doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Tru-Oil

Salopian;

I read your comments above with interest as I consider the English made stock finish "Trade Secret" the best of them all; and question why you are using TruOil in lieu of Trade Secret.

Is the Trade Secret application process too long for you or have you not used it?

Formerly, before I retired I had friends traveling often to UK and would have them to bring back to me the large size bottles of Trade Secret as well as their other products such as Alkanet oil, stock wax, and drier. Now I have to do the best I can with the small size bottles I can buy at Woodcock Hill.

For those of you who are reading this post and do not know about "Trade Secret" stock finishing oil, view the Westley Richards website https://www.theexplora.com/ and view Westley Richards stock work--they use Trade Secret oil.

I tried a variety of gun stock finishes and the best store bought one was Tru Oil. For one that has to be sent for is Brian Board's Timberlux (sp).

Damascus, I have been looking for a good furniture wax and I am in the process of making one using pure beeswax and gun spirts turpentine, not mineral spirts as it is petroleum based, and a few drops of pure lemon oil.
Another recipe calls for using olive oil mixed with beeswax and a few drops of pure lemon oil.
I have one brewing now using 1 part pure beeswax, 3 parts gum spirit turpentine, 1 oz. flax oil and a few drops of lemon oil.

For oil finished gun stocks this would be good also because the turpentine along with the linseed oil (I would use flax oil because it is not petroleum based like linseed oil) will sink into the wood, let sit and then buff it out.

Bushveld,
I am not using Tru-oil, just opening up a debate about the variety available.
Mike Smart is a good friend of mine and I have used Trade Secrets since Mike started, incidentally Mike used to work with Clive Lemon of CCL and I prefer Mike's brew.
Mike used to work with my apprenticemaster Bert Williams who was Foreman at W.C.Scott , so I guess all these concoctions have a little customisation going on.

My checkering lady told me just the opposite. The last stock she did for me was a Fox restock (reshape/rechecker, actually). I called and asked her at which stage of completion would she like to checker it. She replied, "Put on all the finish except the last coat." I did, with TruOil, sent it to her, and it came back great, with no complaints from her. This is how it looked when I got it back from her:



It finished up very nicely, too. Different strokes for different folks I guess, El Garro.

SRH

Stan, did you lightly brush in some Tru Oil over the newly checkered area for protection of the wood?
Always nice to see a good checking job.

It takes awhile to dry by itself. I really like using watco danish oil in natural for my walnut now

My understanding is it's a varnish with a lot of mineral spirits added to it. Wood finishers call this wiping varnish Varnish is a mixture of a drying oil (e.g. Linseed) a resin (today usually polyurethane) and a thinner. If you cut spar varnish 50/50 with mineral spirits that's about what Tru-oil is. I will say it's a good product and you don't have to buy an entire quart just to finish a stock.

In 2004, I toured a number of gunmakers in the Val Trompia.
Included were Fabbri, Poli, Piotti, FAMARS, Ferlib, Perazzi,
B.Rizzini and F. Rizzini. Memory tells me that all used Tru-Oil
right out of the Birchwood Casey jug.

I did, but before that I took a soft toothbrush and brushed on a diluted application of stain, being careful not to let it get too dark which is easy to do on fresh cut checkering. I just prefer the checkering not too look too light colored in comparison to the rest of the wood.

The finished product:



SRH

Stan, yes I do the same, use a toothbrush with diluted stain, let it dry and then use a toothbrush with some Tru Oil on it.
Yours looks great.