It might be heresy, since so many people seem to argue against use of steel wool, but i get the best results from using it. If the wood being rubbed out has no open pores, but has a filled finish or film finish, I don't have a problem with small bits of steel wool being left on the surface of the wood.
I just finished a gunstock with Waterlox Original. It came out really well. So much better than my last hand rubbed oil finish. Once the finish was cured (mostly) I rubbed it out with steel wool and Johnson's paste wax and got just what I wanted. I'm not going to say that's the best finish possible, for two reasons. One, it most likely isn't the 'best', and two, I don't want to get involved in another long battle about refinishing.
Anyway, I got the Waterlox on the suggestion of a distant cousin that's a high dollar woodworker. For what he sells a small table for, you could buy a custom rifle and NF scope and still have a lot of money left. Prior to that, I had used a lot of wiping varnishes, which looked good, and I had also used shellacs and lacquer
In spray gun applied finishes that looked fabulous, but were really tough to apply well. So I went to him to see what he used. Waterlox Original. So I got some and used it on furniture. Very nice. I eventually googled up using it on a gunstock, and good things were said. And now I know that it does work great, and isn't that tough to use. After the wood prep, I hung the stock from the ceiling in my workshop and applied thin coats using foam brushes. First coat looked bad. Second coat was better. By the 6th coat it looked terrific and had filled all the wood pores. So, a few more coats, let it cure, and rubbed it out. Really nice.
I will also admit that I broke another rule, in that the only Waterlox I had on hand was the Satin, so I used that while worrying just a bit about the final finish. I should not have worried. I will use it again.
Last edited by 603Country; 09/21/14.
