Any Stock Finishers here ? I have a couple questions

[6.5x300 WBY]

Man that is already beautiful. Can't imagine what it will look like when completed. This is way outside my patience area.

 

[Shubey]

So I bought this stock unfinished and got shaped the way I want, bottom metal and action have been bedded by me. I've sanded to 400 grit and applied a heavy coat of Arrow oil and these marks became visible and arose a few questions for those with a lot more experience than me.

1. Are the vertical marks (a couple in the butt area and the ones by my hand in the second picture) tooling marks left by who cut the stock? If so, do I just sand that area more and try to remove them?
2. The black areas on the cheek piece; is that just a characteristic of walnut (stock is claro walnut)?
3. The small black spots and lines all over the stock; are these wood pores? When I sanded, I didn't wipe off any of the dust and oiled over it, thinking it would fill in the pores with the dust (was told this by an experienced stock builder/finisher). Well, obviously they're still there and I'd like them to go away to create a better surface.

So what would my next steps be?

thanks,
View attachment 500973View attachment 500974View attachment 500975

Wet sanding, with wet/ dry sandpaper is best way to fill pores. Email me if you want complete instructions. Regards, D.

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

So I bought this stock unfinished and got shaped the way I want, bottom metal and action have been bedded by me. I've sanded to 400 grit and applied a heavy coat of Arrow oil and these marks became visible and arose a few questions for those with a lot more experience than me.

1. Are the vertical marks (a couple in the butt area and the ones by my hand in the second picture) tooling marks left by who cut the stock? If so, do I just sand that area more and try to remove them?
2. The black areas on the cheek piece; is that just a characteristic of walnut (stock is claro walnut)?
3. The small black spots and lines all over the stock; are these wood pores? When I sanded, I didn't wipe off any of the dust and oiled over it, thinking it would fill in the pores with the dust (was told this by an experienced stock builder/finisher). Well, obviously they're still there and I'd like them to go away to create a better surface.

So what would my next steps be?

thanks,
View attachment 500973View attachment 500974View attachment 500975

looks good just the wood which is walnut so filler, dust from sanding used, I would sand down to 600 grit and would wet stock dry with hair drier then sand. I had a supply of the old winchester red finish that would have really high lighted the fiddle back in that stock

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

Your stock is fine and looks ready to go, what you're seeing is the natural figure of the stock, the vertical marks you are looking at is referred to as fiddle back, we pay extra for that kind of figure, I finished my first stock over 50 years ago, I've used just every finish on the market as well as many home brews, when I finish a stock of my own depending on the finish I desire, I use brownells permalyn stock finish if I want a satin finish, if I want a high gloss finish I use Birchwood Casey's Tru-oil, reguardless of final finish I always start with permalyn, its a very thin liquid that gets down into the wood helps strengthen the grain of the wood that is a big help when checkering, it also fills the pores nicely, permalyn also offers a stock filler but I prefer to use the stock finish for that, it works just as well but takes a extra coat or 2 to fill the pores, when a high finish is desired, I start with the permalyn, once the pores are all filled and you have a good base i start with the Tru-Oil, to get a really deep gloss finish it requires 50 to 60 coats allied with small amounts of finish rubbed in with the palm of my hand, on warm days you can apply 3 to5 coats, at this point I let set overnight rub out any streaks of irregularities and start over, its a long process but the end results are worth it, once I'm satisfied I have the finish built up a rub it out with stock seen conditioner,

yes that is a outstanding finish use it on all the flintlocks we do

 

[dwcars]

I never use a filler or sealer until I get the grain showing to the depth that I desire. I use BLO with as many coats as it takes to get the amount of contrast I'm looking for. Sometimes I dilute the BLO with turpentine to get it to penetrate deeper on the first several coats. Once I've achieved the desired depth of contrast, I then seal with something durable and water proof. Next I start sanding with dry sand paper of finer and finer paper till the wood is as smooth as I'd like. Lastly, I use hand rubbed BLO or Tru-Oil with as many coats as it takes to get the gloss that I'm after.
I never use steel wool because I don't want the ultra fine steel shavings left in the finish. I use the Scotch-Brite pads which come in white which is as fine as 0000 steel wool.
Lastly, don't forget to seal the barrel channel well because you don't want any moisture penetrating the wood and starting wood rot.

