stock refinishing

[MagnumCaliber357]

I just refinished a stock for the first time and im dumbfounded. Heres my delema, I sanded it all down using various grits and finished with 150. I bought some danish oil and this polyurethane that came in a can because i thought it would be eaiser to appy. I oiled till it was nice and purty , waited 15 mins, the sprayed a fine coat of polyurathane. Check it out in the mourning and it was still stick but manageable. So i reasebled it and thrw it in my safe. The danish oil bottle saod that it was fine to use polyurathane with it so i didnt think twice. Its nightfall and its still STICK. Whats going on. any imput would be appreciated

 

[Live Free Or Die]

I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but I can think of at least two possibilities:

1) You didn't put enough poly spray on, and the stickiness you feel is actually the oil where the poly is thin.
2) You put too much poly spray on, and it's just going to take a lot longer to dry.

 

[Lonestar.45]

Without knowing the exact products you used it is hard to say, but if I had to guess I'd say you didn't let the oil dry long enough before putting on the polyurethane. It did not dry in 15 minutes.

To give you an idea, I refinished my last stock with Formby's low gloss tung oil. I would put on one thin coat, let it dry 24 hrs, buff with 0000 steel wool, put on another, let it dry 24 hrs, buff, etc., until I had 9 coats on. Yes, it took a long time. But it is extremely durable and looks great.

 

[Sheldon]

I have read in a couple posts about oil finishing that they recommend letting the oil finish cure a month before trying to seal over it or wax over it. My guess is the oil is not dry which is mixing with the poly spray and possibly/probably not letting it dry.

 

[MagnumCaliber357]

will it dry?

 

[www]

357

Check out this site. www.imageseek.com/m1a Go to stock refinisning.

 

[LHB1]

Quote: "I sanded it all down using various grits and finished with 150."

MC357,
Finished with grit 150?? Refinishing gunstocks for pistols, rifles, and shotguns has been a hobby of mine for many years. (Did my first stock back in 1959.) I START sanding with 220 grit paper and finish with either 400 (for matte finishes) or 600 (for high gloss finishes). My choice of finish is Casey's TruOil with no separate fillers and final rubdown with Brownell's 3X rubbing compound for matte finish or 5X rubbing compound for gloss finish. Each coat of TruOil is allowed to dry for a MINIMUM of 24 hours under heat lamp or light before interim sanding with 400 or 600 grit and then application of the next coat. Putting a new coat of finish over a coat that hasn't fully dried and cured is a NO-NO. Sounds like that is what happened to you. Best solution for me was removal of all finish and more PATIENCE between coats the next time. I learned the hard way. Good luck. The end result is really worth the time it takes.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

ps: I usually put on and interim sand around 6-12 coats before I'm satisfied with the result. Takes me about 1-2 weeks total.

 

[dfaugh]

Oil finishes can take a LONG time to dry...they may feel dry but...

I would wait several days (and go over the stock w/ 0000 steel wool, much finer than 150 grit) before adding polyurethane (in fact I wouldn't use the poly, a good oil finish is enough). Mixing finishes can be a crap shoot, even when they're supposed to be compatible.

 

[rockstar.esq]

This is why wood stocks are getting less common on new rifles. They look great but man it's a lot of work.

 

[AndyM]

My guess mataches some of the others.

1) 150 isn't a finish grit. You should go higher than that. However, that's not why things are still stick.

2) Oil finishes (danish oil, boiled linseed oil (BLO)) don't dry. They harden (cure) by a reaction with oxygen in the air. They definately need WAY more time to cure than 15 mins. I have a can of Watco dannish oil in front of me now. THe directions state the following.
2.1: Flood surface with brush or cloth.
2.2: after 30 mins, reapply liveral amount of finish.
2.3: After an additional 15 mins penetration, wipe wood completely dry. Ready for use in 8-10 hours.

However, an optional step on the label mentions top coating with poly. To do that, the label mentions waiting at leas 72 hours.


3) once the dainish oil has cured, poly on top is perfectly fine. This assumes you've waited the 72 hours Watco recommends. Of course, the cure time of the Watco danish oil depends on temp, humidity, and air flow.


Andy