GunnyUSMC
Member
Well, I'm on the last step of the stock cleanup. It's already had a good hand rubbed coat of BLO and then a polish coat of BLO. The mistake most often with BLO is that people try to soak their stock. Your first coat should be applied generously and rubbed until very warm. You should have oil left on the surface and let it sit for 30 minutes then wipe dry. Most often there will there will some oil on surface but if the stock has soaked up all of the oil, hand rub on a little more and wait another 30 minutes then wipe dry. Now let it sit for 24 hours. This time is needed to allow the BLO to cure.
Your next coat, or coats should only be polish coats. That is, just rub on a small amount. Rub it in until your hand gets hot. This will cause the grain of the wood to show much better. Wipe it dry and let it sit for 24 hrs.
You shouldn't need more then two polish coats.
The last step is to wax the stock. Before you apply the wax the BLO should be dry. Most often you just have to wait 48 hours after your last polish coat. Here is a tip to check to see if the BLO is dry. Take a paper towel and rub the stock. If oil rubs off, you need to wait a little longer. The reason for this is, depending on the wax that you use, if the BLO has not dried the wax will become cloudy.
You can use a paste wax made for wood, a 1/3 mix like Tom's 1/3 Mix Military Gunstock Wax.
I'm going to us Tom's Natural mix.
Here is the stock before the wax.
Your next coat, or coats should only be polish coats. That is, just rub on a small amount. Rub it in until your hand gets hot. This will cause the grain of the wood to show much better. Wipe it dry and let it sit for 24 hrs.
You shouldn't need more then two polish coats.
The last step is to wax the stock. Before you apply the wax the BLO should be dry. Most often you just have to wait 48 hours after your last polish coat. Here is a tip to check to see if the BLO is dry. Take a paper towel and rub the stock. If oil rubs off, you need to wait a little longer. The reason for this is, depending on the wax that you use, if the BLO has not dried the wax will become cloudy.
You can use a paste wax made for wood, a 1/3 mix like Tom's 1/3 Mix Military Gunstock Wax.
I'm going to us Tom's Natural mix.
Here is the stock before the wax.