Sorry, been a little tight up today, had to get this project out of the way.
Then I took on a small challenge.
Now back on topic.
There is more then one way to skin a cat and even more ways to apply a BLO, and other oil finishes.
A lot of time things will very, depending on the type of wood, condition of the wood, the climate, and the oil that you are using.
Every time I here someone quote, “One coat a day for a week, one coat a week for a year and one coat a year for life.” I cringe
That’s good advice if you’re trying to oil soak a stock and make it heavy.
Your basic oil finish is oil that is rubbed into the wood and cures just below the surface and is then protected by a wax top coat.
@Blue68f100 did pretty good but but some info may have been lost in translation.
He mentioned Boning. Boning is rubbing down the surface with a smooth bone, or hardwood dowel to smoothen and compress the surface. This is done on older military stocks so that you don’t sand away the patina, which is the aged surface of the wood.
A basic BLO finish should take no more then a week or two to finish. The key is to not over oil the stock and allow drying time between coats.
When I say coats, I’m not talking about applying layers on top of layers. A coat just refers to another application of oil.
If you’re stock is smooth, start off with a wet coat. This coat is applied very wet. You will want to rub it in but keep the stock wet as you keep rubbing. Do this by hand with some type of thin gloves. After you have rubbed it in good, set the stock aside to rest. Give it 30 min. to soak up some of the oil. Now take a look at the stock. You will see one of three things. A wet stock. A stock with wet spots, or a dry stock. These three things have to do with the condition of the stock. Some stocks will soak up more oil then others.
Now wipe the stock dry. Even if the stock looks dry, wipe it down. I like to use paper towels for whipping down the stock.
Now you need to allow the oil time to dry. In most cases this will only take 24 hours, but can take longer depending on the climate. It is not that important that the oil in the stock to be completely dry at this point.
Now rub in another wet cost, but not to wet. Rub it in good until you start to feel your palms getting warm. Once done, let the stock relax for 30 min. and the wipe dry and let it dry for 24 hours. Remember, your time may very.
Now you’re ready to start putting the finial touches to your finish. Remember, you’re not trying to soak the stock. What you want to do now is a polish coat. A polish coat is very easy and takes very little oil. You want to put just enough oil on the stock to get it slightly damp. This is best to do in sections. Apply a little oil and rub the hell out of it. You want to feel the wood getting hot. This will cause the color in the wood to come out. Once you have finished hand polishing the coat of oil in, the stock should look almost dry. Let it relax for 30 min. and wipe it down. And let it dry. You can apply another polish coat, or go to a wax top coat. If you want another polish coat, wait 24 hours.
Your final step. The wax top coat. This is what will protect your oil finish and will need to be reapplied depending on how much the rifle is used.
You want to be sure that the oil in the stock is dry before applying a wax top coat. If you apply the wax to soon, it will turn milky in a few days. The wax will need to be removed, another polish coat done and the apply the wax top coat when the stock is dry.
To tell if your stock is dry, let it sit for 48 hours. Then rub a few spots on the stock with a dry paper towel. If oil comes off the stock, wait another 24 hours and do another test rub. Once the oil does not rub off, it has cured and you are ready to apply the wax top coat.
For military stocks I prefer Tom’s 1/3 Mix Military Stock Wax. It will give you that nice wax coat without the shiny finish. You can use a paste wax, but they tend to give you a shiny finish.
Note: I didn’t forget about the oil scrub. The oil scrub is used for a couple of reasons. One is when you’re dealing with a stock that is a little rough but you want it a little smoother, or if you have a laminated stock that is not quite smooth. A scrub coat is like a wet coat but rubbed in with 0000 Steel wool. Just remember not to scrub to hard.
Now over the years I’ve had several people tell me that I didn’t know what I was talking about, or didn’t know what I was doing. Just about all of these people had very little experience in applying oil finishes. I’ve done close to a thousand oil finishes in the last 35 years.
One day I might do a post on how to do an axial grease finish. I learned it from an old German WWII Vet.
