Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Slackum for stock finishing

I was reading an article about Purdey rifles and guns, and the article said that Purdeys had been using a finish for their stocks know as Slackum (SP?) for many years.

The stuff is made from boiled Linseed oil, beeswax and a drier. They did not give the proportions.

The stocks were beautiful, but it does not seem to me like this type of finish would be very durable, nor would it protect the wood from moisture all that well.

Does anyone else know anything about this type of stock finish?

The porportions vary a good deal..In a cupfull of boiled Linseed oil add a sponfull or two of Japanese dryer and an ounce of melted beeswax. It is applied by hand rubbing untilt the palm of your hand is hot....It is not a very good finish other than it is beautiful but the same effect and a much better finish is oil modified Urathane. My favorite being Satin Gun Sav-R from Brownells. It has the same appearance but is much more durable, protective and waterproof...It is much much easier to use and much faster to finish. I am of the opinnion that hand rubbing only adds dirt infested body oils to the finish.

You can also use egg as opposed to beeswax and dryer. I have that old formula around here someplace. It's a doozy for sure!

Used it once and wasn't particularly impressed. I simply use ChemPak products now which are very user friendly.

Used to marketed under "Warthog" name IIRC.

I was mainly wondering about the durability of it. Many of those English guns were used in Africa and India under very harsh conditions.

From what little I know about stock finishing, this mixture doesn't seem like it would be very durable or waterproof.

Linseed oil and beeswax are relatively soft, and from what I have read, Linseed oil does not do that good a job of water proofing.

Africa, India - Mostly dry/harsh

Seems you answered your own question about moisture resistance.

As sitka has said many times on here. Oil helps telegraph water in to wood better than bare wood.

If you want to roll your own Slackum Oil:

BLO 16oz.
Turp 2oz.
Carnuba wax 200gr.
Venice turp 2tsp (200ml)

Mix, heat (low) 10min (+/-) until wax is melted and clear liquid formed.

I've used it, looks nice, but have not exposed guns to harsh weather.

my conversion calculator says that 1 us teaspoon is 4ml, and you say 200 is 2tsp? or is my calculator wrong

Any of the formulas with wax especially Bees Wax were intended to go on after the base oil finish was built up. Multiple coats applied hot and then taken back to the bare wood. James Howes book on Gun Smithing has a number of proven formulas. Repeatedly heating the same oil polymerizes it turning it into a crude varnish.

The secret if there is one is to let them cure for 50 or more years. Even then varnish or shellac was added to the oil to make it harder. Now we have a number of other products much better than anything available at the turn of the century.

I would try the slackum type finish over a oil & varnish base. If the finish is in, not on the wood the results will be similar but more durable.

I'm sure you calc is OK. The (200ml)was in the formula that was given to me a long time ago. Never paid much attention to the conversion factor and never measured out 200ml. 2 tsp is all you need.

Although I prefer the in the wood finish, it is not as moisture proof as the ugly shiney built up high gloss finish. That only makes since if you think about it..wood can absorb moisture anywhere on the surface not just in the pores...

That said, the GunSav-R satin finsih from Brownells is as water proof as any I have seen...I am always finishing a piece of wood and tossing it on my roof to see how it handles an Idaho winter, that can really stress the wood..I have done this with a good many finishes over the last 20 or so years...

Ever been there??

India (at least Mumbai) has got to be one of the most humid places I've ever been, with a pretty good "rainy" season as well.

That place is stifling hot and humid!

(Minor point, and not meant as an argument, but that place stands out as one of the more "wet" places that I've been... )

rottenstone, or Micromesh can knock that shine right off into a satin or flat in a heartbeat.

Durability wasn't the worry with the traditional Purdey owner. He usually sent his guns back to Purdey once a year for cleaning and sprucing up. The modern polyurethanes are far superior regarding weather-proofness and hardness. My favorite is Min-Wax Wipe-On Poly (the oil base version) It can be used for both in-the-pores and built-up finishes and is very easy to use.

RAN