Stock Finish Help

N

Nathan

New member
I have a Boyd's 10/22 stock which I want to finish with a bright color stain and a reasonably durable(solvent and bumps) gloss coat. I understand I will have to clean and sand quite a bit.

Originally, I thought I would finish with a West Systems Epoxy coat, but I will be out like $80 on just the gloss coat materials! Any other ideas, or do I need to just bite the bullet and buy this stuff, dispensing bottles, etc. I did a test coat using a friends West system base plus a different hardener and like it.

How good is polyurethane?
 
West Systems epoxy can be used as a finish, I have done it in the past. It strengthens the wood and seals it, but it is messy and labor-intensive. I will only do this if a customer specifically says they want that type of finish.

If you want an easy to apply, tough, glossy epoxy finish, use Brownells' Acra-Coat-Wood ( http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1162/Product/ACRA-COAT-WOOD ). It is clear and glossy, and will only set you back about $25 ($14 for the finish, $10 for shipping). It sprays on, so even a schmoe can do it. The kind of wood you are spraying it on can determine how many coats you will need, but I have never needed more than 6 coats to totally seal and fill any stock. Once the stock is sanded and whiskered, I spray on a coat, let it harden up for a day or two, sand with 320 then 400 grit, spray another coat, let it harden, another coat, let it harden, sand with 400 grit until smooth, then 600 grit to really smooth it out, wipe it down with alcohol to take off any skin oils and dust, then another coat of finish, then polish. If the wood is really porous, add more coats and sanding until the grain is totally filled.

As far as polyurethane, they are pretty good, and easy to apply. Varathane spray spar polyurethane is probably one of the easiest and most widely available.
 
Just finished a Boyd's Evolution.
Tung oil and steel wool, 10 coats, 00, 000, 0000.
Paste wax, several coats.
 
Sand the stock smooth, then dampen the wood, and all the slivers that have been pressed down will stand up like whiskers. Sand again (I wet sand). Let the wood dry. Dampen again, sand again. Let the wood dry, then finish sand. Then apply the finish.

If you do not do this, the slivers will stand up when you put the finish on the wood. Some finishes will raise the whiskers right away, others will take 15 minutes or so, and you will have already set the stock down to let it dry and you will come back to a very rough stock.

Paste wax is not stock finish!
Click to expand...
I have finished wood with paste wax. Never heard of a "hand-rubbed Carnauba wax" finish? It is a very attractive finish. Not very durable, but very attractive.
 
Paste wax by itself is not a stock finish. It's a good thing to use on top of a stock finish, but paste wax by itself is a miserable water repellent, wood sealer, or finish. Much better to go with an oil finish or varnish of some sort and when that's done, then go over it with paste wax.

Raising the grain is absolutely necessary, as scorch has said. I've taken to a more high-speed approach, in that I'll wet the stock real good and then use a spare blow drier that a granddaughter left here to dry it and raise the grain. Then lightly sand off the whiskers. Do that a couple of times until the grain won't raise anymore and then start with the oil finish or the varnish. The Oil looks better, but the varnish can be quicker. And, you can put on a few coats of Boiled Linseed Oil to make the wood grain more visible and attractive and when dry you can then use the varnish/polyurethane. Minwax makes a Fast Dry Polyurethane that works really well and does dry fast. Just spray lightly, because you don't want any of it to run. It comes in gloss, semi-gloss, and Satin. I like the Satin. I use the Poly on the less expensive riflestocks. On the good wood, I use oil finishes only.
 
I refinished a 91/30 MN with West System.

They make a special clear hardener that is UV resistant (I think it's 209) for this purpose; the 205/206 hardeners are amber colored, and offer no UV protection for the epoxy. Many people don't know that most epoxy coatings need a UV resistant coating over it (like varnish or polyurethane) for protection.

The problem is the viscosity, and like Scorch said, it's labor intensive. It doesn't flow like one would want and gives a "lumpy" finish that needs sanding after every coat.

Came out nice, I'll see if I can get a pic over the weekend and update...
 
603, I just checked my can of MinWax -- It says "Finishing Wax".

Maybe were wrong!! But guess what I'll continue to be wrong by using poly, varnishes, and linseed oil for my stocks.

I'll use the finish that I think thats appropriate for the gun. My Lyman Great Plains Rifle has a oil finish and every six months or so 6-8 drops of linseed oil gets rubbed into the stock. The varnish on the 870 gets JPW as do the Ithaca's
 
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