That looks incredible. What oil do you use? Would you mind explaining your process a little more? Sanding, applying oil, etc?
First, do it yourself. If I charged my hourly salary to properly finish a stock...
Research finishes. I could write a 10 page reply on finishes alone, what they are made of and characteristics of each. Never used ArrowWood. I was just reading about it. Looks interesting. Would have to speak with them about the properties before I tried it. I'm not a fan of tru-oil or boiled linseed oil or anything you can buy at home-depot that claim to be varnish or tung oil. There are better products out there that will last and provide you with a much better end result. If you want to use a tung oil modified urethane (tung oil + poly) then Pro-Custom oil is your best bet. I know folks have used everything known to man to obtain a nice finish. I won't argue if they are happy. Nothing at Home Depot is tung oil...even when the bottle says so.
Look up long vs short oil varnish. Phenolic vs alkyd vs poly. You can educate yourself for days on the properties and characteristics of each. THEN you can understand why just grabbing a bottle of finish off the shelf is a mistake. Also keep in mind, what your daddy used and his daddy used, isn't what your using today.
No doubt about it. If I'm going to finish a laminate stock. I'm using Automotive clearcoat. It protects the paint on my truck from uv-gasoline-salt and chemicals and it lasts.
Consider the purpose, desired look of the finish and conditions the finish will be subjected to when determining a finish.
Will it be carried from the vehicle to the bench and back? Hunting in the rain?
I (for the most part) use Behlen, Waterlox and Epifanes.
Personally, I do not use satin or semi or anything BUT clear or gloss. Gloss can be made satin. The others contain material to defract light which in turn clouds the finish and takes longer to dry/cure.
Walnut and other large grained hardwoods need pores filled during the finishing process. Don't skip this step.
Lots of good articles out there on filling the pores with sanding slurry. Here's an example of pores filled after wiping off the sanding dust/finish slurry. Notice the dark filled grain.
It's at this point you with either finish as a "in the wood" finish. Or build to a hand finished coat. Or high finish clear as shown in my 1st post. Hell....you could actually nicely burnish this stage down and then have a body shop clear coat it if that's what your looking for.
If you think for a second you can't do this yourself, take a look on the net what some of these kids are turning out with guitar kits. If they can do it I KNOW you can buddy. You can absolutely make it look better and have a better end product then any factory rifle stock finish out there. Even if you've never done it before.
If you have any specific questions feel free to pm me. I'll be glad to help.
