TTE
Gold $$ Contributor
Some epoxies need to have the cured section ruffed up before another application will 'stick' to it.
Need Advice on Finishing my Wood Stock
- Thread starter CjC73
- Start date
Finally got around to bedding the action. Looks pretty good. Not sure what happened to the little piece of wood in front of the bolt opening, some chipped off. But overall, I'm happy. Now onto finishing the sanding
Right after pulling the action out.
And after cleaning it up, still need to clean up the tang area.
Right after pulling the action out.
And after cleaning it up, still need to clean up the tang area.
joshb
Gold $$ Contributor
I have never put it on a stock. It causes issues if not completely removed from the wood. I sand down to 600, raise the grain with clean water, then sand again with 600, then 1000, etc. Do a simple google search on it. It has it’s uses, but why complicate a simple thing?
Once as well
It helps bring the grain up and so even out the wood surface. You can use an ethanol alcohol 75% / water 25% mix but oxalic acid works more effectively. Raise the grain between each change of paper grade. Only takes a minute or so.
You can see a demonstration of this at the 36 minute mark in the Purdey Instagram video I linked to above.
If you're going to just spray paint a surface only finish then it's likely less important. I probably wouldn't bother to paper to 2000 grit and burnish in that case as well. But if you want an oil finish you want that wood as smooth as a baby's bottom and the least grain left as possible as the painful part of a quality oil finish is steadily filling in that remaining grain. One of the advantages of an oil finish, with slacum, is that dents and damage can easily and quickly be repaired without having to redo large areas of the finish. A hot iron over an oxalic acid dampened rag will remove a dent and with a couple of coats of slacum it's as good as new.
In this process you don't begin oiling the stock until you've finished with the sanding (all done dry).
PS: in an oil finish the concept of 'adherence' doesn't really apply. The finish soaks deeply into the wood. It doesn't 'dry' in the sense of solvent evaporation but, as a result of polymerization from exposure to oxygen (a process called "autoxidation") it rigidifies. Linseed oil, aka flaxseed oil, has a high concentration of di- and tri-unsaturated esters, a large amount of α-linolenic acid, which oxidises in air. (See the table here: Fatty Acid Composition of Vegetable Oils.) Hence its label as a 'drying oil' and its use in oil painting and as a finishing oil in wood. A 'slacum' is basically a combination of flaxseed oil and a 'varnish' (a solvent and a resin) - this is called a 'medium' in the art world - coupled with a filler such as a wax (I'm using carnauba wax) and a 'drier' to speed up the polymerization process.
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CjC73
Trade Secret make very highly regarded products for a traditional oiled gunstock finish.
I see they don't ship internationally but it seems some UK places that retail their products do so (although I'm not sure that extends to these). Or perhaps you have friends there who can ship it to you.
They also have some tutorials own their website (albeit not particularly detailed).
I've made my own Alkanet "Red Oil" and slacum (see pic of ingredients). I'm still fine-tuning the 'time to tackiness' of my current batch of slacum finishing oil: right now I have to wait three hours rather than a more desirable 1 1/2 - 2 and so I need to add more drier.
If I get the chance I will create a thread summarizing the process I'm using for the refinishing of my Beretta shotgun.
Trade Secret make very highly regarded products for a traditional oiled gunstock finish.
I see they don't ship internationally but it seems some UK places that retail their products do so (although I'm not sure that extends to these). Or perhaps you have friends there who can ship it to you.
They also have some tutorials own their website (albeit not particularly detailed).
I've made my own Alkanet "Red Oil" and slacum (see pic of ingredients). I'm still fine-tuning the 'time to tackiness' of my current batch of slacum finishing oil: right now I have to wait three hours rather than a more desirable 1 1/2 - 2 and so I need to add more drier.
If I get the chance I will create a thread summarizing the process I'm using for the refinishing of my Beretta shotgun.
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Hmm works for me. (Let me edit it.) See the pics in post 118 as an example. (I can send you some of the red oil I made if you want. That stuff is rather basic but takes years to percolate.)
