Stock Refinishing |
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Posted: July 28 2022 at 10:24am |
I’ve got a new stock fitted for my M1. Bought it from Dupage, bare wood, unfinished stock set.
Decided to do a pure tung oil finish. It’s slow going, taking about three days to cure sufficiently between coats. I’ve been using the sand dust fill method, apply a very small amount of oil to the stock and sand it in with 600 grit paper, then aggressive hand rub. This fills in the short grain “cracks” in the surface. It’s now has 5 coats on it. One final coat to do without sanding. That last coat will likely leave the stock with a satin finish. Not sure if I want that or a complete matt finish, which is easy to do, just hit it with 0000 steel wool once cured. Anyone used tung oil before? Tried the wet oil sand dust filling method? |
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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Not on an Enfield or Garand, but I did one on my Remington 700 laminated stock. It ended up really pretty, bringing the lamination colors out very nicely. I
usually knock the shine off with a piece of burlap or hessian, it takes
the shine down but doesn't seem to touch the wood at all.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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I'm not sure if it's classified as a tung oil, but I've been using Watco Danish Oil ever since my wife banned linseed oil from our property. My buddy was using linseed to oil his teak patio furniture table and left the soaked rag in the sun on his wife's rattan table ...
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Supposedly, tung oil is a more water resistant and a tougher finish than Linseed oil. The only downside I can see is the long cure time of pure tung oil compared to BLO. I think the colour and appearance is about the same.
That stock does look great Shamu. Did you use 100% pure tung oil? Tung oil varnish or tung oil with driers added is more common, it dries much quicker than pure tung oil. Tung oil is much like linseed oil, have to be careful with leaving soaked rags in a pile, they can spontaneously combust. But the method I’m using is done by hand, no cloth or brush.
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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Pure. That's after many many coats & long interval too. But, Its a full custom build the only part of the original 700BDL is the bolt & receiver. Each time it went out for something months passed while the smiths got round to it so I just kept rubbing one more coat in. I
found that tung would eventually build up a high gloss finish, but
unlike vanishes & so on it kept the original "feel" of the wood. I
don't like them THAT shiny though. A while back I discovered
that "Michaels" (Arts & Crafts) sold Pure Linseed oil & even
better something called "Stand Oil" in 4 & 8 oz bottles for a
reasonable price. Stand Oil is the old original heated but not
chemically treated European version of BLO! Its really thick,
like golden syrup, or molasses, but it lets you use the "daub & rub
technique" as long as you have the patience. They also have Raw linseed oil (not the Refined stuff). |
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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A square 10
Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 14452 |
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its going to look great when your done - but not very military me thinks , chicken bone rub is more consistant with the old walnut military , that and a lot of use , that is a damned pretty looking piece of lumber
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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I put on what I think will be the last coat of tung oil. IIRC, tung oil was used in M1 stock finishing, as well as Linseed.
It now has about six coats. The grain is closed and filled in with the “sand dust” method I described earlier. For my last coat, I rubbed the stock lightly with 0000 steel wool first, then applied a very thin coat I rubbed in by hand, did not wipe it off with a rag. I dipped the tip of my finger in the oil, and spread that out, just that much would cover about half of one side of the butt. At the moment, it looks glossy, but as it dries, it should look more satin. Hard to get a good photo of it. I don’t want a gloss finish, but I don’t want it dead flat either. |
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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Nice grain to that wood. I will always prefer wood stocks over plastic. So much character. Well done.
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shiloh
Senior Member Joined: January 08 2019 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 2369 |
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As a wood worker, I`ve been using tung oils for decades. Gives a beautiful finish and really high lights the grain. It`s durable and easily fixed, the best of all worlds. I especially like it on gun stocks, the more it`s used/handled the better it looks, my choice when restoring old military wood. Beautiful piece of wood Brit.
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Lead from the front; eliminate all obstacles...
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A square 10
Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 14452 |
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that is a beautiful piece of lumber , if it fits right it should shoot real well - in style ,
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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I had our local M1 smith fit the stock for me first. He’s very knowledgeable with the M1 and M1A/M14. We test fired it and it’s looking good. The interesting thing is that I had to lower the rear sight by 10 minutes to get the shots into the 10 ring compared to the old stock. For some reason, that old stock always made the rifle shoot low. It’s now where it should be.
Shiloh, this is only my second time using tung oil on a rifle stock. The first time I wiped it on with a cloth, let is sit about 30 mins, then wiped off the excess. On this job, I rubbed the oil in well with the palm of my hand, got the oil hot. Did not use a cloth. I was finding that as the coats built up, it took longer to dry to the touch, up to three days. I’m not sure how long it will take to fully cure, I’m thinking of leaving it for 30 days. Pure tung oil is supposedly a harder and more water resistant finish than linseed from what I read. UV won’t change the colour either over time as it does with Linseed. |
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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That's probably the reason for the regimen with linseed oil too. 7 coats,one daily 4 coats weekly 12 coats monthly!
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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A square 10
Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 14452 |
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it sure looks really nice , im glad you got it fitted those stocks would be way beyond my fitting ability , shoot well and enjoy that rifle ,
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Guys,
I’ve let the stock sit for 4 days now. It seems to be quite dry, but probably not fully cured. I did a “tissue test”, and the tissue does not stick to the stock when it’s pressed firmly onto it. I’m pleased with the overall results. I would describe the finish as “satin”, not matte, not gloss. BUT, I see some small areas where the final coat of tung oil seems to have been absorbed into the wood. I’m too anal to let this go, so I will need another coat. Should I rub some oil in over these spots, or apply another coat over the entire stock? Anyone out there with experience with pure tung oil give me a recommendation? |
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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Maybe those spots on the wood are a little more porous. I'd try some spot applications and see if they don't oil up. Might take several applications, but they will. When they do, you may have to give one more complete coat but it is worth it as that's a great looking stock.
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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I'd do both. One local treatment to see if there's anything more than absorption happening. the one more light overall coat with lots of rubbing in to uniform the whole thing. If its too shiny when thoroughly cured rub it down with burlap to make a nice satin/eggshe!! surface.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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