Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Sealing a stock?

I recently bought a Boyd's laminate stock for my Savage 110. I had to do some inletting on the stock, but have now finished that and bedded the rifle.

So, the gun is pretty much ready for the field, but I know I should seal the barrel channel and other exposed wood.

Now for the question: How in the heck do I do it? Can I just use normal old Thompson's water seal, like on my deck (I realize that may be a stupid question....) Any suggestions?

Otter, you need Sitka Deer. PM him if he fails to chime in.

You can just use Marine Spar Varnish thinned 50/50. Put on a a few coats and let dry between. The thinned varnish will penetrate into the wood where you want it to be.

Mix up some epoxy like Acraglas or even store-bought epoxy glue (not the 5 minute stuff). Wipe it into the barrel channel with your finger. If you get any on the outside, a wipe with rubbing alcohol will remove it (so long as it hasn't hardened). If you want a thinner coat, or you want it to penetrate more, you can hit it with a hair dryer and then quickly wipe the excess off with a paper towel. Disclaimer: I know regular Acraglas will go watery with heat from a hair dryer, but I can't vouch for any other epoxy product. As you probably know, heat accelerates hardening of epoxy so you have to work fairly quickly. One of the many neat things about epoxy is that it is a great sealer. I have even used the wipe on/heat/wipe off method to put a utility finish on a rough stock (SKS) and it worked great. Good luck!

Paul

otter,

Did you get the finished or unfinished stock. My new boyds JRS stock is unfinished so I need to do the barrel channel as well as sanding. I was thinking about sealing mine with polyurethane. My stock is also for a savage 110. tom

I just used some spar urethane out of a spray can I got from Lowes. Used it for the first time yesterday and it looks like it is going to work quite well. It goes on sticky and soaks in the wood as well.

fva, that is what I was thinking about using. tom

I got the finished stock for a Savage 110, so I only need to seal in the barrel channel, buttstock and swivel stud holes.

Otter
There have been a number of threads where I typed out the whole of the process I use, but I'll give you a thumbnail here until my back gives out and I need to get horizontal again...

First; Throw out the Thompson's it is not good for ANYTHING!!! It is worse than nothing for a stock. Spar varnish is however, only marginally better than nothing. A simple test of this: cut two identical small pieces of wood that can be weighed on your powder scale. Use a proper epoxy finish on one and any other finish you care to test on the other. Subject the two pieces to identical water vapor extremes and watch the weights change... any oil-based finish is hydrophilic and will actually gain water faster than bare wood.

Of the literal hundreds of test blocks I have run there are only two basic finishes that actually seal the wood... epoxy and cyanoacrylate (super-glue)

WHen I am finishing a stock I put the finish-sanded stock in the oven at low heat until it is on the edge of too-hot-to-hold. I use slow-setting epoxy ONLY, G-1 and G-2 are my current favorites and they are made by Industrial Formulators in Toronto, a 24-hour and a 48-hour cure respectively...

It should be mixed well, allowed to stand for 15-20 minutes and then remixed, on a board rather than in a cup. Apply the epoxy to the hot stock ASAP and continue covering the areas that dry as the cooling wood sucks the epoxy in. I use my finger which is surely bad form <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Keep runs to a minimum as it is less work now than later...

After the epoxy cures it must be finish-sanded all over again with every attempt made to avoid a sand-through. After the last epoxy coat has time to cure completely any finish may be applied over the top, including a classy rubbed oil finish that will look just like oil, seal like nothing else, be tough as nails and extremely easy to repair. Tru-oil and varathane 66 are my favorites for most applications here, but I have used quite a few different ones.

As you are simply looking to seal a barrel channel... acraglass will do and the advantages of a serious seal job are moot. But it should be done, for sure.

I have not finished a stock with super-glue, but have played with it a bit and a friend has done a number of stocks with it and says it is fantastic, but it pulls the wood back from the metal and so a fine lip must be left around the metal that the glue will literally shrink-to-fit. He is a well-known stock-maker so I believe him exactly.
hope this helps
art

Sitka Deer,

You have been most helpful! As the moose says on Pep Boys commercial, "I appreciate it!" I'll go grab some Acraglass tonight.

rimshot
Have you noticed the shrinkage from the superglue? It is a nice finish...
art

Rimshot
Do you use accelerator on the superglue? Or do you allow it to cure on its own? I have alligatored it with too much heat... done right it can be a nice touch... wish I knew how to do it just right.
art

Sitka deer,

Interesting process. Thanks. Have you found that all other finishes will stick to epoxy? What about the oil modified urethanes? I think I am pretty good at finishing stocks, but I still have a lot to learn. No matter how many coats I put on and no matter how careful I am I always get sand-throughs when I get to the final stages. Also, I have a heckuva time getting an even texture when I do a final rubbing with a mild abrasive like Brownell's. I sure wouldn't want to finish stocks for a living - it's pretty tedious and frustrating. BTW, what do you mean when you say that super glue pulls away from the metal?

Paul

Rimshot
Accelerator is an amine solution that changes the pH and catalyzes the acrylic in the glue. The nasty fumes put off are cyanide BTW and not just a touch offensive!
art

Forgot to mention that a substitute for accelerator that works, though not as well, is a weak solution of baking soda and water...



Paul

I have not found any finishes that would not stick to the epoxy, but they are certainly out there. The oil finishes, pretty much regardless what gets mixed in with them will stick fine. The question though is why? Urethane is added for water-proofing and toughening... which the epoxy has already done... Nothing repairs as easily as oil, and it looks good... My opinion... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />



the trick I was taught to even up your rub-out is to do it quickly over large areas and step down from the ultra fine paper, to pumice, to rottenstone and then to a Ditzler brand polish if you want to go glossier than eggshell. Think in terms of less time rather than more and you will do better... maybe <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />



The superglue literally shrinks the wood I have been told and causes the edges to pull back from the metal, so it must be accounted for by leaving your wood slightly proud of the metal... but only very slightly...

art