How Do I finish my unfinished Wooden Furniture

[gunrunner123 0]

I could use some help or a link. I have no experience with finishing raw Honduran Mahogany. I got lucky(real lucky) and was able to buy an unfinished Mahogany Saiga stock set from the "MASTER"that was earmarked for another customer but (long story) its on its way to me. I really want it to be a masterpiece so I could use any help anyone could supply. The last thing I ever finished was a coffee table and it came out ok but this is definitely NOT a coffee table(grin)

 

 

Please help

Ken in Florida

Does anyone know what it would cost to finish the stock set professionally?

[banshee 69]

I used Boiled Linseed oil on mine. Tungoil works well also.

 

Edited October 8, 2007 by Banshee

[gunrunner123 0]

I used Boiled Linseed oil on mine. Tungoil works well also.

 

 

 

That came out great. You just rub it in and let it dry? One time 2 times? What kind of wood is yours?

 

Thanks

[banshee 69]

I used Boiled Linseed oil on mine. Tungoil works well also.

 

 

 

That came out great. You just rub it in and let it dry? One time 2 times? What kind of wood is yours?

 

Thanks

 

I rubbed in 3 coats and let it dry about 12 hours between coats. I don't know what kind of wood it is. It is what ever came on it from Tromix.

[wali 0]

Happen to have a book on woodcarving/woodworking laying around.. It babbles something about using a grain filler before you apply a glossy finish, that if you omit it, it will end with a pitted uneven finish.. Says apply coats of varish, rubbing down inbetween until the pores are filled, says its hard work, that you can use a colored filler to make it easier, but to pick a color darker then the wood since the filler lightens up as it dries.. "Rub the filler onto the wood with circular strokes, using a coarse cloth to remove any excess filler, and let it harden overnight before sanding very lightly with a fine-grade paper in the direction of the grain."

 

Guess all that is for varnishing or shellacing it..

 

Oil and wax it says... Boiled linseed oil is good for small objects only, but it doesn't give a hard durable finish, and takes a while to dry.. Says Tung Oil, also known as China wood oil, is the most durable, shrugging off water and resistant to heat and alcohol (Good for that drunken duck hunting I suppose..), says it takes 24 hours to dry, but careful rubbing down with a very fine silicon-carbide paper between coats will produce a superb finish, apply 5 to 6 coats in all..

 

Hope that helps slightly, but I'm in no way a professional, just someone with a woodworking book that can look up what it says and spit it back out. Would hit up a friendly woodworker in your area, and test all this on a bit of the wood that wouldn't matter if it gets messed up, like maybe the inside of the handguard... Just to be sure it all comes out alright.

[gunrunner123 0]

Happen to have a book on woodcarving/woodworking laying around.. It babbles something about using a grain filler before you apply a glossy finish, that if you omit it, it will end with a pitted uneven finish.. Says apply coats of varish, rubbing down inbetween until the pores are filled, says its hard work, that you can use a colored filler to make it easier, but to pick a color darker then the wood since the filler lightens up as it dries.. "Rub the filler onto the wood with circular strokes, using a coarse cloth to remove any excess filler, and let it harden overnight before sanding very lightly with a fine-grade paper in the direction of the grain."

 

Guess all that is for varnishing or shellacing it..

 

Oil and wax it says... Boiled linseed oil is good for small objects only, but it doesn't give a hard durable finish, and takes a while to dry.. Says Tung Oil, also known as China wood oil, is the most durable, shrugging off water and resistant to heat and alcohol (Good for that drunken duck hunting I suppose..), says it takes 24 hours to dry, but careful rubbing down with a very fine silicon-carbide paper between coats will produce a superb finish, apply 5 to 6 coats in all..

 

Hope that helps slightly, but I'm in no way a professional, just someone with a woodworking book that can look up what it says and spit it back out. Would hit up a friendly woodworker in your area, and test all this on a bit of the wood that wouldn't matter if it gets messed up, like maybe the inside of the handguard... Just to be sure it all comes out alright.

Thanks alot I am getting there.Appreciate it to all...

[wali 0]

Np, I have a ton of questions about the S-12, so figure I could give what little information on other things I know..

[G O B 3,516]

I use BLO (boiled linseed oil) on my old warbolts, but when I did the stock for my 03-A3 sporter i usedemultiple coats of semi-gloss urethane. It still looks great 30 years later. Dampen the wood (surface only) and let dry. This raises the grain ends. Sand with 400 grit paper. Blow all dust off or use a tack rag to remove dust. Apply finish with a brush, wetting wood thoroughly. Sand again. Dust again. Finish again. Repeat untill perfect. The final coat can be polished with car compound and waxed with car wax.