 

[dwcars]

Here it is with about 18 coats of the finish oil.

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Looking pretty darned good~!!

 

[Muledeerhuntingfreak]

I use boiled when seed oil. And it takes very little at each application. And it needs to dry after every application fully in the beginning. You start sanding after each time you use the linseed oil.
So in between each application. You sand your stock as you go. This could take quite a while. It doesn't happen overnight, do not Put too much oil on at 1 application.
It could take up to 2 do this or longer. Don't be in a hurry it will look great in the end It already looks great now you're on the right path

 

[Muledeerhuntingfreak]

So I bought this stock unfinished and got shaped the way I want, bottom metal and action have been bedded by me. I've sanded to 400 grit and applied a heavy coat of Arrow oil and these marks became visible and arose a few questions for those with a lot more experience than me.

1. Are the vertical marks (a couple in the butt area and the ones by my hand in the second picture) tooling marks left by who cut the stock? If so, do I just sand that area more and try to remove them?
2. The black areas on the cheek piece; is that just a characteristic of walnut (stock is claro walnut)?
3. The small black spots and lines all over the stock; are these wood pores? When I sanded, I didn't wipe off any of the dust and oiled over it, thinking it would fill in the pores with the dust (was told this by an experienced stock builder/finisher). Well, obviously they're still there and I'd like them to go away to create a better surface.

So what would my next steps be?

thanks,
View attachment 500973View attachment 500974View attachment 500975

 

[msmith57]

So I bought this stock unfinished and got shaped the way I want, bottom metal and action have been bedded by me. I've sanded to 400 grit and applied a heavy coat of Arrow oil and these marks became visible and arose a few questions for those with a lot more experience than me.

1. Are the vertical marks (a couple in the butt area and the ones by my hand in the second picture) tooling marks left by who cut the stock? If so, do I just sand that area more and try to remove them?
2. The black areas on the cheek piece; is that just a characteristic of walnut (stock is claro walnut)?
3. The small black spots and lines all over the stock; are these wood pores? When I sanded, I didn't wipe off any of the dust and oiled over it, thinking it would fill in the pores with the dust (was told this by an experienced stock builder/finisher). Well, obviously they're still there and I'd like them to go away to create a better surface.

So what would my next steps be?

thanks,
View attachment 500973View attachment 500974View attachment 500975

You will need to use Steel wool on that to get a fine finish start with coarse wool then fine to et the desired texture, you may have to finish up with the 0000 fine wool sand paper is only for shaping not finishing wood

 

[msmith57]

You will need to use Steel wool on that to get a fine finish start with coarse wool then fine to et the desired texture, you may have to finish up with the 0000 fine wool sand paper is only for shaping not finishing wood.

 

[epoletna]

How are you applying the oil? I put one or two drops in the palm of my hand and rub it until my hand is hot and the oil has completely soaked in, let dry overnight, then sand. Scotch Brite pads are a great replacement for steel wool, but I use 00000 steel wool followed by a tack cloth to pick up all the pieces of steel.

 

[khmplus]

I used Tru oil vs Arrow oil but it took 6 or 8 coats before the pores started filling up. At 10 coats it started looking really good. A 3m super fine sanding pad between coats worked really well.

 

[HuntingBronco]

Great work and lots of solid advice here from the forum members. LRH never fails! I too would love to hear where you sourced the wood. Also, pics showing what you had to do to inlet and bed the action and bottom metal.

 

[Muledeerhuntingfreak]

I used Tru oil vs Arrow oil but it took 6 or 8 coats before the pores started filling up. At 10 coats it started looking really good. A 3m super fine sanding pad between coats worked really well. View attachment 519574

Sanding in between each coat is what fills the porse. I do word work for a living I am finishing I also do custom gun stocks on the side