Interesting article, for the finish-obsessed.
Must be that ideas float in the aether, for I've been using a very similar mix and process on a .35 Remington 141 rifle stock. It was a typical "Michigan deer gun" that had swollen wood at the buttplate, numerous surface scars, and a pretty well abraded finish on both butt and fore end.
In this case I used a strong commercial stripper, rinsed well with solvent and then with water, which helped raise the crushed fibres. Went thru the usual further raising with steam, then, block sanded. This is not a finely contoured stock, but was made for machine production, so 'plane' was easy to achieve.
My stains vary -- from alcohol, to water, to NGR to oil. Just depends on where I'm going and how to best get there. And sometimes one uses what is already mixed and on hand. This was the case for a good soaking coat of med walnut alcohol stain, with a spike of water to even out the absorption and drying. Sand again to further flatten the topography, and another coat of stain.
Next I grabbed some Poly satin Rub-on [Minwax], a dollop of linseed for lubricity, a bit of dryer and commenced to push and pack it into the pores until the surface was dry and clear of any build up. Poly: 2 teaspoons. Oil: scant tsp or less. Japan dryer: a blue-dot drop or two into the resultant puddle.
Also, the turps mentioned in the above video link has a resin in it, that helps stiffen up a finish and may lube a bit, so feel free to try a drop or three, if you wish. As you progress with the coats, you'll need less mix each day. But, if you need more that particular day it's easy to eyeball another helping. To compensate for humid environmental factors, you can kick up the dryer another drop or so, but too much is counterproductive.
At first I used my finger tips, as in traditional oil polishing. However, I kept getting a bit of residue scum on the wood surface, from the mix getting too dry prematurely as I shoved into the wood. More oil would fix that, but I wanted as little as possible. So... as an expedient cheap and disposable applicator, I used a couple layers of a cotton pad over a finger - men's worn out jockey-short fly-fronts trimmed off and folded are ideal. Professional tip, there.
The coarser cotton pad texture allowed me to get a burnished effect on the wood surface with each stage of the pore-filling. Dispose of the little pad flat on a non-flam surface and toss when cured hard. The finish dries dust free and I gave it over night, just to make sure it was dry down in the wood. Repeat, mebbe ten [?] times. I'm sure I could shortcut the whole procedure with some wholesale application, but this was my first try on a stock with such an unholy substance as poly.
Why poly? Because the little tang-sighted rifle is perfect for just what it was used for by it's previous owner: still hunting thru Mich swamps and evergreeens. One easily finds thick wet winter snow cover, where a liberal branch load of the white stuff is easy to dislodge onto one's person and appurtenances.
Yeah, I know I'm careless and such a mishap nivver ivver would happen to yo'. Besides, nowadays lotsa folks hunts from heated elevated stands over bait piles ALA the hochsitz, so's their 600 yard capable, 24X power, scoped rifle doesn't have to worry about the weather. It's stainless and synthetic stocked, tho, JIC, y'know. ;~`)
Anyway: poly! Could just as well be a nice natural resin spar varnish for the weatherproof ingredient, but the plastic goo was to hand and i wanted to see how it applied, finished out, and how it will hold up. I've 6-8 coats or so in, and it'll be done mid-week.
A handy note is that foreend and the butt took the stain differently, and I had to adjust the color about midway thru the process. I've started using a universal colorant called Mixol, made in Germany, that is available thru Woodworker's Supply and other venues. Expensive, but all you need is a small drop mixed into the day's batch to go a translucent amber, or reddish, or any one of scores of shades. The toning is quite discreet and it pops up the figure somewhat, as well.
The steel parts are getting a sharp new-bead blasting, and a double dip hot blue. There were surface issues, that will be minimized by that treatment. The results look almost like a rust blue and it is very durable. Also, since this was far from a collector's item, the bbl is now 19", with a bbl band front sight base fitted and ready to solder. The MOI has definitely moved towards "quick".
Kinda fun break from from old brown finish wooden objects. I started my career using old formulas to create 'craftsmen"' traditional oil-resin-varnish-wax-solvent rubbing mixes, and eventually discarded the lot of them as obsolete or of being little use for my applications. However, they are a lot of fun to play with, and I have wanted to experiment with a rubbed-in durable varnish for some time, and this seemed like an ideal subject, so will 'publish' the outcome. However, at present, due to using satin finish, it looks like a nice eggshell, soft sheen.
I hope it wears like marble.
