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Mineral oil???

Duane obviously produces a very nice finish. I have watched him work in his shop years ago. Very few stock finishers would ever consider putting in the time and effort he does to finish a stock. By the time he puts the rottenstone in the pores are mighty small.

No one I going to spend that kind of time on ordinary factory stock woods.

Procustom oil is no more waterproof than TruOil. It is also far from all tung oil, and usually has more linseed than tung.

No oil finish is waterproof Cured oil absorbs water vapor faster than bare wood.

It is not your mother's salad bowl finish any more!

I missed it who said "mineral oil"? NEVER MIND WENT BACK AND FOUND IT.
I said Mineral spirts

""mineral spirits also known as mineral turpentine, turpentine substitute, petroleum spirits, solvent naphtha (petroleum), varsol, Stoddard solvent,or, generically, "paint thinner",


Sitka what do you recommend?

As to what is in Pro Custom I can only trust the label. They call it Tung and urethane.
I'm still having trouble getting my arms around using rottenstone to fill pores vs smooth finish.

Tru oil seemed to dry too fast and to me it didn't seem to penetrate at all. Also the gloss finish that I got was not to my liking. I never buffed it back but I didn't really care for it.

I just wanted a hand rubbed satin finish so that's why I went the route I did. So what is used on like English shotguns that just have that sating stained look?

By the way I checked with a straight edge, no dip. I got it fixed now. I sanded and cleaned with acetone as was recommended. After I quit seeing black in the cloth I let it dry out and started coating again. Feathering back in everything looks good. It would appear that the pores were filled with particles from the pachmyer and wouldn't let anything penetrate and build up layers.

This doesn't have much smell at all really, I heat the stock up by the stove and then apply every morning while I doing coffee. She looks good. I'll check out some of this info in the links.

Sitka- what do you recommend?

I generally use slow-cure epoxy under an oil finish. It is not the easiest finish, but it is the best in many categories. The waterproofing is unmatched by any other good stock finish other than superglue. It is easy to repair and it looks just like an oil finish.

I do not suggest it for refinish jobs as that is not worth the effort, IMO. For that I usually suggest spar varnish thinned with pure oil (NOT BLO!!!)in progressively larger cut. It is easy, fast, and fairly decent for water.

Procustom oil is a very good finish, but it is no more waterproof than any other brand of oil finish. It has the same mix of stuff every other good stock finish has, just in their own proprietary cuts.

When you buy matte finishes they use rottenstone or silica as a matting agent. Because it is mixed in throughout the finish layers it has the matting agents right near the surface. They cause weak points in the finish that lead to premature wear. Which is why gloss finishes are so much tougher.

Using the rottenstone in a base layer and then covering it with a continuous layer it protects the weak spots and the finish is durable. It is far better than sanding slurry fillers as it wets out and is mostly transparent. It provides a non-shrinking matrix for the oil molecules to build on and fill pores fast.

Since it is not a flatting agent when buried under the finish it does not affect the gloss level and that must be polished to your personal taste.

If you are just putting more BLO on the stock I am out... it is garbage in every respect for decent finishes. It will never cure properly and will only cause issues like darkening at the end grain and lots of other ugly traits.

It is not uncommon for TruOil to be old when purchased and thick. If that happens return it and get a fresh bottle. It is that feature that causes BLO to be sold with inhibitors that are the source of your problem.

TruOil, even when thick due to the onset of curing will dry reliably. It is fairly thin when made. Always start with a fresh bottle. Apply heavily and wipe dry after 10-15 minutes.

The gloss finish must be buffed out to whatever you want. It is not difficult or time-consuming.

Original old guns had just oil, but it was cured reliably with heavy metal driers (think lead in old paints) and they have been traded for less toxic stuff. BLO will not cure and that is why it is garbage for stocks. It will continue to ooze for years on any sunny day.

Never used them,but quite sometime ago,someone suggested using Mr Clean Magic Erasers to buff the stock out to get a satin finish

Tried them, waste of money/time/effort. Gave them to the wife.

Well I continued with BLO because I'm not willing to completely redo the stock again...I've already gone through the the finishing process and at this time I'm not willing to refinish the entire thing again. I appreciate the advice for finishes. The epoxy sounds I interestng.

this is what steered me toward the finish i used

I scratched my head when I first saw that youtube.

Watched it again and still wonder.

Iclimb when it comes to wood finishing you need to do what works for you. Linseed oil is still a good finish although I mostly use it with a varnish sealer or mix of the two now.

The finest rifles and shotguns around from the old British makers used Slacum a mix of linseed oil, varnish, wax and driers. Google Slacum and you will find some long threads on the doublegun board about it.

I like to use artist grade linseed oil and then add cobalt or japan drier so I know what I am using.

Main thing with oil is to let it really cure before you rub it down with rotten stone. Three months is not too long and a year is better.

Absolutely correct! But the problem comes in when BLO is confused with linseed oil. BLO is just very low grade linseed oil ruined with curing inhibitors.

Some folks should stick to asking advice, not giving it... those idiots were painful to watch!

Sadly, you have done damage to your stock and it will become a sticky mess over time.

As a substitute to acetone I've used rubbing alcohol. I figure it does a good job cleaning and drying the wood when removing (or attempting to) old oil finishes. I also like water based stains and rubbing alcohol for blending (lightening) once the stain is applied.

I have switched to wood dye. It has no pigment. So it colors the wood but doesn't fill the pores.

Can you thin out dye after its been applied? I'm thinking about situations where you need to play with the color on the stock to get it right. Thanks.

I use a powder dye and use alcohol as the liquid. Then you apply. Alcohol will allow you to come back and remove some of the color. I've used it to hide sap wood.