Gun Stock finishing question...

[DarkRose]

Ok, going to be refinishing another stock, and my last one I tried (and is still in-progress) was with Boiled Linseed Oil, and didn't turn out great...

I've had Tung Oil recommended by several people, as well as seeing a "magic elixir" on another forum of Armor-All and Tung Oil I think, with some fantastic results shown...

My question is this:
I'm assuming I can stain before the Tung Oil, I hope so, because I'm thinking of doing something interesting, just not sure exactly what yet. But if I stain before Tung Oil, should it be water-based or oil-based stain?
I wasn't sure if it needed to be OIL-based to be compatible with the tung OIL, or water-based so as to NOt mix/interact with the tung oil...?

[Mat250]

I can tell you from my painting experience to never put oil based over water based. You can put water over oil but not the other way around. I think stains are an exception, I would stain it like you want then use some truoil. Truoil can be applied over water based stains and dyes. It takes a lot of coats but looks great when it's done. $.02

[clelaj]

Ditto what Mat250 said. I recently used Tru-Oil buffed with 0000 to knock down the shine on my Marlin stock and very pleased.

[Sgt7330]

When doing the military stocks, if it is a Birch or Beech wood I used an alcohol base mix and leather dye/stain mix. The last carbine was birch and I used a leather dye (Fiebings) mixed 3 parts denatured alcohol to 1 part dye. I have seen guys use Rit dye/alcohol mix with good results. I mixed a small amount of walnut water based stain with it to keep it from being too red. You can mix more denatured alcohol in (4/1) if you think its too dark or too red.
A nicer walnut wood shouldnt require as much work. I used a water stain one. **IF you use an oil based stain and try to use Boiled Linseed Oil or anything like that it seems to go badly, from my experience.** If you want to do a tru-oil or min wax style shiney finish, then the oil based will work. Wipe off excess and let it dry before
final seal coat.

BELOW PICS are the Carbine before and after, my goal was the rich brown/red USGI look.

[Sgt7330]

Disclaimer - Rank Amateur here practicing on gun stocks that were trashed. So, take with my warning.

The below picture is of the 3 stocks I've worked on. The top 2 are oil based Min Wax finishes. The wood was a light , possibly pine or birch but I'm not sure. Not a good quality stock. I used an oil base with a tru oil finish on the bolt .22 and a polyurethane on the Marlin .22 semik auto.
The darker semi auto stock I got by mixing some of the dark brown leather dye with the stain, only a few drops in a small cup. I WOULD NOT TRY LINSEED OR TUNG ON THESE.
The Garand was pale and faded, finish a mess. I lightly sanded it (very light, not to take out the dings but to even it out) It is a nice piece of USGI walnut so I used water based walnut stain. I then slowly did the Linseed Oil process over a couple weeks, once a day, hand rub with the grain, wipe excess, let dry. In this process I used a Raw Linseed Oil, which started out with an orange oil/linseed mix. Very slow drying oil, raw linseed. I didnt drown the stock in it, just light and hand rub over a couple weeks.
The final two coats were Tom's 1/3 mix paste of linseed/turpentine/beeswax.

[DarkRose]

Well what I'm playing with at the moment is a Bubba'd (until a replacement stock is purchased) Mosin stock, and before the purists protest, it was a non-numbers matching 91/30, nothing special, but a decent shooter.

I'm looking at stripping the stock down, and doing something like a green translucent stain before the Tung oil, something different from a standard "wood" color, maybe blue, or red, or grey... unsure yet, depends on what I find that catches my eye... Saw a nice evergreen translucent today, as well as a dark brown Kona wood stain that was interesting as well...

Just something to slap it in until I decide on a Boyds or Richards, or whatever else I find out there...

[Mosin-Me-Nagant]

My first try, and gun, i refinished with boiled linseed oil. Stripped the finish off and then wet sanded through the numbers. Then I applied a bunch of linseed oil. I think it looks great!

[DarkRose]

Originally Posted by Mosin-Me-Nagant

My first try, and gun, i refinished with boiled linseed oil. Stripped the finish off and then wet sanded through the numbers. Then I applied a bunch of linseed oil. I think it looks great!

Well the other stock I'm keeping more "original" I'm doing with Linseed, however, the last coat was applied months ago, and is still tacky, so I need to either sand or steel wool or strip and start over it appears... And since this gun isn't staying original, thought about doing something totally different. Might even consider just a solid paint with Matte or Satin clear over it... Lots of options...

[MMRUSH]

!

Originally Posted by Sgt7330

Disclaimer - Rank Amateur here practicing on gun stocks that were trashed. So, take with my warning.

The below picture is of the 3 stocks I've worked on. The top 2 are oil based Min Wax finishes. The wood was a light , possibly pine or birch but I'm not sure. Not a good quality stock. I used an oil base with a tru oil finish on the bolt .22 and a polyurethane on the Marlin .22 semik auto.
The darker semi auto stock I got by mixing some of the dark brown leather dye with the stain, only a few drops in a small cup. I WOULD NOT TRY LINSEED OR TUNG ON THESE.
The Garand was pale and faded, finish a mess. I lightly sanded it (very light, not to take out the dings but to even it out) It is a nice piece of USGI walnut so I used water based walnut stain. I then slowly did the Linseed Oil process over a couple weeks, once a day, hand rub with the grain, wipe excess, let dry. In this process I used a Raw Linseed Oil, which started out with an orange oil/linseed mix. Very slow drying oil, raw linseed. I didnt drown the stock in it, just light and hand rub over a couple weeks.
The final two coats were Tom's 1/3 mix paste of linseed/turpentine/beeswax.

[MMRUSH]

Wow you do really nice work! Im impressed!