Do I have a chamber problem?

[303Guy]

Might I ask why raw linseed oil? I always thought it was boiled. Anyway, an easy way to clean up a stock is with 50/50 boiled? linseed oil/natural turpentine. Rub on with a course cloth and rub down all the dirt. Wipe off the excess then rub dry with the palm of the hand (lots of elbow work). If you manage to find some natural/genuine turpentine please tell me where - I can't find any in my parts.

For polishing woodwork after it has been treated with linseed oil (a buddy did a stock for his step son without polishing the wood), use Scotch Bright pads (green). That wood polished up like it was done properly in the first place. It had had about two weeks of daily oiling and rubbing and drying in the sun.

[viejorifle]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. That is what I try to do. Smaller projects but done meticulously. My little lady is happy.

For my Lee Enfield which is dirty and dinged with a few deep gashes. I will gently rub down with dry steel wool and see how it responds to some raw linseed oil.

Ray

[RobD]

At an artists' supply store (e.g. Hobbycraft) you can get linseed oil which does dry (polymerises) in a few days - as opposed to remaining permanently a sticky mess like raw linseed oil.
It comes in small bottles of very viscous linseed oil. You would thin it with turpentine (use the real stuff, not white spirit/mineral spirits/mineral turpentine/turpentine substitute). Turpentine is also available from artists' stores.
Now, this stuff does not come cheap, because it is used for mixing with artists' oil paints. But you only need a few drops to rub into your stock occasionally. Having had several stocks which remain tacky forever with DIY-store linseed oil, I can recommend using the correct linseed oil ... or can I suggest you might use Danish oil, which polymerises a lot faster and dries harder? In non-antique stocks like No 1 and No 4 rifles, I think is altogether a better finish. This is only a personal suggestion and is bound to be controversial!

[303Guy]

Ah, that's why boiled linseed oil is used - it dries while raw does not. Rubbing with the palm of the hand dries it, leaving a deep, waterproof lustre (after weeks of treatment).

viejorifle, might I urge you not to start with the steel wool. It is an abrasive on wood and does remove material and tends to clean the high points and leave the depressions dirty. Those dings need to be lifted first. To do that, place a wet towel over the ding and apply a hot iron to that wet rag. Repeat until each ding is lifted. Try the Scotch Bright pads first (found in the kitchen). For smoothing the lifted dings if you so wish can be done with very fine emmory paper (600 - 1000 grit) on a cork block. Steel wool will follow any irregularity and therefore not smooth it out which is fine if you want to keep it that way but I would still go the Scotch Bright route. Try it and decide from there. Use boiled linseed oil and turpentine on it - that cleans the wood while polishing it. The results will be amazing.

ADDENDUM - Natural turpentine is called gum turpentine and is made from pine gum. It is toxic and has a shelf life. It can cause dermatitis (I never had any reactions to it). It's possible that citrus oil will work as a substitute. It smells better and is non-toxic. As RobD said, gum turpentine is available from art stores.

[flying pig]

Raw because that's what was done in the service. It soaks in and keeps moisture in the wood rather than staying on top. Also it doesn't leave a glossy slippery finish like boiled linseed oil will.

I only use the steel wool if it is a stock that has been through hell, left in a barn and literally covered in moldy fifty year old pigeon crap etc. I have a MkI* Ross here that came to me like that. A gentle rub with very very fine steel wool and some fresh RLO and it came back stunningly. As for dents, in my opinion dents and scars are part if its history.

[303Guy]

Right. I was told to dilute the boiled linseed oil with gum turpentine to make it soak in which is what I did. Only after several weeks of the 50/50 did I change to straight. That stock is plenty waterproof now. It did darken the wood though. Does raw linseed oil darken the wood? I happen to like dark wood so I'm OK with it.

[Peter Laidler]

On the real side of life, while we used to rub over the wood with linseed, at the main workshops, it was dunked overnight in a warm-to-touch vat of linseed and left to drip dry in the day

[Bruce_in_Oz]

A couple of cautions:

Steel wool is excellent for bringing timber to a "sheen" HOWEVER, be very careful about "lost" whiskers. These tiny bits of steel embed themselves in sundry end-grain edges, tiny splits etc and may eventually RUST, causing a nasty stain in your timber. So, before applying any sealer / oil, get a very big magnet from the back of a blown-up loudspeaker, wrap a layer of cheesecloth around it and carefully glide it over the timber. You may be amazed at the amount of steel fibres you find.

Most of what is called "boiled' linseed is actually treated with an acid, a process that "emulates" boiling but keeps the price down. The point of the exercise is to greatly shorten the drying time.

Beware "ScotchBrite" or similar pads near metal components. ScotchBrites are so effective at removing hard crud because they contain tiny abrasive (Silicon Carbide) particles in the spun plastic fibres. Great for getting the burnt offerings out of the wok, but hell on blued or even phosphated components. OK on timber; you don't get rusty steel fibres, but the finish is not exactly "fine".

One trick for getting a fine finish on timber is to use steel wool, but Grade 000 for even 0000, wrapped around a cork sanding block. This reduces any tendency to "waviness". Fibre caveat applies even more with this stuff, however.

Most "issue" woodwork is not exactly finished to a high gloss, especially WW1 onwards.

Keep any sort of linseed oil away from working parts. I once had to deal with a couple of real service rifles that were completely gummed up. A dopey storeman had issued a pump-pack of linseed in stead of the "real" oil. I had to use carburetter cleaner to separate some of the parts before the real cleaning could be done. The dopey diggers obviously didn't know the difference in smell between Linseed and "proper" rifle oil, nor understand the concept of "a light film of oil". The stores chaps were also very remiss in not labeling oil bottles. The linseed was supposed to be used on the handles of picks and shovels. It's not all glamour in the toyshop.

[303Guy]

Interesting. I used the Scotch Brite because I didn't want to abrade the wood and fine sandpaper would simply clog and besides, one cannot 'raise' sanded wood with a damp cloth once it's been oiled. The Scotch Brite worked just fine. Perhaps it was more appropriately applied to linseed oiled wood as I did. I kinda think I used 'used' pads and not fresh for the very reason you mention. I may have tried used ones first then moved on to fresh - can't say for sure now. However, it is less abrasive than steel wool.

I assume everyone knows about 'raising' wood during the final fine sanding/sheaning stages. The damp cloth application to 'raise' the fibres for the next sanding until the wood stays smooth.

Can one get stainless steel wool? Or fine enough brass wool? That would solve the lost whisker problem. But I still suggest Scotch Brite (there are different grades of Scotch Brite).

[Bruce_in_Oz]

"Mr. Scotch" seems to have a product for every imagineable application, I might pop over to their website and see what they offer for the "cabinet-makers".