Armor-All finish giving me fits

K

Kentucky Fisherman

Joined
Oct 24, 2020
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2
For wood scales, both stabilized and not, I usually use an oil blend called Arrow Wood Finish. I love it, but it's a slow, slow, slow process. Been reading about the Armor All and Tru-Oil finish where you supposedly can get at least 4-5 layers added in one evening. I've been working with it on some scales now for a couple of weeks and it doesn't seem to be working right to me. Hoping someone here can help.

I'm working with some thula burl scales that are dry and hard, but not stabilized. I'm putting one drop of Armor All on one side, spreading it with a fingertip, then adding one drop of Tru-Oil in the middle. I start mixing and spreading the oil with my naked fingertip and a slightly cloudy emulsion forms. Keep rubbing and the mix starts drying fairly quick. As the surface starts getting gummy/tacky, I've been making long strokes, trying to level everything out. Then I do the same on the other side. One drop of each ingredient.

At this point there is a tacky film on the wood, so I stand the blade up, held vertical with a small clamp on the blade and let it dry for a couple hours up to overnight. Regardless of drying time, when I come back to the handle it's still tacky to the touch. I've been using a clean cotton rag and buffing the surface slicker before adding a new coat.

Regardless of what I do, I haven't been able to get the finish to dry hard and smooth. I've tried 2-1 Armor All, 2-1 oil and neither seems to change how it ends up. Does this issue have something to do with the type wood? Thula is supposedly in the cedar family, but it doesn't seem either oily or too dense. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for any help or pointers you can offer.
 
I think you are doing it wrong. Armor All is silicone. If you put the silicone on first it will create a barrier that the tru-oil can't penetrate. Bad news is you put silicone on the wood its there forever, you can't put a finish on top of it until you find a way to remove it.
That being said, I can't see how any sort of wood finish would be compatible with Armor All. They just don't mix.....
 
You need the original ArmorAll, not sure if that is the issue?

Carl_First_Timer

Post in thread 'Woodstock's Elixir: Armorall and Truoil finishing handle material'

I'll be following this tutorial here. Spray on armor all wipe clean then rub in Tru oil. I'll post results if I really can finish tonight.

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=246076

Before:
CIMG4754-1-1.jpg
 
I've always read that you should keep silicone away from wood and wood working tools. I truly don't understand how this ever worked.
 
I've never heard of using Armor All, and I haven't had much luck with Tru-Oil.

I prefer to do a CA finish or use boiled linseed oil.
 
I just use TruOil if I want a glossy finish on wood. The key is thin coats. And I do mean THIN. TruOil is sort of thick, so sometimes I will dilute it with acetone or alcohol, but most of the time just a few drops per scale spread around with my finger. Should be dry to the touch in 30 minutes or so, rinse and repeat until the desired gloss.
 
I have never used stabilized wood. But whatever finish I use the first coat seems to take forever to dry. The following coats seem to dry really quick. FYI
But I'm not mixing finish material. I use a Butcher block finish that's food grade applicable that applies like tung oil. I bought it at a local big box lumber store. Lowes.
 
Thuya burl is pretty oily and I wonder if that could affect the finish you're trying. I use Danish oil for most of my handle finishing except wood that is oily. For oily wood I just finish to a high grit and then buff.
 
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