How to do the World's best oil finish

[dfariswheel]

If you have 23 coats on, you must be applying awfully thin coats.

There's no problem with that, and it is easier to steel wool the coat off when it's thinner.
I usually applied a little thicker coats and it usually took about 5 to 8 coats.
However, it required some hefty rubbing with the steel wool to get them off.

 

[7thGenAustinite]

im in the process of striping my walnut stock on my 1970 marlin 336. it looks a bit lighter than i would like it to end up. can i use an oil based red oak stain that i already have before using the antique oil finish? any suggestions or tips for doing this? will it last though the steel wool stages of the antique oil finish??

 

[Doug B.]

I would be somewhat concerned that the oil based red oak stain would seal the surface to a degree. You may not get the penetration that the oil finish is inherently known for. I have never attempted this and I'm sure somebody will pipe up that has.

Interesting question 7th.

 

[dfariswheel]

A better option is a water or spirit based penetrating stain.

These are usually alcohol or spirit based and penetrate instantly and deeply.
You can mix your own using Tandy water or solvent based leather dyes, or buy a dye from Brownell's.

The spirit or solvent based dyes dye dark, fast, so you usually thin them with th appropriate solvent to prevent getting too dark a color.
The Tandy water based leather dyes work very well and can be thinned with alcohol if desired.
As always, experiment on scrap wood to get a feel for the color and how dark it colors.

These penetrating dyes will soak in far enough that if you stain JUST a little darker then you want the steel wooling will remove enough to bring it to the correct shade.
When working with stains use thinner coats of the oil to limit steel wooling.

Brownell's stains:

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=0/k=wood+stain/t=P/ksubmit=y/Products/All/search=wood_stain

For leather dye, use Fiebeing's for a spirit stains, and buy the thinner that goes with it.
For Tandy water based, don't buy the Cova dye, it's more a paint than a stain.
The Tandy water based comes in many colors and mixes and blends perfectly. Colors are true.

 

[7thGenAustinite]

ok so whats the best way to get an idea of the final wood color? i read somewhere that wiping with mineral sprits will give an idea what the oil finish color will be. have you found this to be true? i was originally going to use stain because a few places have lighter blonde swirls on the wood but if the color is similar to what it looks like with mineral sprits than i may just leave the wood unstained.

 

[dfariswheel]

Mineral spirits or just water will usually give a good idea of the finished color.

 

[7thGenAustinite]

well i followed the instructions from this forum and here are some before and after on my marlin 336 texan.


before:





[/url]

after:









needless to say I am quite happy with the way it turned out!!!!

 

[Doug B.]

Geeeeeeez.............that's purdy!!

Nice job!

 

[dfariswheel]

Looks better with the old "egg shell" luster of a good oil finish instead of the hard gloss of a varnish.

 

[CZguy]

7thGenAustinite,

Great job, that brought out the beauty of that stock perfectly.

 

[colonelhogan44]

I just started down this path on a somewhat crappy looking stock on a Hawken Rifle.

Pictures to come.

 

[rondog]

I just fitted a new Dupage stock to my M1. Four coats of Pure Tung Oil cut 50/50 with mineral spirits, then an hour soaking with Fairtrimmers Military oX, topped with two coats of Tom's 1/3 military stock wax. All spread out over a couple of weeks. I'm happy!

 

[colonelhogan44]

It's finished!













I'm happy with the way it turned out!

 

[dfariswheel]

Nice.
That has the "egg shell" luster of the old oil finishes.
Unlike them, the Minwax is a more durable finish and far more water proof.

 

[7thGenAustinite]

loved the finish on the two guns i did so much that i redid an old desk that i was converting to reload bench. looks so great I'm thinking of doing the same on a headboard I've been planing on building.

[/url]

[/url]

 

[dfariswheel]

Beautiful look.
That's a lot of work, but it's a lifetime finish. Damage it and all you have to do is apply another coat or two.

 

[jl1288]

The desk came out very nice. That is a beautiful finish.

 

[Ukgunsmith]

Dfariswheel

Hi I've been reading about your experience with minwax antique oil, it sounds good
Only to find I can't buy it in the uk, I have a client in Texas and has sent me two tins to try, I've jumped in at the deep end and started to use it on a pair of stocks and for ends to a pair of purdeys. Hopefully they will come out good so I can put some pictures up

 

[dfariswheel]

Good luck.
I think you'll like the results, even though it's a lot of work.

 

[Polarctic]

I have recently bought a new gun. It's a 12g. Franchi Falconet Precision S. The gun is lightweight o/u wich I will use mainly for hunting here in northern Norway.
The wood is walnut and quite nice looking, even though it's not a masterpiece, it's not to bad. Looks like it could use some additional treatment to withstand long days out on the mountain in rainy weather however. We do get alot of weather here in Lofoten islands! Do you think it would be a good idea to apply the minwax to a new gun or would it be overdoing it? What about the inside of the front stock, where the wood is raw and allmost dry. Should it be oiled to? Looks like it wants to soak alot of water in there. My first thought was to smear the stock with some linsead oil. Don't know what kind of treatment it has from the factory but from the smell I'd say it is some kind of linsead oil.

I ordered a can of minwax just to try on some other woodproject I have going. Before I smear it on my new gun I thought I'd ask someone who knows.

Thank you for your great post.

 

[dfariswheel]

Much depends on what the existing finish is.
If it's a polyurethane or lacquer finish the Minwax won't be able to penetrate the wood. It'll probably still work well since it could use the existing finish as a sealer.
I'd probably at least lightly sand the wood to smooth it up and remove some of the current finish so the Minwax could soak in.

I always put a coat or two inside on the barrel channel, inletting, and especially the butt. The wood in the butt is open grain, and that's where moisture can soak into the wood quickly.
I applied coats to the butt until it was well sealed.

After you get the inletting, barrel channel, and butt sealed with Minwax and it's had a week to fully harden, I'd apply a medium-heavy coat of Johnson's Paste Wax to all areas.
Don't wipe the wax off, just let it harden for 30 minutes or more and then assemble the gun.
The wax will prevent any water from soaking it.
In fact, you can also wax the metal the same way to prevent it from rusting.

 

[punchmaster123]

what would you reccomend for a pepper laminate stock finish

 

[dfariswheel]

Most any wood finish will work on a laminate, including the Minwax Antique oil finish.

Some people use polyurethane for laminate.
Thin the first coat considerably to get good penetration, then thin the other coats about 5% to improve brushing.
Lightly sand between coats.

 

[CZ-Guy]

Question on Prep

I've got the Minwax Antique Oil Finish on order and it should be here in a few days. In the meantime, I've stripped one of my Romy M69's down to bare wood using Citristrip. Wonderful stuff. I've then steamed out most of the dings and dents.

In prepping for the MAO Finish, I wanted to make sure I had finished prepping the wood properly. I do NOT plan on staining this first one. So I was thinking of dry sanding with 220, then 320, working my way up to 600. The 600 grit I bought says "wet or dry" and it is black. Should I stick to dry? Also, should I just dry-wipe the dust off the stock after each sanding? Or wet-wipe it down and let to air dry?









Once the sanding is done, should I do anything else to prep the stock before starting the Minwax treatment? Once at that point, I think I should be good with the advice given starting in the OP of this thread. Thanks all!

 

[Doug B.]

I like to use a shop vac with a genuine horse hair brush to remove the sanding dust. It leaves NO dust unlike tack cloth if not used properly. Gets in all the tiny spots much better as well.