Thread: wooden stock refinishing

Originally Posted by GWH

My old man is currently refinishing the classic Rem Model 7 i got for him a few months ago, the factory polyurethane finish was near mint, but theres only one way to have a wooden stock rifle apparently, and thats oiled. Dad is a good old school boy, and has done plenty of stock making and refinishing, modifying stocks for people etc, so he'll do a mint job, im looking forward to seeing it finished.

Ive just spoken to Dad, and he uses a recipe of boiled linseed oil (about 2/3's) with 1/3 of turps added with a dash of terrapin?(not sure of spelling, but its a drying agent). It has to be boiled up before each time its applied, and it sounds like he does lots of coats, and it takes some time, but the finish is awesome, he said Tru-oil is a cheats short cut way ;-)

Haha... so is driving instead of walking...

what about putting an oil finish on a laminate stock? is there risk of damage or de-lamination? i'd imagine the polyurethane would provide greater moisture protection.

Hey GWH,, could you ask your dad what he does to keep the chequering clean while hes doing the oil finish.

Plus question for those using bc tru/oil. When youve finished applying with say your final coat, is it in anyway tacky to the touch??? If it is whats the best way of getting rid of it, could you wipe it down with say methylated spirits or such like??

Originally Posted by matagouri

Hey GWH,, could you ask your dad what he does to keep the chequering clean while hes doing the oil finish.

Plus question for those using bc tru/oil. When youve finished applying with say your final coat, is it in anyway tacky to the touch??? If it is whats the best way of getting rid of it, could you wipe it down with say methylated spirits or such like??

The only time I have had a "tacky" finish was on one stock where I tried Danish Oil. I don't think it was the fault of the Danish Oil though just I hadn't neutralised the paint remover correctly. Ended up stripping that one and starting again using Tru-Oil. Sometimes the first coat of Tru-Oil stays a bit tacky for longer than expected. I just leave the 1st coat for a few days make sure it has absolutely dried b4 adding the ongoing coats. After the 1st has fully dried each coat after is given a day to dry, depending upon the climate at the time. The later coats are dry to touch within hours. It is not a process to be rushed unfortunately. The other thing I have found with Tru-Oil is you get a far better result with a new bottle. No matter what you do old bottles tend to go thick and are no good for use. I tried thinning but although the shit was more fluid the result on the stock was irregular. And it is no good trying to tighten up the bottle real tight either to prevent evaporation – all that happens is you cannot get the stupid child proof cap to open again.

Tru-Oil versus Linseed. I find Tru-Oil gives a more durable finish with virtually no ongoing maintenance. I do apply Birchwood Casey Wax occasionally. Linseed gives a more traditional deep luster finish but requires extra coats over time to maintain the finish. Also when doing stocks I water proof the internals, barrel channel, trigger group inletting, behind the butt plate etc at the same time with polyurethane (or a marine varnish) applied by brush, no spray.

I tried using tru oil on my boyds laminated stock since all the polyurethane was chipping off, but the oil got rubbed off on parts and the wood delaminated slightly after a few days hunting in wet bush.

just the answer i needed before going headlong into a harebrained home DIY....

Originally Posted by MDub

I tried using tru oil on my boyds laminated stock since all the polyurethane was chipping off, but the oil got rubbed off on parts and the wood delaminated slightly after a few days hunting in wet bush.

Originally Posted by matagouri

Hey GWH,, could you ask your dad what he does to keep the chequering clean while hes doing the oil finish.

Plus question for those using bc tru/oil. When youve finished applying with say your final coat, is it in anyway tacky to the touch??? If it is whats the best way of getting rid of it, could you wipe it down with say methylated spirits or such like??

Use a tooth brush, preferably a hard one to clean out the oil. I used to use the linseed oil and turps mix to do stocks but have now changed to Scherell dark oil and this gives a very nice finish. Once it has the finish that I am happy with I leave the stock for a week or so and then use danish oil to waterproof the wood. I put the oil on by hand and leave it for for approximately a minute and then rub it off with a peice of old net curtaining. after 10 odd coats you end up with a warm glow type finish rather than a real shiny one.

Works for me and the punters seem to like it as well

With BLO, how does it handle shit conditions like wet bush ?

If there has not been enough BLO used then you can get what I call leeching i.e. the stock will go slightly pale due the the oil getting wet and rubbing off. I used to put the oil on after I had warmed it up as it soaks in more quickly but it does take a fair bit of work to get a good oil finish, its not an over night job.

@Chop3r Thank you, do you recommend me look at that Scherell dark oil you mentioned to do a Brno ZKK601 stock? I would assume its beech wood? will that give me a better/durable finish than the BLO.

Your Brno should be walnut and yes it will give a better finish in a far shorter time, go for the dark oil. There is a bloke on trademe that sells it, $21, look in the firearms accessories

Legend, Thanks.

I can't stand tru oil. Nothing beats BLO for finish but it is time consuming. I have a bucket of genuine tung oil here which is supposedly superior but I always go back to BLO for walnut. My fox was blo finished Tim and it was always getting rained on. I like the ability to easily touch up an oiled stock too. If you want to see examples of it have a look in my safe next time we cross paths, every wooden stocked rifle or shorty I own is oil finished, some of them approaching 140 years old