doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com stock finish remover

For my project, I wanted to stay as traditional as possible, and I made my own oil mixes. As you may know, everyone has their own brew. I borrowed heavily, read widely, and tried several things. Some better than others.

The "Damascus" page on here has lots of information. Ernie, aka Damascus, does a great job of detailing his method, and he has a long background in the trade to back up his ideas. Not to mention some beautiful pictures of stocks he has finished.
[I just spent about 15 minutes trying to find the Damascus page, so I thought I would link to it here. Its hidden in the FAQ forum page. Not to be confused with the FAQ tab...
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=415289#Post415289]

I made my slakum with linseed, beeswax, carnuba wax, Venetian turps, and lavender oil. I can look up my exact recipe if you are interested. It's the whiskey bottle in the picture below.


For the alkanet oil, I infused linseed and pine turpentine with alkanet powder that I bought online, I think from Amazon. I found that the process of infusion could be sped up a little if I just oversaturated it and then decanted the oil after the root settled. In tried lots of different ratios, and had a 1:1 turp:linseed oil mix that I used in early coats.

My starting place was this e-book from Nik Kypridemos. I didn't follow everything exactly, but it is very detailed, and he will respond to questions by email.
Linseed Oil Finish: The simple, fast way to a hand rubbed oil finish https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GMSSNUC/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_vTzXDbVTN0E0J

I also tried the CCL mix, but I didn't really like it. Firstly because I wanted to know what was in it, and it doesn't say. Secondly, the red oil was pretty weak sauce. Thirdly, the hardener seemed to cause problems with the 'glair' (eggwhite derivative) that I used for a pore filler.




More recently I bought a bottle of "London Blend" from SB Williams. I have not tried it yet, but I plan to give it a go. I'm not sure what to make of the label that calls it a "foul weather varnish". I think he sells an alkanet oil as well.

Jim,

many thanks for the posting and advice. i saw the root powder on amazon or was it ebay. i,ll try your formula after i strip this stock. the key i think is experimentation, what works, and keeping good notes for remembering.

the finish on the wood now looks like truoil, hard and shiney. the wood has nice figure but needs something, like alkanet, to enhance the contrast.

many thanks,

John

McWilliams did make an alcanet oil, and it works well. His other products have work well so far also. Help, and nice fellow.