Walnut stock stripping and refinishing project

[vance]

First time doing this. My son has a Voere M98 sporter in varnished walnut and I have same rifle with an oil finish on the stock. He likes how mine doesn't show scratches like his.
I stripped the varnish (1969/70 DOM) using a gel stripper and it went surprisingly well. Did 4-5 applications and scrubbed away softened varnish with a stripping pad (medium) and used an old tooth brush on the checkering. Delighted with how the checkering cleaned out without any loss of detail. Minor sanding of scratches in the wood with 220 grit sanding pad.

Will apply the oil finish this weekend. Using Rubio Monocoat Hard Wax Oil, which is what we have on our flooring in our home. Matte finish, seems quite tough.

Plan to sand in first 2-3 applications of oil cut with mineral spirits to fill the grain, then finger rub in the remaining coats of straight oil.

If it turns out as I hope, will start gradually stripping all of my varnished stocks.
Advice, thoughts is/are welcome.

Vance

[270person]

I do a similar process but with only one laquer strip and I like the boiled linseed oil finish. Takes some time but I far prefer the look to the TruOil results. It becomes a labour of love and each one you do is a little bit better.

[vance]

Thanks for the input. I just kept going with the stripper gel until I got to bare wood. Grip area and buttstock upper and lower surface took longest to let go.
I was worried that the stripper would damage the white spacer on the pistol grip, which I am guessing is plastic, but it didn't.
I don't care for the Tru oil look as it is glossy and leaves a surface urethane layer which then scratches. I also like the hand-feel of wood, without the layer of "plastic" film.
I have used raw tung oil on SKS stock refinishes (and 2000 sq feet of wood floor at our cabin) and liked the look and feel. I think the product I am using will approximate that.
My understanding of BLO is that it has urethane/polyurethane added. Is that correct? If not, I will reach for it next time.
Vance

[sns2]

Following closely

[leo]

After I strip a stock I wet sand it with oil from 220 grit to 2000. Wood feels warm and pores are sealed and smooth as glass.

[270person]

Originally Posted by vance

Thanks for the input. I just kept going with the stripper gel until I got to bare wood. Grip area and buttstock upper and lower surface took longest to let go.
I was worried that the stripper would damage the white spacer on the pistol grip, which I am guessing is plastic, but it didn't.
I don't care for the Tru oil look as it is glossy and leaves a surface urethane layer which then scratches. I also like the hand-feel of wood, without the layer of "plastic" film.
I have used raw tung oil on SKS stock refinishes (and 2000 sq feet of wood floor at our cabin) and liked the look and feel. I think the product I am using will approximate that.
My understanding of BLO is that it has urethane/polyurethane added. Is that correct? If not, I will reach for it next time.
Vance

Sounds like it will turn out nice. We can compare pic if you wish. Not 100% on BLO containing urethane/polyurethane, mine doesn't according to a quick google search, but I know a lot of guys will cover boiled linseed oil with urethane. I wouldn't. You have to be 100% sure the blo is very dry and not still gassing off or you'll make a mess.

Once I get mine stripped of finish, mine have always been one application, but I wrap the stock with tinfoil to keep things wet and let it sit for 5 minutes. any little bits leftover sand out easily. I sand for probably a good hour with 220 - 400 grit to get rid of any little nicks and imperfections. Then I'll dip a finger tip into the boiled linseed oil, rub it into an area roughly 4 inches square and wet sand it in with 400 grit. I do the entire stock minus the checkering of course and will repeat the process another 3x roughly at roughly one week intervals. Each oil and wet sand takes roughly one hour.

Once I have the tiny cracks and pores filled I'll begin the process of hand rubbing coats of linseed oil into the wood. No smart comments please but I'll apply very little oil and progressively less with each coat and hand rub it in to the point my hands get really warm from the friction. The hotter the better. Each coat and hot rub will be right around an hour. Some guys do 1-2 finish coats. The one I'm working on now will be 3-4. I went totally matte finish on my first couple but want a little bit of sheen on this one just to see how it looks. It's not a surface gloss like the TruOil gives. Seems to come from deeper in the wood.

Each coat of BLO will dry for at least a week before the next application.

If you can get around the cameraman's dumb commentary this old guy knows what he's doing and the vid shows the variations you can get with the glow, depending on how many coats you hand rub in.

https://youtu.be/mzVdsln29o8

[vance]

I really appreciate these detailed and thoughtful comments. Will re-read them tomorrow. The stock will never feel or look the same to me after this process.
The role of heat in introducing the oil into the wood makes sense.
270person, do you mean that once you apply the varnish stripping gel you wrap with foil for 5 min?
I started to type "once you apply the stripper gel do you wrap with foil for 5 minutes?", but deleted that.
Trying to stay above the low road
Vance

[270person]

Originally Posted by vance

I really appreciate these detailed and thoughtful comments. Will re-read them tomorrow. The stock will never feel or look the same to me after this process.
The role of heat in introducing the oil into the wood makes sense.
270person, do you mean that once you apply the varnish stripping gel you wrap with foil for 5 min?
I started to type "once you apply the stripper gel do you wrap with foil for 5 minutes?", but deleted that.
Trying to stay above the low road
Vance

Yes re the stripper and foil. I lay out a length of foil long enough to wrap the entire stock, paint it on thick with a brush, then wrap and seal up the foil just to keep it wet. stuff dries quickly. Peel back the foil, use a plastic blade where possible and just wipe off the rest. Stiff bristled toothbrush for the checkering.