The ingredients above were for slacum finishing oil and, yes, the problem is you buy the ingredients and end up with enough to make a batch that would do a lot of stocks. Hence people buying the stuff from the likes of Trade Secret. They charge £10 each for 50 mL of grain sealer (I don't use a grain filler/sealer but rather do it the hard way with rottenstone), red oil, slacum "rapid oil" and "TS-95" to remove the excess slacum after each coating. (I just use a very small amount of BLO/boiled linseed oil to dampen a non-woven cotton rag to remove this tacky coating of slacum so wouldn't buy the TS-95.) £33 for a kit of all 4.
I'm a little reluctant (at least at this stage) to send you some of my slacum as I don't think I've yet gotten it quite right as noted above. It works, but more slowly than I'd like. I will hopefully get it right over the next week or so. Previously I used this product from Napier which is available in the US:
I found it slow to go tacky also.
When do you think you'll get done with your sanding (and checkering)?
Just to add: the only reasons why one would a slacum to get to a tacky finish sooner rather than later is to be able to do two applications a day rather than just one and have less of it disappear into the wood. Basically the process is (1) apply slacum and wait for it to go tacky, (2) wipe the residual sitting on the surface off - you've now got a thin tacky layer sitting in the grain and the thinnest of thinnest layers elsewhere (I like to finish this with the palm of the hand to ensure no oil is left sitting on the surface), (3) immediately rub on a filler like rottenstone (some use baby talc) and it will fall into the grain and (in the case of rottenstone) burnish the surface, (4) wipe off the excess filler from the surface, (5) let the slacum cure for as long as possible (several hours in the case of two applications per day or, better yet, overnight). Then repeat until there's no grain left in which case you can skip the filler, you'll need a lot less oil and do a few more applications with just oil. Set the stock aside for a month or so to fully cure.
The ingredients above were for slacum finishing oil and, yes, the problem is you buy the ingredients and end up with enough to make a batch that would do a lot of stocks. Hence people buying the stuff from the likes of Trade Secret. They charge £10 each for 50 mL of grain sealer (I don't use a grain filler/sealer but rather do it the hard way with rottenstone), red oil, slacum "rapid oil" and "TS-95" to remove the excess slacum after each coating. (I just use a very small amount of BLO/boiled linseed oil to dampen a non-woven cotton rag to remove this tacky coating of slacum so wouldn't buy the TS-95.) £33 for a kit of all 4.
I'm a little reluctant (at least at this stage) to send you some of my slacum as I don't think I've yet gotten it quite right as noted above. It works, but more slowly than I'd like. I will hopefully get it right over the next week or so. Previously I used this product from Napier which is available in the US:
Stock Finish 100ml (4.3 Ounces) | Napier UK
Stock Finish 100ml (4.3 Ounces) available from Napier UK a manufacture of gun care chemicals, materials and accessories this product is ready for immediate dispatch and featured in London Gunstock Finish collection
www.napierusa.com
I found it slow to go tacky also.
When do you think you'll get done with your sanding (and checkering)?
Just to add: the only reasons why one would a slacum to get to a tacky finish sooner rather than later is to be able to do two applications a day rather than just one and have less of it disappear into the wood. Basically the process is (1) apply slacum and wait for it to go tacky, (2) wipe the residual sitting on the surface off - you've now got a thin tacky layer sitting in the grain and the thinnest of thinnest layers elsewhere (I like to finish this with the palm of the hand to ensure no oil is left sitting on the surface), (3) immediately rub on a filler like rottenstone (some use baby talc) and it will fall into the grain and (in the case of rottenstone) burnish the surface, (4) wipe off the excess filler from the surface, (5) let the slacum cure for as long as possible (several hours in the case of two applications per day or, better yet, overnight). Then repeat until there's no grain left in which case you can skip the filler, you'll need a lot less oil and do a few more applications with just oil. Set the stock aside for a month or so to fully cure.
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Slow but steady progress on my side. Maybe these pics will help give you an idea of color when coupled with the pics in post 118. Remember the wood started very dark. Click on the thumbnail for full-sized image. (Sorry, it is hard for the iPhone to focus on anything without texture.)
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Man I hate Remington tangs!!
Ok put a layer of tape on tang of action,
Making sure you got clean edges, bolt it back in and score a line with back edge of exacto knife.
Sand to line
Dang Bro, that RED looks really good.
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