Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Tru Oil Finish

I have found Sitka's method of putting the Tru-Oil on and rubbing it off to be very effective and easy to do. I like the look of the finish on smokepole's rifle after only three coats of Tru-Oil, but I don't think it offers much protection for the wood and that may not be important to him. Has anyone applied paste wax to a stock with that little finish on it. I'm curious as to what it would look like when the wax fills all the pores? Anyone have an answer? Thanks, Ken

If it's white wax then it is going to fog the pores.

Stikas method involved epoxy, THEN rubbed tru oil. Looks much better, depth, color, and grain wise, and protects from the elements better.

Even if it's going to sit in your house or a safe, protection from humidity and temperature changes plus the added repairability are very nice features

As a few have already stated, I am no fan of sanded slurry finishes on open-pored wood. Anyone that believes in them needs to make a sample board with a sanded slurry and a reasonable finish. It is obvious.

Shiester
The apply heavy and wipe off routine produces a uniform finish with far less effort. Most folks get bored before they get the whole stock covered and some are inclined to miss spots... I used to do it your way, but much prefer the easy way... It also makes leveling easier.
art

I did a stock per Sitka's epoxy method. Lots of little things that can be done incorrectly and I think I did most of them. It turned out OK, but I could do a lot better next time. I've started mixing Duracoat and other 2 part stuff by weight rather than eyeball. My digital powder scale is sure getting ugly though. Ken

BEAUTIFUL FINISH on that Walnut! Excellent Job!
I stripped, sanded and hand tung oiled a 1970's rem 870 stock and forearm, 5 coats followed with an ultra fine sandpaper inbetween (gently). Stunning, it took that stupid high gloss, basketball floor factory finish straight into a natural walnut appearence...not unlike your Marlin. Some may see it as a rustic appearance, but I don't. It's just the way natural wet wood looks, it's not glossy or semi glossy, it just has a earthy tone to the grains and no matter what the finish, the gun puts holes in everything just the same, you just made your's more prettier, that's all.
LNF150

Not a fan of True-Oil, as Sitka Deer says it gets old, sometimes before you open the jar. I've been trying Art's method, but haven't got the epoxy part down pat.(My fault not following directions)I've been using Lin-Speed oil for years with good success, just apply fairly heavy wipe off and buff with an old T-shirt 5 or 6 coats and you're done. No sanding after sanding the epoxy. Now I'll wait on Art's condemnation of Lin-Speed! --- Mel

LIn-Speed is just linseed oil with driers... Looks good but protects... not so much...

Over epoxy it matters not...
art

Well, of course protecting the wood is important, but I'm not done yet, I just put the rifle back together to see how it'd look. I'd like to leave it for my sons so I do want to preserve the wood.

For one thing, after reading art's comment about steel wool, I'll probably sand that finish off and start over, without the steel wool. I guess I'll have to read up on the epoxy thing too, anybody have a handy link?

At a minimum, I'm gonna sand the current finish off and put on several coats of oil, sounds to me like the key is in putting it on thick and not letting it dry before rubbing it down.

And thanks for the comments LNF, I hope it looks even better the next go-round.

I guess I'll have to read up on the epoxy thing too, anybody have a handy link?




http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2167163#Post2167163

Well, I went back and finished the Marlin with 12 coats of oil, and then went looking for the next project. Wasn't hard to find, I had a Browning A-bolt in the safe with one of the shiny finishes. Stripped it with gel, which was a pain-in-the-neck but worth it I think. Had to scrape off that hard finish, some areas took 2-3 passes. Then I sanded just a little with 200 and finished with 600. After getting all the sawdust off I put about 10 coats of Tru oil on. Here's the before photos:






Here's one after stripping and sanding:




Here's one after putting on all the coats of Tru oil but before rubbing it down with a pad equaivalent to 00 steel wool:




Here's the finished product, an overall improvement I think:

Much better.

I get a chuckle when I think about Browning collectors 75 years from now bitching on Forums about guys stripping the factory finish and wiping on oil. Don't get me wrong, I've done it myself. I just see the humor in it.

Actually, as garish as the high gloss Browning finish is, it is about as weatherproof as you can make a wooden stock. I pretty much leave them alone anymore. I dulled the gloss on my Citori Lightning Sporting Clays Edition with a bit of rottenstone.

"I dulled the gloss on my Citori Lightning Sporting Clays Edition with a bit of rottenstone."

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
We have a winner!

What is rottenstone and where do you get it?

And for me anyway, the gloss wasn't the only thing I didn't like about the finish. It scratches pretty easily, as you can see in the second "before" photo. I guess the hard finish can be repaired but it seems like an oil finish is much easier to touch up.

Plus, the hard finish obscures the wood grain, you can't see the grain nearly as well as with an oil finish. Why even have a walnut stock if you can't see the grain?

"I get a chuckle when I think about Browning collectors 75 years from now bitching on Forums about guys stripping the factory finish and wiping on oil."

They're going to bemoan all us "bubbas" replacing white line pads too.

In the US, you can get it here for $8.

Very useful stuff for guns (and cabinetmaking)!

John

Most art supply stores carry it, as would some paint stores.

I found it at a wood worker's supply store and a paint store. I think the stuff I bought is called Rainbow brand. Pretty cheap and a little goes a long ways.

I understand the process thus far but what do you do about getting the finish worked in where the checkering is?

I put lights coats of checkering oil from Brownells, until I get the desired color.