I'm not getting a response to these stock finishing questions in the DIY section so I thought I would post it here.

Over the last two months I have been testing various finishing methods based on the red oil and slacum information I have found on this site. I have a few questions for those of you that have used red oil and slacum for a while. My refinishing experience has been limited to about 15 guns over a number of years and finishes included varnishes, tung oils, Timberluxe, Tru-Oil, Pro-Custom Oil and Dem-Bart oil. So, I am not a rookie, but I certainly am not a professional. By the way, I'm a biologist by degree but a chemist for 35 years by profession.

First I would like to explain how I am testing the various slacum and slacum blends. All of the various slacum blends were tested on 3” x 5” flat pieces of walnut. I cut them from a number of plaques I picked up at sporting clays events over the years. In all, I have used about 25 of these walnut boards with different finishes. All of these boards were sanded smooth to 800 grit and prepped the same. I varied how many coats of red oil I applied on a number of the boards to see how the grain came out and I tried a number of different methods of application including trying to dry under UV light, rubbing down with steel wool or emery cloth between coats of finish oil to fill pores. I have tried or am trying a blend of the typical slacum (BLO, Carnauba wax, terp and Venice terp) on it's own and mixes of slacum with tung oils, Minwax Antique Oil finish, Master Pro Gel and with some red oil mixed in. The tung oil and Minwax AO were tried at a couple different concentration with slacum. All were applied after a number of coats of red oil we're rubbed in and dried. I have even tried talc to fill pores and heating the solutions before application. I used just tung oil and Minwax Antique oil over red oil on some boards as a comparison. At this point, I am still working on these samples so I am not prepared to discuss all the results. I can say that some have turned out pretty good and others were failures. I learn something new every day about the various finishing products and how to apply them for the best finish.

The questions I have are:
1) Do you rub/buff/polish in the finish oils after they have become tacky or after they have dried, just before the next coat? Some people rub it in by hand and others use a cloth with some of the finish oil on it. What's best? How hard do you rub?

2) Do you find that the stock color lightens or darkens after more coats of the finish oil?

3) Have you tried adding some red oil in the finish oil? Is so, how much and what have your results been? Does it tend to hide the grain?

4) Do you allow the slacum to completely dry between coats? Sometimes I find that it is still tacky the next day. Is that from putting it on too thick? As I get more and more coats of finish oil on, it takes more drying time. Does it need to completely dry with no tackiness between coats?

Once I am finished with this testing I would be happy to give you more details about my methods, formulas and results and what I plan to put on a new (old) William Evans I picked up recently.

Any suggestions or helpful comments?

This is the basis for my stock finishing methods:

Wiebe Stock Finishing
Duane widely uses products by Daly's Inc. in Seattle for stock finishing. After sanding to 400 grit, follow these steps:
1. Raise the grain with a weak solution of oxalic acid (a powder), to cleanse and bleach the wood.
2. Apply a solution of Daly's "Ship n' Shore " sealer using alkenet root powder in the ratio of about one 1 1/4 oz packet to a quart...you can "strengthen" as you see fit...maybe up to 50%.
3. Liberally slop on the sealer combo over a period of about 2 hours until the wood will not seem to take more.
4. Wipe off excess with a paper towel and set stock aside for a day or so.
5. Do it again..set aside for a day and do it again. You are tring to get as much finish as possible into the pores.
6. Now...with alkenet root and "Sea Fin" solution, repeat as with "Ship n' Shore"..maybe two or three times. You have come a long way towards filling up those pores!
7. Not done yet!
8. Buy some rottenstone and mix with Sea Fin solution to a tooth paste like consintency and using a piece of felt or a pad from an old t shirt, "scrub" this mixture on the stock across grain. You are filling the pores and polishing as the same trime. Don't let it get too hard, wipe off the excess across grain, being very careful to not allow build up in the nooks and crannies.
9. Do this over and over again until satisfied with the result…typically 20-30 times while allowing a drying time of 24 hours or so between treatments. This is not a quick way, but you will be very proud of the result

A Duane Weibe 7x57 Mauser was the most beautiful magazine rifle I ever used.

Great finishes take A lot of time.
No escaping that.

This is what I've been using for the past couple of years. Not quick by any means but very nice.

My experience mirrors your own. Good stuff though, in both looks and performance.

Steve,
Do you use alkanet as a matter of course in your stock finishing, or do you stain some stocks and not others depending on the piece of wood and the desired end point?

Doesn't the rotten stone used to fill the pores leave a black residue?

Brent,
I rarely use stain these days and usually only if I can not get a color match on a repair or the wood is extremely light even after the red oil application.

Steve

You do not leave any residue only the wood but polish it all off across the grain. The Seafin dries really hard so you do not want it to build up on the surface or the inletting.
Steve

Try garnet shelac. It is what Parker, Fox. and LC Smith used on all but their best.

bill

Is the Sea Fin solution the Seafin Teak Oil or the Seafin Spar varnish?

Teak oil

Whatever you use on the stock, try a little on your cheek before proceeding to make sure you are not allergic to it.

It is no laughing matter. A while back I tried a new kit containing little bottles of lemon and orange oil. Once dry I shouldered the stock a few times to see how it felt.

A few times were enough for an allergic reaction to start and accelerate to the point of needing hospital treatment. Feeling your tongue swell, blocking your breathign is not funny. I am not prone to allergies, this was a first, and hopefully a last time.

So it is artist grade linseed from now on, the devil I know.

How much alkanet with the sea fin? Do you have a pic of the finished process of one?
Thanks Steve

Check out my woodworking and restorations page. Almost every gun except the Fox Sterlingworth restock was done with this method. The fox did not need any alkenet added, plenty red as it was. I use the same ratio of Alkenet root in the oil as the SeaFin. It is not really that critical.

Quite a few people do have allergies to teak oil; Gunsmith Roy Dunlap mentioned this in his book "Gunsmithing". A lot of GIs broke put in rashes on their hands from handling the Japanese Arisakas during WWII. I love its qualities but am unfortunately one who did break out in a rash n my hands from using it to finish a stock, so format also it.s Artist-grade Linseed.

OOPs; sorry, it just hit me the subject was "Teak" oil, "Tung" Oil is the one I was thinking of.

I have never used Sea Fin teak oil but I just did a walnut bowl with Watch Teak Oil and I was impressed with the hard finish it produced. I don't believe it is make of oil from a teak tree but rather was made to be used on teak. Nothing on the can indicates what the ingredients are beside mineral spirits.