Well, the "Dumbfecta" of finishing have spoken!
If Craigster, Gunswhizzer, and snyper are for it I know I am exactly right for speaking against it...
I have had dozens of folks make sample boards when finishing stocks to see what they like. I almost always have them do a sanded-in sample for comparison. Not one every chooses sanded-in finishes after comparisons.
As I have posted dozens of times:
Buy a tiny container of spar varnish and about 4 ounces of high quality oil at a paint or art store. Liberally coat the stock with straight spar varnish and wipe DRY after about 10-15 minutes of soaking. Repeat.
Refill tiny varnish container with oil and repeat the coats.
Depending on the wood and freshness of the oil the finish should be building nicely by the fourth coat. Keep applying coats until you like it.
Keep topping off varnish with plain oil.
Polish with extra fine Bear-Tex pads and wax after allowing a good long curing time.
Quick, easy, quite weather-proof, deep, and as lustrous as you could ask for. Light-years better than sanded in...
ALWAYS make a sample board or twelve to test your wood against several different finishes. With open-pored wood sanded-in finishes always look like garbage. Against tight-pored wood they do not look as bad, but involve a lot more work and never look as good...
NEVER trust anyone's finish without trying it first.
As much as I hate to interrupt a perfectly good pissing match, I'd like to hear a bit more detail. Any preference on the type/brand of oil? Drying times between coats?
I've used a couple different methods that have produced good results but im always looking for a better way to skin the cat.
This is simply a quick and dirty way to get a decent finish without epoxy. I generally use epoxy for my personal stocks and have written up my methods here many times.
But back to this method... the idea is to use a good varnish and after the first few coats start thinning it with plain oil. Over the course of finishing the stock you achieve a mostly water resistant finish with an easily repaired (mostly) oil top coat that is all bonded together neatly.
Helmsman Spar Urethane was the last brand I used and it is good. I have tried many and never have had any issues.
The oil should be straight oil, no "Finish" or blends, just oil. It makes no difference if it is linseed or tung. Art shops carry it for custom mixing oil colors.
The first couple coats can go on pretty fast, but let them dry overnight after the second coat. Once the surface is sealed and the pores filled the wiped down surface will cure very fast and you can put new coats on as soon as the surface feels dry... That can be as little as an hour.
Applying the finish liberally, letting it set for 10-15 minutes before wiping DRY with a clean, soft cloth is much faster than rubbing out drops. The final buffing out should be delayed for about a month for final curing.
Another concern about the quality of the waterproofing is the differential created between the barrel channel and the outside of the forearm. If the interior is completely sealed with glass bedding for example and the exterior is imperfect the outside can either gain or lose water causing the stock to move to or from the barrel... Keep the finish the same all over the stock, in other words.
