A question for two Hawks

H

hot animal machine

Joined
Feb 2, 2001
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43
Was wondering if you could give me any tips on finishing the handle on a Hawk.have a RR spike that I'am doing,have applyed linseed oil to it,but have never worked with stuff before so any hints would be greatly apprecated. Since were one the subject what do you recomend for finishing the the handle?thanks alot,Dean
 
Dean-
I prefer an old-time "London Oil" gunstock finish.
First precision-fit the handle to the head (even bearing all around, may require a lot of cleanup of the eye if the head is rough).
Then sand the handle (with the grain) using progressively finer abrasive grits. If you have really bad spots (not unusual on a lot of commercial handles and handle blanks) you may have to drawfile it first to smooth them out. I start with 120 grit and work through 220, 320, and 400 grits. The handle should then be smooth as a baby's behind. If you don't mind a rougher handle (or want a low-reflectance finish) 4/0 steel wool also works well instead of the 400 grit.
Apply a coat of linseed oil and let it dry overnight. Then start rubbing in succeeding coats (must be rubbed in until "dry" to the touch or you'll have a gummy nasty surface).
After installing the handle for the last time, give the handle and head a protective coat of paste wax (old fashioned Johnson's works as well as the expensive stuff). When dry, polish it out with a cloth (old t-shirts work fine).
Maintenance is then more linseed and wax as necessary to keep the handle from getting "thirsty" or to rub out dings, AND to prevent corrosion of the head. Linseed and wax work fine on metal, but machine oil is NOT good for wood.
Hope this information helps.
TWO HAWKS
http://www.2hawks.net
 
Two Hawks,Dean here,thanks for the info man.The way I was doing it,It started to gum up(it kind of looked like varnish),So I used the oooo steal wool and then took my time and rubbed in the linseed oil,til it dryed,looks 100% better.Just a couple of more question's how many coats should I use,How long betwen coats.Should I use the steel wool on the last coat before applying the wax and do I need to remove the wax when I need to touch up the oil?if so how?(Damm,LOL!,I ask way too many questions!!!:D)take it easy and thanks again, Dean
 
Dean-
You were on the right track from the start ... "I rubbed it in until it was dry." You can save some effort if you'll check that first heavy coat after about 8 hours; if it seems to be still wet and gummy wipe off the excess and do the first rub-in right then.
You can use as many coats as you want to ... many old gunstocks done this way looked like they had a layer of glass over the surface but it was just 30 or 40 micro-thin coats of linseed rubbed in with the palm of the hand (your hand will get HOT if you're doing it right) until dry and slick to the touch. And a scratch in that surface can usually be "repaired" with some more linseed.
You can put on fresh rubbed-in linseed and wax any time without trying to remove the old finish. Just be sure the linseed is well rubbed in and dry before doing a surface coat of wax. The wax wears off first anyway.
The old "formula" for applying a London-oil rubbed linseed finish was: "Once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year, and once a year forever."
Hope the additional information is of use to you.
TWO HAWKS
http://www.2hawks.net
 
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