doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Red Oil finish out in the weather.

Why you two bozoz see the need to screw up this guys wax thread....

Go start a slackum thread I'll be glad to talk about all the slack'cum between youz ears....

I thought you had all this gunsmith work running out yer slack'cum head ?

The rottenstone is not the issue. The finish itself does not become tacky, which is what makes the rotten stone stick in the pores, and helps with a visual to see if all the finish is rubbed off. Slackum and Trade secret used to set to a very tacky feel in about 2 1/2 hrs. then could be rubbed out using a little linseed oil and rottenstone. This recipe just dries and never gets sticky. To help with the wax question, any wood wax will help protect against water, but all will cloud if exposed too heavily or too often. The only finish that will truly protect the wood against water is epoxy which was used on the old Brownings.

Help me out here. At what point did this become the wax thread that jOe is so worked up about?

When the op asked what to do wiith a red oil finish for use in the wet, and I said wax it.
Scratch that, he asked how well it would hold up out in the weather, then I said wax it.
Perhaps not being as clear in my answer as I could have been.

Oil finishes are soft. And not waterproof.
Better to rub on a coat of harmless wax than to create a situation where you have layers of sticky goo on your pretty stock. ie. uncured finish laying atop previously applied layers.

Give it another 24 hours, and it is likely to morph into a discussion of Canadian politics, hockey scores, and links to bluegrass music videos.

Hard to beat, two banjos, Garcia and Grisman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgUYHrcpm1c

I do find things here a little perplexing because of the strange methods and the strange use of products.
Red oil in the English method of finishing is a colouring medium applied in several coats to give that desired red colour to the wood. It is not a finish in its self.
I do not understand why people use a mild abrasive powder i.e. Rottenstone as a grain filler there are far better things to use, it is normally used to finish the final coat to give a deep lustre rather than a mirror shine. Rottenstone being an abrasive by using it to fill the wood pores it soon dulls the edge on chequering tools.
Finishing oil is applied after grain filling, this oil has a siccative some form of resin to produce a hard but flexible surface that brings some protection from corrosive hand sweat and of course water, but not to the point that it is totally impervious.
The reason a finish that is totally impervious to water and water vapour is that it acts like a box, what ever water can get in is kept in.
I am sure you have all seen timber when varnished no matter how good the varnish water and moisture always finds a way of getting into the wood underneath the varnish. Wood is a natural product that breathes and moves with the seasons so a thin flexible finish that allows the wood to move is far more favourable than a hard unyielding Epoxy finish that will crack over time.
The English waterproofing of fine gunstocks is wax polish applied sparingly and often.
This method of stock finishing gives a warm natural waterproof sheen as in the photograph.

Amen Ernie.
Thanks.

If water/moisture can get through a finish to get into the wood, why can't it get out the same way to got in, when the wood is exposed to an environment drier that itself?

Answer ........... it can. That's why these types of finishes are superior to the impervious epoxy types. IMO.

SRH

damascus pretty much covered it in his post.

I like Ren Wax. We use it at the museum and I use it on my own firearms.