Favorite wood stock finishes

[steve white]

I have for some years been a fan of Permalin, though it is another glossy finish. It is also clear, not tinted.
For a more subtle glow, I have warmed up somewhat to TimberLuxe finish.

When I asked a gunmaker in Ferlach what he used to finish a stock, he just replied "Oel," seeming to suddenly get a case of "I can't (or won't) translate that." lol

What are your favorites, and any recipes concerning red alkanet, slacom, and the like? Surely we can share a few secrets on AH. And while we're at it, how weatherproof have your favorites been?

 

[Tucketed]

For the red alkanet I use Arts French Red and use Waterlox top coats rubbed.
Just having fun. The 375HH needs checkering the 300HH is a eBay stock refinished

down.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I'm a COB, Linspeed and rotten stone.

 

[mdwest]

I like very simple finishes... the few stocks Ive redone myself have all either been lin-speed.. or boiled linseed (something very different)..

I do several coats over several weeks period of time.. and just get to a point where I know Im finished once I like the way things look and feel... whether thats 3 coats or 23 coats really just depends on what Im working on to be truthful..

Once Im done with the oil finish, I finalize things by doing a couple of coats of "board butter".. basically a combination of food grade mineral oil (completely clear) and all natural bees wax that I make myself, to help truly seal things up and to put a bit of a "satin" look on things... I typically will re "butter" the stock about once a year just for the sake of doing it, whether I think it really needs it or not..

for what its worth, I use board butter on pretty much all things wood.. knife handles, cutting boards, etc.. etc... and its also pretty great for water proofing and conditioning leather.. Ive used it on hunting boots, and other leather hunting goods quite a bit..

 

[Mountainshadows]

I'm a fan of Tru-Oil but have been reading on Permalyn finish and may have to give it a try at some point.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Linspeed

 

[GOLK09]

I have used the boiled linseed oil in another hobby and it definitely gets, and stays, tacky. Attracts dust and dirt. No bueno.

 

[cmk]

I like boiled linseed oil. But thin coats only, and wipe off any excess after 15-30 min. Otherwise it will not harden, and instead have a gummy texture and look quite awful.

 

[mdwest]

I have used the boiled linseed oil in another hobby and it definitely gets, and stays, tacky. Attracts dust and dirt. No bueno.

The way I get BLO to work on knife handles is to completely saturate… I will put the handle end of a knife into a 6” mason jar, and then fill the jar with BLO and then leave it for 24 hours…

When I pull the knife out, I immediately wipe it down to the point it’s almost dry to the touch… and then let it hang and air dry another 24 hours…

That method seems to work well..

On gunstocks it’s a completely different (and slow) process… I apply super thin coats… and let air dry overnight.. then apply another super thin coat. And air dry again overnight, etc etc repeating the process for anywhere from 3-10 nights depending on how I want the stock to look and how well the wood is taking the finish… if I end up with any imperfections along the way I’ll hit it with super fine sandpaper (typically 1000 grit) and then use compressed air to remove all dust before applying the next coat..

I also run a small shop grade dust collector through the entire process which keeps all the potential dust, sawdust, dirt, concerns to a minimum (I pretty much run it 24/7 in the shop anytime I’ve been out there working since I’m typically filling the air with micro particles of steel, micarta, toxic woods, chemicals, etc when grinding on knives or other things.. and don’t want to be breathing that stuff in when I pull off my respirator mask…

https://a.co/d/cjjrsxO

 

[steve white]

I like boiled linseed oil. But thin coats only, and wipe off any excess after 15-30 min. Otherwise it will not harden, and instead have a gummy texture and look quite awful.

At the same time, even when "successful" I have observed that it greatly darkens/dulls the wood.
Two guns come to mind, which despite having brilliant wood, I sold. Both IMO were ruined by BLO later on, tho they could possibly have been salvaged by sanding through it? OTOH, I have seen old furniture, rubbed with lemon oil, get so dark, so deep that if you didn't like an almost ebony color, you were out of luck.