Last one had a couple of tiny shiny spots still but a quick sand took them right out.

Start to finish will be roughly 12 - 15 hours work time with a week minimum between steps to dry properly. Like the man in the vid says..."use too much bol and your 7-10 day dry time will be 6 months." 1.5 to 2 months to do the whole job.

[vance]

When we built our cabin 10 years ago, I wanted a traditional oil finished wood floor. What I learned then was that tung oil and linseed oil are both natural oils that cure (polymerize/harden) with exposure to air. The natural oils take about 21-30 days to do this.
Raw tung oil with citrus solvent in the birch and tamarack flooring that was slowly saturated and then left for 28 days has been very durable and matte.
Danish oil, tung oil with urethane added, etc will cure faster, but with a surface film.
Manual rubbing of the wood surface, patience and many small light coats makes sense
Vance

[270person]

Originally Posted by vance

When we built our cabin 10 years ago, I wanted a traditional oil finished wood floor. What I learned then was that tung oil and linseed oil are both natural oils that cure (polymerize/harden) with exposure to air. The natural oils take about 21-30 days to do this.
Raw tung oil with citrus solvent in the birch and tamarack flooring that was slowly saturated and then left for 28 days has been very durable and matte.
Danish oil, tung oil with urethane added, etc will cure faster, but with a surface film.
Manual rubbing of the wood surface, patience and many small light coats makes sense
Vance

Watch the video for tips you can use then adjust to your preferred method Vance. I pretty much did what he did and I like the results. when they pan the row of stocks he has racked you'll see the difference between 1 and 3 coats of oil to finish off.

[vance]

Thanks for that tip. Makes sense. I was worried about the plastic layer in the pistol grip, so wanted to keep an eye on it, but think next time I will wrap it as you suggest.
Not good at posting pics, but will try.
Plan B I can text them
Vance

[270person]

Originally Posted by vance

Thanks for that tip. Makes sense. I was worried about the plastic layer in the pistol grip, so wanted to keep an eye on it, but think next time I will wrap it as you suggest.
Not good at posting pics, but will try.
Plan B I can text them
Vance

I meant wrap with foil after you apply the stripper to the entire stock. Wrap the entire stock to keep the stripper from drying out. If you like your white spacer I'd remove it. I left mine on this bdl and the stripper melted it pretty good. I don't care because I planned on going without it anyways.

[bsmitty27]

I always use tung oil. I love the feel of a oil finish. I also WHISKER my stocks after sanding. You can google it. But it is basically get the wood wet, then heat over stove, or heat gun. The steam causes the wood to expand and all the fibers that are lying down stand up and can be taken down with SYNTHETIC steel wool. Dont use regular steel wool. Repeat until smooth then I wet sand a couple coats of tung oil with 300-600 then hand apply tung oil.
I heard this about tung oil and I like it.
Once a day, for a week, Once a week for a month, once a month for a year, and once a year for life
Brad

[Hunter1602]

Hi Vance,

Feel free to PM me if you'd like.

Cheers

H1602

[saskbooknut]

Gunstock finish is much about the process. There are many good products.
Tru Oil is one of the good ones. You can get any level of gloss you want with Tru Oil, by cutting back the gloss when the finish is built up. Before Tru Oil one of the commonly used products was GB Linspeed. Showing my age here.
Buzzword that I hear these days is "wiping varnish" when applied to Tru Oil.
You start with thinned Tru Oil to get the early coats soaked into the wood. You cannot rush applications of Tru Oil by laying on thicker coats.

Crucial to getting a good finish on a stripped stock is to fill the grain, multiple applications of finish built up, or stock filler product.

You should be careful with sanding to preserve edges and contours of the stock.

I am not a fan of BLO. It never really sets up unless you have years to wait, and becomes sticky on a hot day. Boiled linseed oil was a good stock treatment on military rifles 100 years ago. Tung oil is an allergen to some people.

Oil finishes with a drier added, or Polyurethane products do a superior job of sealing wood. There are satin poly products that do not have the gloss of Tru Oil, even with many coats.

It sounds to me that the OP has a pretty sound handle on the process.

[Deer Hunter]

Watco Danish oil finish is real good stuff to work with.
Works well with wet sanding and repairs easily. Seals the wood and has hardeners added.

