Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles reviving an oil rubbed stock

I doubt it but hope so. Another thread demolished by Schitka. Carry on.

I've finished/refinished right at 500 stocks.....you are preaching the gospel!

Wow, guess I missed all the excitement.

To an amateur, I may seem like an accomplished woodworker. To the latter, I may seem like an amateur. All I can say is that I have more kinds of wood, and stains, waxes, oils, finishes, woodworking tools, what have you, than I can shake a fist at.

A few points I can make are:

I would not use shellac and BLO on a stock. Ever. Don't know if it is technically a varnish or not and don't care.

Tate's stock looks very nice, but I have the Watco stuff here and I'd not use it on a stock. If I did, I would worry about sealing it somehow, and keeping it sealed. I don't feel it is that durable or that it penetrates that well. I don't do glossy finishes of any type and never will.

Carry on....

A lot of people use BLO to refresh a stock as asked in OP. I do the same but add a few drops of shellac. And yet the world continues to spin on it's axis....

One of the most beautiful stocks I ever saw was on a Pennsylvania long rifle stock a buddy scratch built, maple with the tightest "curl" from stem to stern you ever saw. He used no abrasives- he scraped it smooth with shards of glass. (He said he smashed around a dozen 8x10 pieces of glass in the process of obtaining the correctly shaped shards that he needed for the various cambers on the stock.) The finish: none. He applied untold numbers of coats of paste wax, and rubbed, and rubbed. Now, 25 years later, after follow up waxing and, you guessed it, more rubbing, that stock has taken on a sheen/patina that is so deep you think you can reach in and scoop it out. The wood has turned a pretty shade of honey in the process.

The thing has accounted for dozens of deer- it gets used. He left the barrel and lock bright- no browning/bluing. Those parts have patinized to a dull brown luster from natural rusting... and rubbing. (Remember, a helluva lot of back country-built ML'ers in the 17th/18th/early19th century were left bright when made. We see them as brown today and assume that's how they left the shop.)

Would I advocate such a wood finish for a hunting rifle that will probably see weather? Nope. Not unless I knew the owner and knew he had total devotion to maintaining it properly. Not one in a thousand has that kind of dedication. For them I recommend a barrier finish of some sort, or a plastic stock. My personal stocks are all varnished, rubbed out, and waxed to a dull luster.

I would as soon put shellac in any shape or form on a stock as I would use goat piss.

Well I haven't tried goat piss... but someone better tell Bark River all their knife handles aren't fit for the outdoors. The BR factory tour can be found on youtube.

Not sure what it has to do with it. A knife handle isn't a rifle stock. I have been to BRKT and own at least a half dozen of them.

I stabilize my own wood and have handled up plenty of knives. What I use on it depends. Sometimes a simple paste wax is all you need. Sometimes BLO and paste wax. Sometimes stain and or poly. Shellac is one thing I haven't used on a knife handle.

Would almost seem like using the stain with the poly already in it, which I don't like. But, hey, whatever works. I am just stating what I do/ don't do...

They way I use it, it just makes the BLO dry faster. It's still basically just a BLO coat. If I'm wiping a stock or axe handle for "reviving" as asked in the OP I probably use a teaspoon of BLO with a drop or two of shellac from a dropper. Coat of wax once cured. It's no miracle finish and I'm sure there's better/more durable. Simply stating what I've done and it happens to esthetically match Kimber's factory finish.

FWIW Watco is a mix of oil and varnish. It is pretty, doesn't build a film, and will blotch with exposure to moisture. It's not the worst choice in the world, but there certainly are better. It may be just fine to refresh a factory finish if it is going over the finish, rather that on naked wood. It can't be worse than regular oil. It is an interior wood finish, and furniture that has been finished with it will get rings if you leave a wet glass on it.

If you are looking for a finish from a hardware store, maybe poly that has been rubbed out to a matte finish? Get a wiping poly or thin standard gloss poly to 50% poly 50% mineral spirits and wipe on. It can be done without looking too glossy.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/msds/watco-danish-oil-MSDS.pdf


Section 2 - Composition / Information On Ingredients
Chemical Name CAS Number Weight % Less ThanACGIH TLV-TWA ACGIH TLV-STELOSHA PEL-TWA OSHA PEL-CEILING
Mineral Spirits 8052-41-3 60.0 NE NE 100 ppm NE
aromatic petroleum distillates 64742-95-6 5.0 NE NE N.E. N.E.
Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether34590-94-8 5.0 100 ppm N.E. N.E. N.E.
Stoddard Solvent 8052-41-3 5.0 100 PPM 100 PPM


While hard to read as it copied and pasted, the list above is the actual ingredient list of Watco Danish Oil, the assumed finish being discussed as Watco because it is their best-known, biggest selling mixture.

It has no resins, which is a requirement for varnish.

Gloss Poly rubbed out is an excellent choice with wax for flattening further... never use matte finishes as the flatting agents are usually just silica which makes the finishes far less durable and less waterproof.

Adding oil to the poly will make it easier to apply to get the desired look.

A piece of advice... you should ALWAYS make the finish glossy and then rub it down to a sheen you can live with, or love. Glossy finishes are both more durable and more waterproof.

What?!?!?!

You do not like water spots? Decreased wear resistance?

All good advice.

Read what this man said....he is exactly right. The most durable satin finish will always be a rubbed out gloss finish due to the manufacturing processes to make a satin formulation...a byproduct of the process weakens it.

If it were my rifle I would wipe it down with Murphy's soap and immediately dry it off. If the finish was good I would use a quality wax on it like Renaissance, Briwax or any that have Carnuba wax in them.

I would be tempted to at least rub it down with Artist grade Linseed Oil thinned with turpentine before waxing. If you wanted more durability then Linspeed or any of the better spar varnishes could be mixed in at half linseed, 1/4 turps, and 1/4 varnish or less.

Regarding Oil and shellac mixes: James V. Howe has a formula in "Modern Gunsmithing" using shellac and linseed oil. Many of the formulas for Slacum used by Purdey and others have shellac added as a filler. LC Smith and Parker both used an oil shellac mixture for finishing and Parker would mix oil, shellac and varnish for really porous wood.

I didn't think it would work until I tried it and they are not only compatible but produced a nice finish faster and with at least initially more water repellent properties than oil alone. Not as durable as any of the modern finishes but traditional.

All good information but where would you put BLO in your points? I am sure you are aware it is the lowest grade of linseed oil with driers and drying inhibitors added which severely affect its value as a quality wood finish...

What actually weakens the semi-gloss finish is the addition of silica as a flatting agent.

Yeah well it's damned hard to f*ckin tell as I've used about every finish there is at one time or another including gloss, semi gloss and satin oil based polyurethanes and I'll be damned if I can tell a difference. One things for sure and that is they are all pretty durable and much more so than'any of the water based or "wipe on" poly's and oil finishes like tru oil or linspeed. The rifle in the OP is a hunting rifle for f*ck sakes and as such should have some damned scratches. I'd rub some minwax spar poly in the scratch, let it sit for a few and wipe off the excess. Let dry, repeat the procedure a couple times and call it good.

I doubt I'll ever use that rifle as a foul weather gun. But just for info's sake, what would you fellows recommend putting on top of the current finish to make it more weather resistant without giving it any more of a shiny finish?