up to my seventh coat

1chig

I am up to my 7th coat of true oil on a walnut stock. It looks wonderful from a distance but up close i still see a lot of grain. Anyone got any secrets,or keep apllying. I dewhiskered 3 times before i started and i sand lightly between coats,I use either steel wool or 600 grit sand paper, dont know what else to do. Any input would be great

dbain99

Ive gone to 7 coats or more but I really dont follow that you see the grain. After the 6th coat was the dried tru oil raised the same as the grain would be? Does it follow the same grain lines or is it more random? With good prep 3 to 4 coats should be enough to slick it up, More coats than that should just build a deeper looking gloss.

haroldchrismeyer

You need to rub a little harder with the steel wool. If you don't take off quite a bit, it will continue to be grainy, and will get worse instead of better. I have used as much as fifteen coats to get the desired effect.

When you dewhiskered did you use steam, and then steel wool until nothing came up when you steamed it?

MIKE WISKEY

I do my first 2 or 3 sandings with #220 paper the the next 2 or 3 w/320 and finish with 400 and then a thin spray coat of tru oil if I want a gloss finish. the first sandings should be right down to the wood.

perry shooter

Steel wool can leave small whiskers of metal imbbeded in the finish.[:(][:(!][V]

nononsense

1chig,

Steel wool is NEVER recommended for finishing fine wood stocks.

As Mike points out, fine sandpaper, like Wet-n-Dry, flooded with finish to start so you work up a slurry to fill the pores and grain. Then finer paper with more finish. The paper should always be backed with something stable such as blocks or even those pink trapezoidal erasers. The final coats are usually put on by hand literally and rubbed in. Shine will appear with more coats, less shine with fewer coats or alleviated with Rotten Stone.

Low Sheen:



About as much gloss as I like:



High Gloss:



Best.

1chig

by seeing the grain i mean that all of the grain is not filled, i think i may not be sanding enough, hard enough between coats.The way it sits now it has a very high gloss, but some of the grain is lower, not filled even with the rest of the stock.Can i go ahead and sand it down pretty good and continue on? Also, do you apply a lot of pressure when you rub on the oil? I have been just wiping it on evenly with the grain,per bottle instructions.Like i said it looks like a rem. bdl from a distance, but up close grainy. And to answer the question about the steam, yes i used steam to dewhisker . thanks a bunch guys.

GuvamintCheese

Let it dry for a couple days and take it clear back down to the wood with fine sand paper. You have not filled the grain yet.

Its a rookie mistake, but I bet you dont do it again. This is how you learn....post some pics!

1chig

i was afraid someone would say that[:(]

GuvamintCheese

quote:Originally posted by 1chig
i was afraid someone would say that[:(]
An oil finish is made to be put IN the wood, not ON the wood. Sand it back down, and thin out the tru-oil to soak in deeper like a danish finish....[;)]

I am not a fan of a "tru-oil finish" because its too thick to penetrate deep enough, and it dries to quick to penetrate "Deeeeep"

A trully good oil is very thin and does not dry fast!

nononsense

1chig,

Actually, the oil finish soaks into the wood on the first few applications. It can be thinned to aid in getting into the wood faster and deeper. Then you should be using the finish wet with wet-n-dry sanding material, creating the slurry I mentioned which is worked into the pores, filling them. This must dry or you run the chance of pulling the slurry out of the pores, forcing you to start again. Once filled, adding finish builds up the layers on top of the filled wood creating the depth of sheen that you want either with many coats for glossy or fewer for a lower sheen. If you get too glossy, you can bring it back with some abrasives such as rotten stone.

Pilkington's Classic Gunstock finish used to come with a complete little booklet of very clear instructions. Unfortunately, this finish is stupidly overpriced for what you get. Ask around to see if anyone still has a booklet.

Best.