[Detritus]

howdy all,

recently i bought a pair of what guess you'd call "gripmaker seconds" grip panels for my 1911, from a vendor at a show in houston. they are decently figured (one panel has signifigantly more figure than the other, adn is partly why i bought this set), double diamond style, walnut, and only cost me $10. i call them seconds (or at least suspect this as the reason why they were $5-10 cheaper than some similar grips ont eh same table) b/c they show signs of small errors in the checkering process, over runs, slightly uneven diamonds, minor "can't see it till your lookin fo it" stuff. appearently the maker/vendor didn't want to put the time into finishing this set (and the others in the $10 box) that he puts into his $20+ sets, and only gave them a single light coat of BLO.

so what I want to know is, which one should i use (more like which one is less of a PITA to use in this situation) Tung Oil or BLO?? and what is the proper way to get the best results from YOUR preferred product??

i've heard all kinds of horror stories about how nasty both of these products can turn out if not "done right". and other than comments on here i know very little about either one.

as always and especially true in this case, any and all input is welcome and appreciated.

[Mark whiz]

To be honest, neither tung oil nor BLO is hard to work with.

But which to use????? that depends on what you want.
Tung will darken the wood more than BLO, and it also dries slower.

Unless you're wanting to Really darken the wood, what I think I would do is first rub the grips down with mineral spirits to make sure the surface is clean & ready to go. When the wood is dry, then rub some PURE tung oil into the wood with a lint free cloth. As long as you're wanting a Pure oil finish on the wood, make sure you use pure tung oil and not some of the tung "finishes" sold at Lowes, Home Depot, Ace, etc - those have a laquer in them and will give things a glossier shine and affect drying time too.

I would rub in at least 5 or 6 coats of the pure tung, allowing each coat to dry thoroughly (overnight, usually). After that is dry, try rubbing a couple coats of BLO into it as well to help make sure the wood is sealed well. Then for good measure, mix a little BLO and stock wax together and rub a couple coats of that mixture into the wood too.

You will then have a nice looking piece of wood that is sealed really well. For Maintenance, you can rub them down with BLO every couple of months (depending on how often you shoot). The once thing about oil finishes is that you don't want them to become overly dry over time - oil them occassionally.

I followed this basic proceedure on an old rifle stock a year ago and it turned out really well - go to the two stock refinishing albums and take a look at the results:

http://community.webshots.com/user/markwhiz

[Josey]

I use Kiwi brown shoe polish. It usually only needs one application of polish. I then use a soft brush to work it in. I apply a second coat, use a wet soft terry cloth and polish the grips. An annual coat of Johnson's paste wax maintains the finish. My Ruger rosewood grips looked great with this treatment. Try the backs first to see how it looks to you. I treat my mil-surp rifles this same way.

[Dienekes]

Not very traditional, but Tru-Oil looks good, is simple to do, and wears well. I used it on my duty gun for years, and even with heavy use only had to renew it every couple of years or so. Probably the most practical finish around.

[Detritus]

thanks for the input guys..

thought about tru-oil but i'm not quite sure i want the finish to be THAT glossy, a more "satin" type finish that brings ou the grain just a touch more was sort fo what i had in mind...

still pondering what to do so i'll send this one round again


:)