I am trying to redo a stock..........

hillbille

for a friend of mine, he gave me an old 410 single shot, some import from florida. got the metal sanded down with brass wire wheel, yeah I know a few of you are cringing at that idea but it was rusted bad and I figured no great loss, he wanted me to paint it black! anyway got it reblued and it came out fairly well some pitting but it is dark blue/black instead of brown and after a littie sanding the wood under all the oil and dirt was a very pretty grain, almost like walnut with deep graining. Now my problem I had an old bottle of tung oil in cabinet down in the garage and I opened it and instead of pouring out it came out more like toothpaste. I tried it on the forearm and it rubbed out ok, but has been 4 days or so and still tacky, think it will ever dry??? should I just sand it down and go get a new bottle or is tru oil better/easier than tung oil? or is polyuretine? a better bet? just wondering whick easier and cheaper for a one time deal. also I am wanting a clear coat so the grain will show, not a stain.

varian

i probably would take mineral spirits or turpentine and remove the tung oil. then put one or two coats of tru oil to help bring out the grain then shoot it with a rattle can of poly urethane

BobJudy

Warmth and low humidity will make tung oil cure faster. Maybe try a little gentle heat. If you want to go with fast and easy then I would pick poly. I have used a lot of TruOil and found my best results with multiple coats with a light going over with oooo steel wool between coats. Unfortunately that takes a week or more. Bob

notnow

If you're in a real hurry, try Deft. It dries in about 5 minutes. It comes in a spray can. I did a marlin goose gun with it once and it turned out nice. You can load the coats on in a short time. No overnight drying. It cures quicker than polyurethane too.

cbxjeff

I've used Deft for years when restoring old Gerstner tool chests and sprayed it over Minwax oil stain. About 15 or so years ago the mfgr started to say brush application only (probably to C.T.A.). I always spray in a well ventilated area and use a mask. I usually used clear but it's available in satin also.

mac10

Old go buy new bottle help stimulate the eeeconomy😇

bullshot

Tung Oil takes at least a week sometimes two, to dry between coats and at least a month to totally cure but it's worth the wait if you're not in a hurry. If you are in a hurry then use Tru-oil.

Mr. Perfect

There is no try, only do.

truthful

All those oils polymerize with age and exposure to oxygen. Fresh oil is the way to go.

Brookwood

I use and recommend using Teak Oil as a fast drying finish for gunstocks. I do several coats of this applying one day apart and rubbing it down after each coat. It is designed for boat decks and is very UV resistant. Also gives you a much less glossy shine than tru oil.

About a month after the Teak Oil treatment, I wax the stock with a good paste wax.

Okie

I did not read all of this post,

BUT Also I just now come back and edited, edited the Rusty Brown is a wood stain, not a tru oil color

If you get into another stock

This kit is readily available on-line, academy, etc. I also realize you are not working on a collectors type high dollar stock, but this kit is really user friendly and the person using this kit can even do show quality stocks by just keeping on building up the finish until they get the desired results without getting into big bucks and you can do 2 or 3 stocks if desired.

(not much of a learning curve)

If you want a Winchester type reddish ting to the finish you can buy separate a Rusty Brown Walnut wood stain in a 3 oz bottle for about $5 to use with the kit. Rusty Brown wood stain does not come in the kit. Here is a link for the Rusty.

Note that it has to say Rusty on the bottle or you will be just getting the regular Walnut stain like is in the kit.

https://www.birchwoodcasey.com/products/rusty-walnut-wood-stain-3-fl-oz-bottle.html

Keep the oil finish out of any checkering. Tape off the checkering.

Get a Birch Wood Caseys gunstock re-finishing kit, less than $20 and just read the instructions couple times before starting. (it's mainly a no brainer)

You might have to use warm/hot water and a degreaser to get rid of your existing mess.

If I want a really nice finish I apply the Tru oil coats with 800-1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper instead of using fingers and also do not use the steel wool between coats, just use the sandpaper dipped in the oil. Steel wool leaves steel grains and is no good for such. The fist coat usually will not look very great after it dries because it's a filler coat and some of the wood will soak up the oil and some will not. Using the sandpaper to apply the first coat will also be good in that it creates a filler slurry. Properly preparing the wood for the tru oil is important. Getting the old finish off and getting any old oils out of the wood then letting the wood dry good.

Doing this wet/dry sandpaper to apply the oil levels the coats as you apply additional coats.

Do one section of the stock at a time, apply tru oil sparringly with your fingers then immediately use the sandpaper to level and spread the oil.

Just do not keep rubbing/applying as it's drying, you can rub wrinkles into the finish. If you see a slight flaw as it's drying, wait and use the tru oil and wet sand it out using the oil wetted sandpaper after it dries and before or during applying the next coat around 24 hours later.

If the final finish is too glossy when dry carefully rub on the sheen conditioner and it will remove the high gloss to a satin finish. (it's actually a rubbing compound so go slow)

What is nice about this kit is once the old finish and oils are removed everything is in the kit except the wet/dry sandpaper.

Few other tips. I use rubber or latex gloves when applying, use mineral spirits to clean the sandpaper between coats or just leave the application sandpaper in mineral spirits (do not use the milky colored odorless mineral spirts, the white will get into the tru-oil finish, if any left over tru-oil in the bottle, store the bottle UPSIDE down and the skim coat will be at the bottom of the jar next time you remove the lid. Also do not buy and big bottle of tru-oil, it does not store well for a long period of time, like for a year or more.

2nd, if you scratch the stock in the future you can just touch up the scratch/ding area without fighting a complete re-finish or if you mess up when applying a coat just let it dry and rub it down and apply additional coat.

The Tru-oil in this kit is fast dry. The old ancient oil finishes some took months to cure and remained tacky for a long time.

BUT: For my deer rifle re-finishes I do not use the tru oil if within months of deer season.

I can smell the finish odor for about 3 months even though it's dry and BIG nervous wild deer don't like the strange smell. (how do I know this one, I've seen the big horns go the other way fast)