used just a rag. The level surface also helps cut glare by reducing the reflective arcs of ripples in an uneven (undulating) surface.

I've had good luck with doing TruOil Satin finishes (and gloss of course).

Build up the finish until you have completely filled the surface, using 0000 steel wool in between coats. Once you can rub down with steel wool and not go thru the TruOil coat coat, you are ready for the next step. Apply a coat (with a rag) and rub in. There should be none left on the surface (like with earlier heavy coats) and just barely sticky to the touch. I do this several times and get a nice satin to matte finish. Of course, be careful the wholetime around the checkering - I usually spare the steel wool here and do all hand/rag rubbing.