Stock Refinishing

[Chainsaw21]

Has anyone used tru oil on a wood stock. I completely sanded down a rifle stock. Put 7 coats of the true oil on with light steel wool in between then three final coats. It looks AMAZING! My question, Is there anything i should put over the final oil coat to protect the finish?
Tim

[Lanyard]

I'd say that your done.

[Shelbyfan]

One tip for true oil. Have two separate containers. One thinned to about 50% and another to about 25% with mineral spirits. Use the 50% reduction on the first few coats to fill the grain very nice and the 25% on the rest. Takes a bit longer, ten coats or more, but goes on much more smooth. Use your hands, with latex gloves, and not a rag or brush to really rub it into the pores. You do not have to do one full coat at a time, you can do half or just parts.
Tru oil is really easy to use and can make a nice finish.

[R.J.]

If you want a glossy finish I`d leave it alone. Otherwise, to get more of a satin look you can use B.C`s 'Stock & Sheen Conditioner' or lightly buff w/ #0000 steel wool. I found out that I prefer bronze wool as it allows you to work more slowly & lessens the chance of going through the finish. Takes a little more elbow grease but even the lightest steel wool cuts pretty quick(I fought it myself). The Tru-Oil dries to a durable finish by itself, but for a little added protection from the elements B.C.`s gun stock wax works pretty well, but I`m not convinced it`s really needed. Certainly won`t hurt though.

[Chainsaw21]

Thanks R.J. And Shelby. Yea i have done a couple different firearms, and i always used a rag. Im going to refinish anoth and try with the thinned oil and gloves. I can see how it will make a huge difference. Where does one get bronze wool from. I have never heard of it, but would like to try.
Thanks all for the input.
Tim

[R.J.]

Thanks R.J. And Shelby. Yea i have done a couple different firearms, and i always used a rag. Im going to refinish anoth and try with the thinned oil and gloves. I can see how it will make a huge difference. Where does one get bronze wool from. I have never heard of it, but would like to try.
Thanks all for the input.
Tim

I got mine at Ace Hardware so I`d think Home Depot & the like would have it as well. I didn`t even know it existed till I read about it on another forum. I agree on the gloves but when I did my first rifle I used nitrile gloves, then latex on the second. For whatever reason the latex didn`t 'glide' as well as the nitrile & was more apt to stick as I tried to wipe off the excess. Good luck, wood finishes are an art of their own.

[burny]

Anyone have some pics to motivate the rest of us ? Would also help people that has never done remodel (me)

Im sure theres tons of content out on the net but would still like to see some local talent

[Bob R]

Im going to refinish anoth and try with the thinned oil and gloves.

If you cut it 50/50 you can actually use a brush on the first coat to get it done a little faster. What you are doing is thinning it so that it gets into the wood a little better, which will provide a little better waterproofing. Don't forget to do the inside of the stock.

That gloss TruOil can sure do a flashy finish if you take your time to let it dry between finishes and do it right. I am working on a stock right now that will eventually get 10-12 coats of TruOil.

bob

[Chainsaw21]

Im getting ready to do a shotgun for a guy at work. Once I get started, i will take pictures along the way so i can post em!

[Yosemite]

Thanks for the info ... will certainly use True Oil.

[TINCANBANDIT]

Here is a refinishing project that I completed recently:

I bought this JC Higgins bolt action 16 Gauge for $80, someone had applied an ugly varnish to it. If you didn't know, most guns, even the cheaper brands made prior to the 1970s came with real walnut stocks. This one had a beautiful grain to it but was hiding under neath that hideous varnish.



I used a bio-safe stripper that contains citric acid, smells like oranges and is safe to breath & get on your skin, works good at getting the old varnish off

I then carded the wood with a piece of plastic and cleaned it with some bio-safe paint thinner (look at me being all environmental-like...)
after it was cleaned you could see all the grain in the nice walnut, no stain needed here, just a coating of tru-oil

and a close up


The next step is sanding, I used 220 grit which is strong enough to remove the last vestiges of varnish and remove and small scratches, when sanding wood stocks remember two things: 1. always sand with the grain and 2. leave the butt pad in place.
I then wiped down the wood with paint thinner again and let it dry



I then added my first coat of Birchwood-Casey's Tru-Oil


Add the Tru-Oil with your fingers, let the wood soak it up, then use a paper towel to remove the excess and let dry for 24hrs, Tru-Oil contains linseed oil, so dispose of the paper towels properly (they can spontaneously catch fire)


Here is the gun finished, I put 3 coats (included the wet sanded one) of Tru-Oil, after the last coat I polished the surface with 0000 Steel Wool to remove some of the shiny-ness


Here is a before and after comparison

[LostInWA]

I had been gathering up everything I needed (citrustrip, tru oil, ect) to refinish all my rossi 92's and happened
across this thread. Can't wait for the weather to warm up to start.

[macblaster]

Thanks for posting TINCANBANDIT,
Beautiful wood refinishing job!

[jsw011907]

I have done a few stock refinishes some high gloss others satin, pours open or filled. I forget to take the before pictures but these are after I have finished.

[LostInWA]

One of my Rossi 92's with tru-oil.

[scrappy]

Has anyone used tru oil on a wood stock. I completely sanded down a rifle stock. Put 7 coats of the true oil on with light steel wool in between then three final coats. It looks AMAZING! My question, Is there anything i should put over the final oil coat to protect the finish?
Tim

You're done. Thats how I did my 458 stck too. Looks awsome, doesnt it?

[TINCANBANDIT]

There is one more thing you could do

take 0000 steel wool and remove the shine, then buff with triple F rubbing compound, this will give you a nice satin finish, like what the high end custom rifles feature.