doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Pro Custom Oil shelf life?

Have a can of the Pro Custom Oil stock oil from several years ago
and after opening it last night I was surprised it had not jelled or thickened up. Tried some on a scrap of wood and it has dried OK. Just wandering if any body knows how long it should last sealed up in the can?
Thanks

Not certain as to what changes may have occurred, a check with technical assistance at Brownell's should get an answer.
Just curious, had the can ever been opened prior to this point? I've got a can or two in stock.
Jim

Jim
The can has been opened and a small amount has been used.

Flip

Are there any tricks for keeping proprietary oil finishes in useable shape after storage? Wonder how many bottles of the stuff I discarded as being too thick in past years. Of course, probably shoulda just cut them with some form of thinner.

There was a thread on this subject in the late '90s, centering on Tru-Oil, which I think is a similar product. Several had experienced problems with slow, or non-drying while others had never experienced such problems.

The conclusion was that relatively long storage in partially-filled bottles was the culprit. A thick (but not hard) membrane of mostly-dried oil forms at the oil-air interface, and the concensus was that its formation depletes the driers in the oil that remains below the membrane.

I've added marbles to Tru-Oil and squeezed the bottle slightly to almost totally exclude air before tightening the lid, and have had good results from oil years old.

My recollection is that mineral spirits are recommended for thinning Pro-Custom Oil. I've used mineral spirits for thinning it to 'sand in' the first few coats, with good results. I too, have a couple cans of PCO around as well as a couple cans of the aerosol. The aerosol seems to be nearly clear, where the non-aerosol has a heavy red-brown cast to it that darkens the wood significantly.

In my experience, Pro Custom Oil is particularly resistant to scumming, filming and hardening in the can. I have one can which is six years old, less than half empty, and still hasn't formed a film layer on top. I have kept the metal air liner in place under the cap, but have done nothing to reduce the air space. It still hardens quickly when used for finish repair.

Chuck, i added your stars for you. Bobby

Chuck - With Baydog's indulgence, as good a place as any to talk about the PCO stuff you like so much. In so doing, its hard to not consider, too, the really excellent information provided by Salopian, Hansli, Dig, Yogi000 and others in the major thread still available here on Alkanet.

I remember your pictures of a beautiful PCO-finished stock which involved first sanding in cut down coats of PCO and then followed by PCO spray coats and a rubdown. Simple and beautiful. The thought I had was along the lines of starting a stock with sanded in coats of cut down PCO - - expediously filling the pores and sealing the wood - - and then moving on to Salopian's recipe and Hansli's finishing techniques. This may result in somewhat of a faster process at the stock filling stage than provided by traditional methods, while at the same time creating an excellent foundation for traditional oil.

What I will leave out of this scheme for present is when and how to color the stock, and, if so, with what. Behlen's Blood Red would very probably penetrate the PCO. Don't know how, or at what stage to use alkanet, if its the coloring agent of choice.

Bob,
I don't know how to color using the PCO with a sanded in finish. I get the feeling that it may resist penetration of stains even at the very first few coats. Possibly adding it to the finish during the sand-in process? My recollection was that the alkenet stain can be created by soaking the root in mineral spirits. If so, the colored mineral spirits could be used to thin the PCO during the sand-in process.