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- Dec 5, 2009
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I've heard that getting the finish perfect using Tru Oil the absolute proper way can take nearly a month...but the results and stability of the finish are absolutely worth it.
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Tru-Oil: Instructions Printed on Label
- Thread starter redsquid2
- Start date
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- Oct 27, 2010
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Yep a month minimum. I have taken two or more months doing gun stocks. I have a couple more lined up for finishing that I may take pics of along the way (keeping the gun specific stuff to a minimum). Maybe I'll do a compare and contrast of different finishes popular with knives/gun stocks.
-Xander
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- Dec 15, 2009
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- 1,008
Would using a scotchbrite belt on a 2x72 work for polishing or would it be too aggressive?
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2003
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- 484
I'm in the process of finishing two wood handles of different woods and have found the way that Tru Oil works with each to be radically different. One is a refinish on a handle made of ziricote that was run through the dishwasher. I originally just sanded to 2000 grit and gave it a few coats of Gun Stock Wax. It actually held up pretty well in the dishwasher, but the surface finish was gone, of course. The other handle is of bacote. Last night I sanded both to 2000 grit and applied a fairly thin coat of Tru Oil to both and left them in the shop to dry. This morning only the ziricote was dry. The bacote was a gummy mess. I thought maybe I had applied it too thick on that one, so I took it off with a green scotchbrite pad, and I went over the ziricote with the same. I reapplied a very thin coating of Tru Oil to both and put them in front of a fan to dry. I have been able to apply three coats to the ziricote handle today, while the bacote is, once again, a gummy mess(well, not really a mess, but gummy, anyway). I used Tru Oil quite a bit years ago on curly maple flintlock stocks with good sucess. The procedure I used was similar to what I did today, and the ziricote responded similar to maple, while the bacote was not similar at all. I don't know if the dishwasher treatment had anything to do with my results, but Tru Oil definitely works different on these two pieces of wood.
Edited to add: The way this ziricote is taking up the Tru Oil is really the only similarity to maple. It is very hard and heavy wood that is a lot harder to work than maple. Also, someone that used to post here as Desert Rose suggests using artist's grade linseed oil mixed with artist's grade turpentine for a traditional oil finish. Since boiled linseed oil is not boiled, but simply has additives in it to make it dry faster, that might be a good way to get better penetration with an oil finish while retaining it's durability and beauty.
Edited to add: The way this ziricote is taking up the Tru Oil is really the only similarity to maple. It is very hard and heavy wood that is a lot harder to work than maple. Also, someone that used to post here as Desert Rose suggests using artist's grade linseed oil mixed with artist's grade turpentine for a traditional oil finish. Since boiled linseed oil is not boiled, but simply has additives in it to make it dry faster, that might be a good way to get better penetration with an oil finish while retaining it's durability and beauty.
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- Dec 5, 2009
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Try taking off all the finish back to bare wood on the Bocote. Sand to 2000. Wipe liberally with acetone to remove residual surface oils that are natural to the wood. Quickly apply your first coat of Tru Oil and see if that helps it set up.