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curing time before sealing tung oil finish?

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  prairie state pete 
#1 · (Edited)
have done several coats of pure tung oil and would like to seal it. i've never done this before. seems like a mixture of clear spar varnish, tung oil and mineral spirits would give protection and a touch of bling without overdoing it. this is for a 91/30 stock.

1. does this mix sound ok? suggestions welcome
2. do i have to wait 30 days after the last app of tung oil for it to cure?
 
#2 ·
I'm not sure why the need to "seal" a TOF, since is a varnishing oil on its' own. If you apply your Tung oil by rubbing it into the wood surface, then wiping off the excess, you're on the right track & just need to patiently do successive applications until you reach the results you seek. It should attain the glow of a finely hand-rubbed oil finish.

OTOH, if you want that hi-gloss varnish look in a hurry, just wipe on a heavler, even application, and let it cure for 15 or more days. A lot depends on the type of Tung Oil Finish you're using.

BTW, shellac was more commonly used as the correct finish for Mosin Nagants.
 
#4 ·
Whenever I apply BLO or Tung Oil to a stock, I apply it diluted. 50% oil and 50% turpentine. I have found that the diluted treatment is absorbed easier into the wood and it helps with the dry time. I always apply in a very thin coat, allow to sit for about 30 minutes, wipe off the excess with a folded paper towel, and then allow to dry for 24 hours before applying a second coat. One other note, always soak rags/paper towels, etc., in water after use. Do not just toss in the trash as BLO can spontaneously combust.
 
#5 ·
http://www.firearmsforum.com/firearms/article/3037

And the lemon meringue finish:

First you remove all previous finish. Next squeeze a lemon all over the wood of the stock (this is supposed to help it absorb the oil used towards the end). After this dries, you squeeze a towel full of rubbing alcohol onto the wood and allow to dry. Don’t take long to dry. This is supposed to solidify any albumin in the wood. Next, wipe in the white of an egg all over the stock and allow to dry. Sand the stock down to a 400 grit finish. Give it another wet wipe of alcohol to solidify this new albumin from the egg. Do the eggwhite again. Continue by resanding down to bare wood with the 400 grit wet or dry again. After about three treatments of this, the wood feels smooth and the pores are pretty well sealed. Now sand again with 600, 800 & finally with 1000 grit. Using some artists grade linseed oil or flax-seed oil from the health food store (which is linseed oil), wipe just enough oil onto the wood with the tips of two fingers to get it covered with a real thin coat. Wipe off any excess and allow to dry for 12-18 hrs. Keep adding oil until the last coat remains on the surface and the wood won’t take any more. Wipe this off and let it dry for another 12 hrs. Now, take some automotive rubbing compound (fine) and coat the stock. Allow to dry and rub with a smooth rag or chamois.

If you want you can skip the egg and alcohol part and just oil, dry 30 min, wipe off, wet sand with sucessively finer grits ad infinitum. For more water repellance after the finish is done use a good paste wax - Waxes aren't durable, softer than oil finishes but shed water well. beeswax looks great but is too soft to handle.

With either linseed or tung oil the quality and ease of finishing is very dependent on the quality. Tung seems to vary more than boiled linseed oil while the commercial oil finishes are all over the lot. Just to make it worse they change formulas dependent on materials available and their whims.
 
#6 ·
Hand Rubbed Oil finishes are an ongoing process. While you rub in an oil finish, wipe of the excess, then let it sit to cure, there really is no last application. It's not like polyurethane or polyacrylic where you apply a finish coat then never look back, additional future applications of an oil finish are needed. Anything else you apply to an oil finish will interfere with future oil finish applications.

All those culinary ingredients, alcohol and wax are not something I'd ever consider for use on any rifle stock that's going to be used handled and fired as a working firearm.
 
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