The quest for wisdom- Slacum and Red Oil - 12/21/14 12:31 AM
Gentlemen,
These are my first posts on the forum, and it will be ones of slight ”archaeological character”- and probably a quite long ones too.
I found this forum on my quest for the ultimate recipe of Slacum oil, and I found there is (was?) quite a few people with extensive knowledge and love for the long wanderings of a stock finisher on his quest for gloss and glory.
As for my self, I have finished some stocks on both shotguns-and god forbid- quite a few single shot and repeating rifles. My work and methods is by no standard professional, but more those of trial and error, which can be a good way to gain knowledge since You don’t have to pay bills with the results.
I have mostly been working with traditional methods including varieties of linseed oil, turpentine and CCL Red Oil. For end finish I have used CCL gunstock conditioning oil and polishing compound, which combined with sweat, tears and sore palms (and the occasional presence of foul language) have produced decent results. I found that patience, attention to detail and time is essentials when applying a traditional stock finish.
Modern methods such as true oil, tung oil and polymers is not my ”cup of tea” and when I tried ”tinctures” like these the result has more often ended up in the extensive use of profanity and the accumulation of grey hair.
Regardless of me repeating a lot of what has already been covered there is a slight hope that some of the people who have been active in discussions regarding Slacum mixtures, Red oil, Alkanet and other questions regarding stock finishing will be interested to once more go into the breech and share their accumulated wisdom.
In others words: Dig, Salopian, Yogi, Crossedchisels- if You are still around- I will highly appreciate Your input in these matters. Off course that applies all You other members with experience and knowledge or just curiosity. Please feel free to discuss, share and criticize what is to come.
The purpose of this thread is to “round up” the information that I have found here and on other places, share my own experiences, put the spotlight on some details which I feel have not been properly answered or covered before.
The debate will at some points have the character of reversed engineering and the understanding of how the different parts of a Slacum works together and their individual purpose.
It will be quite thorough in more than one way, so please bear with me and the abundance of questions to come.
I would like to start my elaborations with a link to a documentary (one of the best I have seen so far) about the making of Purdeys and the history about Purdey.
If I am breaking any rule by linking to other sites and such, please advise and accept my sincere apologies for this. By the way I do not have any personal affiliations with Purdey although I wish that were the case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fac892fHBME
I will relate the discussions to what have been demonstrated in this video regarding stock finishing. Most of the things in the video confirms my own findings and others raise new questions that hopefully will be answered in due time.
Altogether I personally think the video brings up a lot of the questions related to preparing and finishing wood.
Erland
These are my first posts on the forum, and it will be ones of slight ”archaeological character”- and probably a quite long ones too.
I found this forum on my quest for the ultimate recipe of Slacum oil, and I found there is (was?) quite a few people with extensive knowledge and love for the long wanderings of a stock finisher on his quest for gloss and glory.
As for my self, I have finished some stocks on both shotguns-and god forbid- quite a few single shot and repeating rifles. My work and methods is by no standard professional, but more those of trial and error, which can be a good way to gain knowledge since You don’t have to pay bills with the results.
I have mostly been working with traditional methods including varieties of linseed oil, turpentine and CCL Red Oil. For end finish I have used CCL gunstock conditioning oil and polishing compound, which combined with sweat, tears and sore palms (and the occasional presence of foul language) have produced decent results. I found that patience, attention to detail and time is essentials when applying a traditional stock finish.
Modern methods such as true oil, tung oil and polymers is not my ”cup of tea” and when I tried ”tinctures” like these the result has more often ended up in the extensive use of profanity and the accumulation of grey hair.
Regardless of me repeating a lot of what has already been covered there is a slight hope that some of the people who have been active in discussions regarding Slacum mixtures, Red oil, Alkanet and other questions regarding stock finishing will be interested to once more go into the breech and share their accumulated wisdom.
In others words: Dig, Salopian, Yogi, Crossedchisels- if You are still around- I will highly appreciate Your input in these matters. Off course that applies all You other members with experience and knowledge or just curiosity. Please feel free to discuss, share and criticize what is to come.
The purpose of this thread is to “round up” the information that I have found here and on other places, share my own experiences, put the spotlight on some details which I feel have not been properly answered or covered before.
The debate will at some points have the character of reversed engineering and the understanding of how the different parts of a Slacum works together and their individual purpose.
It will be quite thorough in more than one way, so please bear with me and the abundance of questions to come.
I would like to start my elaborations with a link to a documentary (one of the best I have seen so far) about the making of Purdeys and the history about Purdey.
If I am breaking any rule by linking to other sites and such, please advise and accept my sincere apologies for this. By the way I do not have any personal affiliations with Purdey although I wish that were the case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fac892fHBME
I will relate the discussions to what have been demonstrated in this video regarding stock finishing. Most of the things in the video confirms my own findings and others raise new questions that hopefully will be answered in due time.
Altogether I personally think the video brings up a lot of the questions related to preparing and finishing wood.
Erland