I left the semigloss finish, as I don't like shiny guns. I think I used 5 or 6 coats over several days.

Edited October 8, 2007 by G O B

[mike12345 18]

A sponge and some minwax? It works on other wood.

[Aloxite 1]

Yes you need to fill the grain.

 

I'm no master and I haven't worked mahogany to a polish before but here are some thoughts to consider.

 

If you want wood to look really, really nice.

 

Sand the wood with progressively higher grades of sandpaper and remove all scatches from the previous grit of paper every time. 100, 150, 220, 320

Raise the grain between grits.

I wet the wood down really well and then force it dry with a heat gun. This causes water to flash to steam and blast the loose fibers up.

 

You usually want to sand to 320 grit or so. Sanding with anything finer is wasted at this point, the wood is too soft.

 

Best thing for a rifle stock, imho, is 100% Tung Oil. (hard to find sometimes, don't get Tung Oil Finish, get 100%)

 

Tung Oil is totally different than boiled linseed oil or most other rubbing oil.

Tung Oil is basically a cross linking polymer.

After it soaks into the wood it starts to link the molecular chains together.

The effect is to sort of petrify the wood into a form of wood/plastic composite.

 

I start by making a 50/50 mix of Tung Oil and mineral spirits.

 

Now, you need to get the mix deep into the wood, but you don't want to let it harden on the surface, so you don't want leave it sopping in oil for more than 15 min.

 

I'd use some nice wet coats one after the other at first but then wipe it down with a cloth, and let cure.

 

What I like to do is use the tung oil mix to wetsand the wood.

I start with 320 grit wetsand paper.

Add enough drops of tung mix to lube the paper, and add as needed.

After sanding, wipe it clean with a cloth, add a few more drops of mix and rubbing. Let cure.

 

Repeat with 400 grit wetsand. then maybe even 600.

 

The switch to pure tung and just rub in a few drops every time.

After it cures, you'll want to buff it down.

I've always used quad ought steel wool, but I've heard people say that a scotchbrite type pad (made for the purpose) is a better idea.

They say the bits of steel wool can never be totally removed and will eventually form little rust spots.

It might take 20 years, and they might just be little flaws, but it probably won't cost much more anyways.

 

Ok, now we have a hard surface that is really very smooth, but might still be quite porous depending on wood type.

 

Now you can do a process called French Polish, read up on it because this is only a quick overview.

 

You need shellac flakes, solvent alcohol, fine pumice stone.

 

You make 2 pads by wrapping chunks of wool socks in pieces of linen. One is for the pumice, one is for buffing

Mix up a 1 or 1 1/2 pound cut of shellac. 1-1.5 oz shellac flakes in a cup of alcohol.

Put some in a HDPE bottle with a pour spout cap.

Put some clean alcohol in another one.

 

Wet the core of Pad #1 with alcohol, wet the face of the pad with the shellac.

Dust pumice stone over the wood like powder suger on a cake.

Rub it into the wood, hard.

The pumice is transparent when it is in the grain of the wood.

For mahogany, you will probably want to start with the coarsest grit.

 

Then, with pad #2 wetted the same but no pumice, buff fine coats of shellac into the wood.

Buf with the scotchbrite pad to level down any high spots.

If you really need to work down the shellac, wetsand it with 600 or 1200 using parafin oil.

You will need to degreese with mineral spirits if you want to add more shellac after the parafin though.

 

Ok, now we can move on to the wax.

Get a good paste wax and buff in thin coats, let set for 20 min or so, the buff out.

Repeat.

 

You should now have the slickest, hardest, glass smooth stock on the block.

 

Plus if you ever need to repair the finish, you just de wax with mineral spirits.

Then you can re-dissolve the shellac already on the rifle with alcohol.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2007 by Aloxite

[wali 0]

Damn fine looking gun..

[jcfreak9901 0]

Most stocks that I refinish I stain, then wipe on linseed oil. You can watch the wood soak it up, like oiling leather to water proof and protect. Once a year or so I just wipe a coat on again to keep it fresh. About like you would your deck with Thompson's water seal. This adds an antiquated look to rifles, which most of mine are, and it's really an easy finish to make and keep up. None of my stocks are of an exotic wood like that beauty Aloxite has tho. That high gloss finish is just appropriate on certain rifles. Oil alone leads to a dull finish. Welcome to the waiting for wood club, Ain't it great?