Stock Finishing

[Loy Hamilton]

Would someone post the best/correct way to finish, for example, a new stock set from CMP?

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[PeteDavis]

No quick fixes and most folks always use too much finish.

Raw linseed oil, over and over, for the rest of your days.

PD

[Lancebear]

Hey Loy,

Got a Garand last year from the CMP, came with new Birch wood stained an ugly brown. Hand sanded the stain off with #220 grit paper. Re-stained with a 50/50 mix of Minwax walnut and red oak stain. Finished with three coats of hand rubbed pure tung oil from The Real Milk Paint Co. I'd do the same with walnut unless it came with a nice color. Just my preference.

LB

[45B20]

Loy

Finishing or re-finishing a stock will probably get you about 20 different basic mixtures and ideas.

But here are a few basic rules, if you feel you must be original, remember the U.S. Military never called for any oil/finish other than Raw linseed oil to be used on M1903 stocks. RLO is not an easy oil for most people to use, and as Pete stated, far too much is applied at one time and not nearly enough time give for drying. But if you must be original you are stuck with RLO.

Boiled linseed oil can be used but it is really not much easer to put on raw wood than RLO (when done correctly). It is not military, too shinny, in some units I knew, just boning or spooning a stock could get you an Articial 15. I just do not see any reason to use it.

One of the Tung oil finishes (straight or one of the mixes) is much easer to apply and gives a nicer finish (though really not military).. Almost none of the available ’so called’ tung oil finishes have much tung oil in them. The Behr product #600 has had its make up changed and is no longer useful. A replacement has been found by Rome over on the Parallax Forum and it is ’True Tone T-400 Tung Oil Finish’, call Master Chemicals at 800-325-3552.

As nice as some of the Tung Oil finishes can be, tung oil, and also linseed oil, are terrible at sealing wood. Test have put them almost at the bottom, in their resistance to moisture entering and leaving wood. That trait is what made them so great for paint for so many years. From what I can tell from the FMs & TMs, the military did not look on RLO as a sealer of wood but as a means to prevent dry wood and cracking.

If you feel that the wood must be sealed the best you can, one of the oil based varnishes or mixes there of,, will be your best bet. You can use one of the matt finishes and then on last coat rub it out with rotten stone or very fine steel wool.

If you want a ‘looker’ one of the mixes with bee’s wax can be very interesting.

But I am sure you will get many mixes and ideas, pick the one that will work best for what you want,, and have fun.

45B20





Loy
Just to give you an idea of what a pain correctly applied RLO can be, here is the procedure I use when RLO must be used.

If you are talking about raw unfinished wood, soak the wood in warm thinned 50/50 (I use turp) RLO,,,I try to let it soak for at least two hours and longer if I can. Let it hang for at least a day, wipe it down, then soak it with warm un-thinned RLO, again let it hang for about a day, and then start wiping it down once a day for about a month adding NO RLO during this time. Then rub in (and I really mean rub in), 2 drops of RLO a month for a year, then, 2 drops a year for the rest of the stocks life.
If the climate is really warm and dry,, you could reduce drying time to two week, but no LESS.
The problem most people have with RLO is too much applied and too short drying time.

I hate RLO for stocks

45B20

[Lancebear]

Loy,

First coat I put on was a 50/50 mix of pure tung oil and mineral spirits, the humidity was low and the temperature was in the high eighties. Was dry to the touch after twenty four hours. Waited a day and put the second coat on, pure tung oil. Same result, dry to the touch after a day. Waited another day and put another coat of uncut tung and I was done. Semi-gloss finish that is dry, never tacky.

LB

[Pelago]

No quick fixes and most folks always use too much finish.

Raw linseed oil, over and over, for the rest of your days.

PD

with some modification, you can spice it up a bit, make your own mix, some tung oil, boiled linseed oil, lemon oil, old fashioned furniture oil.

primary is of course boiled linseed oil then to your desire add the rest, some even add a few drops of stain, if you would like some highlight colors, add some mahoghaney or cherry stain

and make enough to last twenty years, and all it takes is a few drops at a time and lots of devotion

[MJ1]

........................

[PeteDavis]

MJ1-

Nice rifle, tell us about it.

PD

[Truman]

Everybody has an opinion. But I like just a little stain to show the grain of the wood. I really like the Red Oak stain by Varathane followed by a coat of red mahogeney Danish oil. It gives just a hint of red but you can still see the grain. FWIW Truman

[Kirk]

Formby's Tung Oil finish cuts all the corners & turns out right! The Army replaced linseed oil with Tung oil in the late '30s. Tung oil is superior to BLO in many ways; ease of application; quick drying & superior water resistence are the main ones. There are several tung oil potions on the market; Formby's in among the best & easiest to use. Get it at Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

Check out the Chestnut Ridge Military Stain is the beat & easiest to apply Miscellaneous Parts and Accessories It's water based, can be put on in multiple coats until you get the color you want, blends well.