I'm pretty partial to a nice Tung Oil finish on the wood of all my rifles. I know it's not historic but I want a tung oil finish on my Springfield Armory Garand (uses I believe a Boyd Stock).
Normally what I do is take 00 steel wool to the wood and remove whatever varnish, lacquer, wax or other preservative is on there courtesy of the manufacturer. Once down to bare wood I'll thoroughly wipe down the wood with a dry rag to get all the dust and crud out of the grain that I can. Then I'll repeat with a slightly damp rag. Put the wood aside to dry for about 1/2 hour or so. Next I'll liberally apply tung oil or Birch-Casey True oil to the wood and rub it in with a paper towel until it's gone. I will repeat the true oil rubbing in another time. Set the wood aside for a minimum of 3 hours to dry (usually overnight). Depending on the wood the above process will be repeated (except I use a light sanding with steel wool instead of heavy) 3 or 4 times until I get the finish I want. Lastly I'll apply a coat of high quality wax for wood. Results are IMO excellent.
HERE'S THE PROBLEM!
The darn wood on the Springfield is reluctant to take the oil. I've sanded and sanded with the steel wool. Rubbed in the oil over and over but it just won't take. 24 hours of drying and the wood still feels a bit tacky. It takes 3 or 4 days for the tacky feel to go away and the wood barely looks like it's had tung oil applied to it.
SO WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE BOYD STOCK? Are they treated with something? If so how do I get that something out? Should I even try?
As heretical as it may seem to some I'd like to get the tung oil finish on the wood of my Garand (hey it's not like it was ever carried into battle or anything - it's a SA Garand
).
Suggestions? Comments? Flames?
Normally what I do is take 00 steel wool to the wood and remove whatever varnish, lacquer, wax or other preservative is on there courtesy of the manufacturer. Once down to bare wood I'll thoroughly wipe down the wood with a dry rag to get all the dust and crud out of the grain that I can. Then I'll repeat with a slightly damp rag. Put the wood aside to dry for about 1/2 hour or so. Next I'll liberally apply tung oil or Birch-Casey True oil to the wood and rub it in with a paper towel until it's gone. I will repeat the true oil rubbing in another time. Set the wood aside for a minimum of 3 hours to dry (usually overnight). Depending on the wood the above process will be repeated (except I use a light sanding with steel wool instead of heavy) 3 or 4 times until I get the finish I want. Lastly I'll apply a coat of high quality wax for wood. Results are IMO excellent.
HERE'S THE PROBLEM!
The darn wood on the Springfield is reluctant to take the oil. I've sanded and sanded with the steel wool. Rubbed in the oil over and over but it just won't take. 24 hours of drying and the wood still feels a bit tacky. It takes 3 or 4 days for the tacky feel to go away and the wood barely looks like it's had tung oil applied to it.
SO WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE BOYD STOCK? Are they treated with something? If so how do I get that something out? Should I even try?
As heretical as it may seem to some I'd like to get the tung oil finish on the wood of my Garand (hey it's not like it was ever carried into battle or anything - it's a SA Garand
).Suggestions? Comments? Flames?
