How to do the World's best oil finish

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dfariswheel Refinish

I have refinished 3 stocks using the method exactly as outlined on page one with wonderful results. I refinished 1 glossy and 2 eggshell with different sheens.
Hands down, this finish is bombproof!!!! Follow the directions, take your time and you won't be disappointed.
 
Where do you typically find it?

Well, I've been to 2 different Lowe's, 1 Home Depot, 1 WalMart and a local hardware store without success. They each carry more than one MinWax oil finish but not the red can stuff mentioned here.

Has it been discontinued?

TB
 
I know this is an older post but do more people have some pics that are ipdated of there stocks that are finished? the ones that were on here are gone, also and reviews after doing them a while ago, still holding up?

Plz help bc im about to work on a 375 Dollor stock and dont want to ruin it, since the shotty was only 300.
 
I know this is an old thread, but application of gunstock finishes will be easier and much better if you use a........ahem.......Kotex.

My father was a finish carpenter and taught me that.
 
Back from the past! :D

Had a 1200 stock to refinish today and couldn't find the Antique Oil so I settled for Minwax Tung Oil finish. We'll see what happens. I put the first coat on thinned with Japan Drier - another experiment. The hope is that it will penetrate the birch better. Again, we'll see.
 
This is great! I've been experimenting with different oil and other finishes for the past few years. The results here look terrific!

I'll be trying this one soon.
 
Blain's Farm and Fleet also carries this product. Now that I have seen the final results, I will pick up a can tomorrow. I have a Marlin 336 that is crying for a re-do.
 
I just saw this thread because I am refinishing an old stock for a friend.

It is a bolt action sporterized Mauser he bought about 40 years ago.

The wood is good but the finish has varnish and it is pretty beat up. But the wood is good underneath......he has kept the rifle in good shape. I already have the varnish stripped off and the stock didn't need much sanding to get it to bare wood. I told him I need to get it to bare wood if the oil finish will work properly. It is nice walnut so he doesn't mind at all.

(ETA: The metal is in extremely good shape also. My friend treats it like his baby.)

It is an 8mm Mauser and my friend says it was made at the Brno[sp?] factory, but someone sporterized it decades ago, prior to my friend buying it. He put a scope on it and uses it for deer hunting up here in Michigan every year.

(I have no idea what company made the stock but it really is in good shape other than the varnished finish. It has also been glass bedded.)

He LOVES this gun and asked me to "fix up the wood for him". I was honored he wants me to refinish his favorite rifle.

(He doesn't shoot it much other than right before and during deer season. Then it is cleaned up and stored in his safe until next deer season. He must shoot it well because, like this year, he usually gets a deer.)

Anyway, and finally getting to the point, I have always used the stuff dfariswheel suggests and was searching the internet to see if the pros or more experienced people felt it was really all that good.

I was happy to see my favorite pro gunsmith touting the old Minwax Antique Oil Finish stuff. (I always referred to it as "the stuff in the red can made by Minwax", when telling people about it. I always forget the darn name! :eek:)

What I didn't do in the past though was steel wool all the finish off after a few coats.........I'll try that this time.

What I used to do was steel wool the finish agressively after about 5 sealing coats and put another 3 coats on, then, after 10 minutes, wiping with cotton cloth. I have alot of store bought burlap also lying around. So, I'll try that.

Once again, THANKS DFARISWHEEL!! (You are the tops!!)

This is the kind of thing I can accomplish because I don't have much machinery and am basically an ordinary Joe.

One little trick you can use dfariswheel is to mix a little minwax stain with the oil on one of your later "final" applications to give the stock a little more color. Not much, just a little. (My friend doesn't want this on his because the walnut is dark enough in his opinion.)

You might try this mixing on your first "final coat" the next time you do this.......if it doesn't turn out good in your opinion, it is easy to remove. But you'll be set back about 2 "preliminary coats" Oh, maybe not set back that much but you get what I mean.

You might already know this but you can also use water based stains first.....I have some old water based stuff that I use if I KNOW the owner wants that color because I don't want to try and sand off the soaked in water based stain if he doesn't like it.

I would always use the water based stain when I used to make the old types of persimmon wood heads for golf clubs. Works good but I don't like to sand it off......worried it might remove too much wood in the process. (Most people liked the red tinted walnut water based stain color FWIW.)

(With the old persimmon wood heads, it DID remove too much material from what the old golf refinishing pros told me. Maybe that is unique to persimmon but I never tried water based stain unless I was told by the owner that he WANTED it stained that color. And, I never removed it so I don't really know if too much wood is removed if the guy didn't like the color. They just had to live with it I told them in advance.....but no one ever minded in the end.)

With persimmon wood heads you had to worry about removing too much wood because of the fitted metal sole plate and overall swingweight of the club. That's why I told them......"you have to live with this color if that is what you choose".
 
