I have a rifle stock which had a nice satin clear finish.

I tried to "make is nicer" with  Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil, but it made a thick, sticky looking type of finish.

Anybody have suggestions?     Or possibly a stock maker who could refinish the stock for me?

Thanks.

I don't know how you prepped or applied the finish products.  Did you use a paint brush or rag to apply the oil?  Was it an aerosol spray-on oil? 

Here's a video that might answer your questions .....

This video is pretty good ....

I have a rifle stock which had a nice satin clear finish.

I tried to "make is nicer" with  Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil, but it made a thick, sticky looking type of finish.

Anybody have suggestions?     Or possibly a stock maker who could refinish the stock for me?

Thanks.

I like the satin clear finish on one of my Boyd’s stock.

I have an unfinished Boyds stock that I finished using True-Oil. Note I said finished and not re-finished. Except for a drip or two that I didn’t catch the stock came out beautiful. I sanded it down using various grit sandpaper finishing it off with either 600 or 1200 grit. I can’t remember. It is a high gloss finish using a Nutmeg color stock. It garners lots of comments when I take it out. Of course the stock costs more than the rifle is worth. 

Thanks Flapp  :
Thanks Inspector


I bought the BC Tru-Oil kit and did it the best I could at home.

Right now, I'm just thinking of handing it over to a stockmaker to strip the finish, sand down some bumps & bruises, and putting a thin satin sheen to it.... I don't want too much finish on it, like I have now...

The stock has epoxy bedding, which I don't want touched though.

Any recommendations of a stockmaker in Honolulu?

Contact Masterclass. https://www.masterclassstocks.com/

If you want to stay local, look at a automotive bodyshop and paint it.

Contact Masterclass. https://www.masterclassstocks.com/

If you want to stay local, look at a automotive bodyshop and paint it.

You think an auto body shop can strip the tru-oil, sand it, and then make a thin satin coating on the wood stock?

what about a wood shop?

You think an auto body shop can strip the tru-oil, sand it, and then make a thin satin coating on the wood stock?

If you want a nice finish again, stripping down below the Tru-Oil is not going to be enough.  You'll need to take it down to the bare wood and stain it with only Tru-Oil if that's your desired final finish.  After 4-5 coats, drying, then sanding lightly in between each coat with fine sandpaper and/or steel wool is the only way to get a near-perfect finish.

It's a process that starts with stripping the old finish off.  Depending on how deeply the original stain penetrated the wood, you might have to sand as much as you can to a point, then stain (oil) with a slightly darker-than-original color -- or plan on adding as many coats as needed to achieve a uniform color.

The species of wood makes a difference in prep.  Denser species will probably be sand-able to a more bare wood level without sanding too much of the wood off.  Porous species may be stained too deeply to sand the stain completely gone.

The whole process isn't rocket surgery, but it does take patience and a good eye for detail.  You have to take care of imperfections within the first or second coat, or the imperfections become permanent "character marks".   

True story ...

A friend sent his stock to a "master craftsman" in Texas to fix a split caused when he accidentally dropped the rifle on its butt while taking it out of the safe.

The repair guy took close to two years to return it!!

Apparently he had to wait for a tree to grow the get matching wood to make the repair!   

If you decide to do this yourself, don't rush it.  Get a really good surface after the complete sanding.  Let each coat dry 100% (or more) before even touching it.  Use very, very fine sandpaper (600-1200 grit or finer) to smooth between each coat.

If the coat isn't totally dry before sanding again, you'll likely ruin what you've done to that point and have to sand it down again to start over.

I've been doing some woodworking at home the past few years.  Most who do this hate the finishing process because it's so tedious.  Having said that, any woodworker, furniture manufacturer or wood finishing business should be able to do the job.

Man-hours are not cheap if you want a better-than-new finish.  When all is said and done, you need to compare that cost with what a new, factory-finished stock from the rifle manufacturer or an aftermarket seller would cost.  Even the DIY route will cost for materials, the oil, and your time.  You also need a good place to work.  Outside on the lanai while the trades are kicking up dust isn't ideal.

Thanks guys.

I'm thinking of going to the hardware store and buying a varnish stripper and applying it to the stock.
Then, progressively sanding with finer grit to a point where everything's smooth.
Then, apply Renaissance Wax...........  I want a minimal finish to the wood.

In a slightly different vein, a wood speargun maker or anyone familiar with refinishing them will be able to do a good job on your stock. Same process.

There are a few reason oil finishes dont harden up, sometimes it involves stripping back down to bare wood and starting over. Not too difficult but important to follow certain guidelines. If there is any checkering on the stock be careful when you strip/sand in those areas. Feel free to reach out to me if you like, I have extensive wood finishing/refinishing experience.

There are a few reason oil finishes dont harden up, sometimes it involves stripping back down to bare wood and starting over. Not too difficult but important to follow certain guidelines. If there is any checkering on the stock be careful when you strip/sand in those areas. Feel free to reach out to me if you like, I have extensive wood finishing/refinishing experience.

Thank you.

Since it's too windy to go Kokohead to shoot rifle today, I'm going to work on my rifle stock.

Before I try to strip the finish off, I'll try the Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen and Conditioner.  It's supposed to take off the shine and "imperfections"...... I'll see if it works..........

If you are getting a stick finish even after days of drying then something is wrong. There are lots of factors that come into play. Certain finishes cannot harden/stick to other finishes, some finishes have a shelf life.

I regularly use gunstock oil on a number of woodworking pieces and it is a very good finish. It builds nicely too so you can work from a more satin finish to a more glossy finish.

My first guess is that it could be the type of finish that is already on the wood stock. A sheen conditioner sounds like a wax basically or maybe a micro polish but I am not familiar with the product. Understand that wax makes wood look beautiful but protection wise, wax does not do much to protect the wood, a little bit of water protection and next to no abrasion protection.

If you are wanting to strip the old finish then use a chemical stripper, they are good at removing most of the finish and don't hurt the wood. A  lot of finishes do not sand well, gums up the sandpaper fast. A card scraper might work but those are usually used on flat pieces of wood. I would need to double check labels but paint thinner should be able to take off whatever sticky residue you have that isn't drying. Mineral spirits might be a little better. Try to wipe off anything sticky before using a chemical stripper though
(I own a small woodworking business)

I have a rifle stock which had a nice satin clear finish.

I tried to "make it nicer" with  Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil, but it made a thick, sticky looking type of finish.

Anybody have suggestions?     Or possibly a stock maker who could refinish the stock for me?

Thanks.

Been in talks with kelbly and cerus to have a wood stock made, havent gotten around to it yet. But they both reccomend emil kovan and tmstockworks for full wood stock work. Emil kovan has a website with some of the wood stocks hes done. Top notch work. Hope to save up more to get the build rolling.