 

[steve white]

Anybody able or willing to throw the British best makers under the bus and reveal the sources/ingredients of their proprietary stock finishes?

 

[Boone66]

I used to use Fecto 66, for all my stocks, they don't make it anymore, so I have to make my own. It does darken the wood though and have tried BLO on some, with mixed results I like schoft oil, that I get imported from Germany, they have a very good red. I have been thinking of trying Rubio mono coat, as it is a clear one coat that is supposed to have a durable finish. This is a good thread, keep it coming.

 

[318AE]

Anybody able or willing to throw the British best makers under the bus and reveal the sources/ingredients of their proprietary stock finishes?

There was another forum that had an original slacum recipe, I believe from Purdey. It included ingredients that sounded like they were from a Harry Potter book. Much more than just alkanet root. I think these recipes are mostly over sold - held in secrecy to create a feeling of proprietary value, when simpler solutions work better. I went down this bunny hole before - “Harry Potter and the socererer’s slacum”

 

[steve white]

My durability test was with Permalin, preceded by liquid acraglass mixed 50/50 with acetone soaked into the wood in the inletting first. Gun was acid fume rust blued (by myself) and metal oiled. That formula for rust blueing is about as tough as they come, and will even blue Bohler Antinit steel. At the genius idea of my brother we laid out prone near a trail crossing, and it rained on us for at least half an hour. He had just finished Marine boot camp and was acting macho. Waterproof clothing kept us dry, but guns were exposed.
Just because, I did a strip down back at camp and found zero evidence of damage. No soaking, warping or even rusting except for one tiny pinprick of rust in the crevice of the start of barrel threading, which took less than a drop of oil to correct. Hunting with a wood stock in inclement weather can be done! Confession though, I did not oil the last few inches of the bore at the muzzle (did not know rain was forecast) and had just a stain of rust beginning there which I had to clean up.

Just received in the mail today a jar of Lanocote lanolin based grease. Will be applying it to unseen metal surfaces and probably put any rust risk in the rear view mirror.
But, the Permalin held externally and the thinned acraglass which had soaked in like water when applied to the inletting gave water no opportunity AT ALL inside the stock cavity.

I risked this little experiment with a Mannlicher Schoenauer with stutzen stock!

 

[rookhawk]

I have for some years been a fan of Permalin, though it is another glossy finish. It is also clear, not tinted.
For a more subtle glow, I have warmed up somewhat to TimberLuxe finish.

When I asked a gunmaker in Ferlach what he used to finish a stock, he just replied "Oel," seeming to suddenly get a case of "I can't (or won't) translate that." lol

What are your favorites, and any recipes concerning red alkanet, slacom, and the like? Surely we can share a few secrets on AH. And while we're at it, how weatherproof have your favorites been?

It all depends how much work you want to do.

The Purdey finish is Beeswax, Carnuba, Mineral Spirits, Linseed Oil, Venetian Turpentine, and Japanese Hardener. Throw in some red alkanet root for color. That's a VERY SLOW finish. It will take you 6 months and probably about 20 hours to complete. Its suitable for a quarter of a million dollar gun.

Timberluxe is very fast and can do a good job if applied in light coats. Put on too heavy, it gains a gloss which is kiss of death for the value of a rifle that should have a warm satin glow.

The worst, the one that anyone into vintage guns abhors is "Truoil". That finish is suitable for Kolars, Perazzis, and anything a pimp owns. (same thing)

 

[318AE]

Another version floating around

Purdey's London Finishing Oil
For Darkening, Filling & Polishing
All measures are in English (UK)
1/2 pint of Raw Linseed Oil
2 ozs of Plaster of Paris (Dental Quality)
1/2 fluid oz of Butter of antimony
1/2 Gill Spirits of Wine
2 teaspoons of Vinegar
1 teaspoon of Venice Turps.

Some have cobalt and other potion ingredients as well. I have a thing for nostalgia, but these 100+ year old recipes are a bit too far for me.