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CZguy,

That model #34 really looks good, I've got a model #33 I'm finishing now, yours is in a little better shape than mine is, it was left "unattended" for many years. Nice arms sir!
 
Thanks much for this dfariswheel,
I'm a longtime Minwax user, but didnt know of this particular product. Sounds like it will be perfect for my present project, I am carving from scratch a new stock for an old .22 i have. So I’m glad I stumbled across your post- timing is great and your detailed instructions are excellent. The piece of walnut I started with is what i'd grade as "pretty fancy", so I was definitely looking for a fine oil finish vs any of the common plastic/varnish/urethane gunk. I’ve also used enough linseed oil in the past to know what lousy protection it is for gunstocks.
Now if I can just FIND this product, I’ll let you know how it comes out. ! Striking out everywhere so far…
 
Found the minwax

dfariswheel,
thanks for your great post. i'm going to try it. I went looking for the AOF and couldn't find it anywhere until I stopped at an old hardware store. They have 3 quart cans (all older than me :) and these are the ones with the Walnut stain in them.

Is this good to use? I'd like the wood a little darker anyway since it is really light in the unfinished state. Anyone live in SE PA looking for the "red cans" with Walnut let me know. No Menards in this area so I had to keep looking.

Thanks again dfaris.....now for the fun!
 
I found the Walnut version of the AOF...should I use it for the first coat or two or the last instead of the clear version...since I want a little color? Thanks.
 
OK, so this looks like a great idea for my M1 Garand, but my question is, "How do I strip the old finish off?" It is a CMP M1, so is that just an old oil finish? I know that I have some dents to steam out before starting the MAOF, but not sure about the original "GI" finish.
 
Sorry, I just noticed this.

A good method of stripping a stock is Formby's Furniture Stripper.
This will remove the old finish without harming the wood and leave it ready for light sanding and the finish.

When sanding just be careful not to remove the stamps in the wood.
Cover them with tape or your thumb to preserve them.
 
Thanks so much for the original post and all the information in the replies.I am always appreciative of new ways to skin a cat. It may indeed be the "Best" oil finish available but I will reserve opinion until I do one. I have done many stocks through the years and like most old guys started out with linseed oil and then every concoction that came on the market searching for the perfect finish. Along the way I discovered a product named "Waterlox".The original sealer is the only one I use. Awhile back this subject came up on thegreatmodel8.com and I posted the following about Waterlox:
For finish I sand in beginning with 220 or 320 wetdry paper about 2inches square on a backing block like thick leather with a 50/50 mixture of "Waterlox" and mineral spirits. Waterlox original sealer and finish is the one you want available at Woodcrafters and online about $30 a quart. Sand with grain a small area at a time using generous amounts of the mixture.For first two passes (About a half hour or so on a buttstock use the same grit.Allow to dry between passes.For the third and forth go to 400 and use straight Waterlox.The dough(sanding residue will have filled the grain and any damage you couldn`t steam away. If you want real shiny go to 600 or 800 grit. For satin rub it out with fine steel wool and wax with a good paste wax like Johnsons.
Advantages are it gives a real handrubbed finish like Linseed oil or tung but drys much faster. Waterlox is tung oil,linseed oil,gum esters and phenolic dryers .They`ve been around since 1910 so must know what they are doing. I`ve found it gives a very durable weather resitant finish that is easy to repair when a ding occurs.
For stains to blend in a light area that you mentioned I use the powdered water soluable stains (available at Woodcrafters)and mix them with alchohol.You can apply the stain after the second or third pass with the finish and it will penetrate through the finish.A light touch with the 400 wet dry and Waterlox after the stain drys well and you can blend it in.
In that search for the perfect finish this method had a few things that appealed to me .First , you start with a stripped clean stock and after steaming dents,oil stain removal etc. you do no dry sanding and you don`t go anywhere near it with steel wool (I hate leaving bits of steel embedded to shine like stars after the finish is done). Second, you don`t whisker for there is no need for it. Refer above that the mixture of the waterlox and sanding residue fills the grain. Third, the drying time doesn`t require 24 hours hang time.I use the sun to speed things up .I can usually do a complete stock in one day or two at the most.
 
more than one type??

I've been looking for the Minwax antique oil finish and I've found it on a few different online retailers. I'm confused though, one place advertises it as
Minwax antique oil finish
while another advertises it as
Minwax antique oil finish -interior satin

Can someone clarify this for me?
 
I've used Citri-Strip spray to strip gun stocks. I like the fact that it has low toxicity, and it has done well for me in taking off the original finish.

I get my Minwax Antique Oil Finish off the shelf at Menard's.
 
I picked my Minwax Antique Oil Finish up at my local Farm And Fleet in Chippewa Falls. I like the product, however, I did take some 0000 steel wool to the final finish. After three coats and steel wool lightly between coats, it was a bit shiny for my liking. Turned out a beautiful satin when I was done and appears as though it will protect very well. I allowed about 2-3 days between coats giving each layer plenty of time to "firm up".
 
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