[270person]

Originally Posted by saskbooknut

Gunstock finish is much about the process. There are many good products.
Tru Oil is one of the good ones. You can get any level of gloss you want with Tru Oil, by cutting back the gloss when the finish is built up. Before Tru Oil one of the commonly used products was GB Linspeed. Showing my age here.
Buzzword that I hear these days is "wiping varnish" when applied to Tru Oil.
You start with thinned Tru Oil to get the early coats soaked into the wood. You cannot rush applications of Tru Oil by laying on thicker coats.

Crucial to getting a good finish on a stripped stock is to fill the grain, multiple applications of finish built up, or stock filler product.

You should be careful with sanding to preserve edges and contours of the stock.

I am not a fan of BLO. It never really sets up unless you have years to wait, and becomes sticky on a hot day. Boiled linseed oil was a good stock treatment on military rifles 100 years ago. Tung oil is an allergen to some people.

Oil finishes with a drier added, or Polyurethane products do a superior job of sealing wood. There are satin poly products that do not have the gloss of Tru Oil, even with many coats.

It sounds to me that the OP has a pretty sound handle on the process.

We all have our preferences but if you need years waiting for boiled linseed oil to dry and it gets sticky on a hot day you likely shouldn't have soaked your stock in it for weeks.

A little knowledge of the how to's is always a good idea. Mine are dry to the touch at 5-7 days and don't get sticky at all in hot weather. If you've sealed wood properly you don't need polyurethane and as noted in the OP's post he prefers not to use it.

If you enjoy cutting oils, adding driers, polyurethane, use stock fillers, and multiple steel wool rubs to achieve the level of gloss you prefer, then have at er.

[vance]

Brad,
Are you talking raw tung oil? If so, where did you purchase it, as I have found it hard to find. The tung oil that Home Depot, etc sells has additives to speed curing.
Also, I have read about the whiskering, but not sure what it contributes to the final result? If the sanded wood seems smooth enough without doing that step, then do I need it?
Vance

[vance]

Another question: I have read that the recoil pad should be on the stock for any final sanding, but I am uncertain if I should leave it off for oil application?
Seems to me that if it is on, I can't coat the end of the buttstock, and will get some oil on the recoil pad where it meets the stock.
Thoughts?
Vance

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by vance

Another question: I have read that the recoil pad should be on the stock for any final sanding, but I am uncertain if I should leave it off for oil application?
Seems to me that if it is on, I can't coat the end of the buttstock, and will get some oil on the recoil pad where it meets the stock.
Thoughts?
Vance

Leave pad off after final sanding to apply the oil, it just messes up the pad anyhow and you are right that you need to seal the end grain.

With respect to which oil to use for finishing, BLO is much better than plain Linseed oli as the plain stuff is not waterproof at all and never really dries. For those of you that don't like the Truoil glossy finish that is really easy to turn to a satin finish using Casey's rubbing compound. Truoil is one of the best for making a waterproof OIL finish that is easy to touch up. Tung oil is the last thing I would use on a gun, fine for indoor use, furniture etc but not designed for outdoor. Only way to waterproof it is to apply a layer of urethane or the like once the oil is dry. There is a very good reason wooden boats were not finished in oil, that is where Spar, Marine and other varnishes came from.

[270person]

Originally Posted by vance

Another question: I have read that the recoil pad should be on the stock for any final sanding, but I am uncertain if I should leave it off for oil application?
Seems to me that if it is on, I can't coat the end of the buttstock, and will get some oil on the recoil pad where it meets the stock.
Thoughts?
Vance

Not sure why anyone would advise leaving the pad on for any part of the process. Remove everything. Sand, oil, then reassemble.

Maybe you're thinking of sizing a grind to fit recoil pad?

[bwinchg]

Originally Posted by vance

Are you talking raw tung oil? If so, where did you purchase it, as I have found it hard to find. The tung oil that Home Depot, etc sells has additives to speed curing.

Try Lee Valley for pure tung oil,

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...at=1,190,42942

[Hunter1602]

I finished these recently with a Double Boiled Linseed oil concoction upon the request of a customer.. so, as some folks talk about the Tung Oil being the top performer.. just remember..all oils result in different presentations... It's all about how you want the wood to look in the end, and what types of steps you put into the process...

Regards,
H1602

[vance]

Thats a very beautiful finish on the 22 pumps.

I started with the oil product cut with mineral spirits 1:1. Put on a coat and sanded first one in with 220 grit on a small backer board, avoiding the checkering, then next 3 coats with 320 grit. Hand rubbed after the light sanding.
After each of these coats, used a toothbrush to clean the checkering, as oily dust had collected in the checkering.
Just applied last coat of non-thinned oil and rubbed in by hand.
Very happy with the matte sheen and beauty of the wood. Cure time is 2 weeks and the rifle is going hunting in a few days past that time.
Will report on durability.

My estimate is it took only 15ml of the hard wax oil to this point.
I am especially happy at being able to get the checkering stripped without losing detail. That was my main worry

Thanks to all who shared.

Yes, the recoil pad was a grind-to-fit limbsaver. Will re-mount it in a week or so

Vance