When I attended stockmaking school at the Colorado School of Trades in Denver during the '50s, we were taught that once completing "dewiskering", to heat marine spar varnish in a double boiler, completely wet down the stock with the hot varnish, let drip-dry for a day, then sand with fine sandpaper down to the wood. Repeat until the pores were filled flush with the wood, then hand-rub a linseed oil mixture (similar to True Oil) until a minimum of four complete coating are applied. I found that 6 - 7 coats were needed to give the "depth of view" we wanted. To clean an oil finished stock further, when a damp clean cloth was insufficient, we could gently wipe with a turpentine wetted cloth, making sure not to scrub down to the wood.
I seem to remember J. Purdey cataloging finishing and cleaning materials for oil finished stocks. I imagine their cleaning mixtures were proprietary.
Jim Haynes
