Shiny polish

[islandgun]

Cleaned up the stock of my old T Wild, [The markings not showing particularly well in this photo] I've removed what i can of old oil and crud with acetone and light rubbing down with steel wool [not  sanding] then applied one light coating of gunstock oil and once dried, wool rubbed again. It is a matt finish atm which i would like to make a bit shiny, any thoughts or suggestions of brands to enhance the grain please...Better picture edit

Edited Tuesday at 18:54 by islandgun

[Westley]

I use my own home made alkanet root oil, but any of the traditional oil brands make an alkanet root oil. This is a work in progress.

[islandgun]

14 minutes ago, Westley said:

I use my own home made alkanet root oil, but any of the traditional oil brands make an alkanet root oil. This is a work in progress.

That looks the business, will you apply a wax finish or leave as is

[Fil]

Alkanet root or "red oil" is the traditional way and very hardy and brings out the best in both colour and figure. But if you can't make your own and want an off the shelf finish with a shine use Tru oil. If you are patient that is. A little applied twice daily until the grain is filled then you will see a shine appear but maybe in patches. This is when you cut it back to even out the finish then repeat. No wax after desired finish just leave a week to go "off".

Patience is the key!

3 hours ago, Westley said:

I use my own home made alkanet root oil, but any of the traditional oil brands make an alkanet root oil. This is a work in progress.

Beautiful old school finish mate.

[islandgun]

33 minutes ago, Fil said:

Alkanet root or "red oil" is the traditional way and very hardy and brings out the best in both colour and figure. But if you can't make your own and want an off the shelf finish with a shine use Tru oil. If you are patient that is. A little applied twice daily until the grain is filled then you will see a shine appear but maybe in patches. This is when you cut it back to even out the finish then repeat. No wax after desired finish just leave a week to go "off".

Patience is the key!

Beautiful old school finish mate.

Thanks for that, I will get some alkanet and give it a shot, I'm not looking for a high gloss just something to bring out the grain and be a bit brighter, it was always very dark bordering on black.. 😉

[Westley]

13 hours ago, islandgun said:

That looks the business, will you apply a wax finish or leave as is

When I am happy with the oil finish and satisfied it has completely dried, I spray it with furniture Polish. The one I use, and have used for some time, on all my oil finishes is Wood Silk. It is around £2  can and works well. It is non-slip and stops the oil finish from turning white in the rain. A word of warning though, spray it sparingly OUTDOORS. I did a stock in our kitchen, the overspray went onto the tiled floor. My wife and I were like Torvill and Dean for a week  !

[islandgun]

58 minutes ago, Westley said:

When I am happy with the oil finish and satisfied it has completely dried, I spray it with furniture Polish. The one I use, and have used for some time, on all my oil finishes is Wood Silk. It is around £2  can and works well. It is non-slip and stops the oil finish from turning white in the rain. A word of warning though, spray it sparingly OUTDOORS. I did a stock in our kitchen, the overspray went onto the tiled floor. My wife and I were like Torvill and Dean for a week  !

Right Cheers, will try the Alkanet and see how it goes and apply wax if needed. on the plus side for you and your wife, T&D look very smiley, although Im not sure about the tight trousers and sparkly bling..😕

[TIGHTCHOKE]

I use exactly the same wax polish.  

[Westley]

It's a lot cheaper than anything with 'gun' on it, but wood Polish is wood polish.  I find it excellent for my gun stocks, none slip and protects the wood finish.

[wymberley]

You could try Renaissance wax polish.

[welshwarrior]

That grain still looks open to me.  Seal the grain then build up the coats of oil add “dragons blood” aka alkenut to enhance the contrast in the grain to the earlier coats. 
 

[Westley]

You can buy alkanet root by the bag off the bay. I add it to a mix of boiled linseed oil and white spirit. Put into a screw top jar, then shake daily for around 6 months. Strain off the liquid and bottle it, job done.

I used Tru-Oil .......once.  NEVER again.

Edited 10 hours ago by Westley

[welshwarrior]

4 minutes ago, Westley said:

You can buy alkanet root by the bag off the bay. I add it to a mix of boiled linseed oil and white spirit. Put into a screw top jar, then shake daily for around 6 months. Strain off the liquid and bottle it, job done.

I used Tru-Oil .......once.  NEVER again.

I use a similar method.  
 

As to Tru-Oil I use it regularly I think it’s very good and apply to most of my file chisels and rasp handles etc

[old'un]

Don't know how true it is but a stocker who worked for Ben Wild in the gun quarter told me never to use wire wool as small bits can stick in the grain and rust in wet weather, he said it can also rip the grain?

 

Edited 9 hours ago by old'un

[islandgun]

All very valid points, thanks gents, will up load some more photos later. I have sent off for alkanet, assume would apply before sealing grain

[welshwarrior]

19 minutes ago, islandgun said:

All very valid points, thanks gents, will up load some more photos later. I have sent off for alkanet, assume would apply before sealing grain

Depends on your grain sealing method.  If you use a shelac based sealer yes. If you’re using a slurry do it at the same time.  

these where done with and oil slurry and I think get a better final finish but takes much longer to do.  

Edited 8 hours ago by welshwarrior

[Westley]

28 minutes ago, islandgun said:

All very valid points, thanks gents, will up load some more photos later. I have sent off for alkanet, assume would apply before sealing grain

Seal the grain first and allow to dry, depending on which grain sealer you are using.

1 hour ago, welshwarrior said:

I use a similar method.  
 

As to Tru-Oil I use it regularly I think it’s very good and apply to most of my file chisels and rasp handles etc

I noted that the stocker at Westley Richards used it too. As I said, I used it once, over 30 years ago. Never thought of that use though, I should have used it up on the garden tools, instead of the inside of the bin.  😊

Edited 8 hours ago by Westley

[islandgun]

1 hour ago, Westley said:

Seal the grain first and allow to dry, depending on which grain sealer you are using.

I noted that the stocker at Westley Richards used it too. As I said, I used it once, over 30 years ago. Never thought of that use though, I should have used it up on the garden tools, instead of the inside of the bin.  😊

The photos are probably not a great representation Do you have a prefered sealer

1 hour ago, welshwarrior said:

Depends on your grain sealing method.  If you use a shelac based sealer yes. If you’re using a slurry do it at the same time.  

these where done with and oil slurry and I think get a better final finish but takes much longer to do.  

I have plenty of time, could you describe the slurry please. stunning btw

Yes the photos are not great and make the pores look more open than they are

Edited 7 hours ago by islandgun

[welshwarrior]

depending on the wood either pure talc or pumic 

[islandgun]

48 minutes ago, welshwarrior said:

depending on the wood either pure talc or pumic 

cheers, would that be made into a paste with say BLO wiped off and then apply the alkanet when dry ?

[welshwarrior]

Water normally. 

[islandgun]

24 minutes ago, welshwarrior said:

Water normally. 

thanks very much,  Im on it.😉

[Fellside]

In my experience, if you want to achieve the classic London ‘ruby’ colour and grain definition, apply the alkanet oil BEFORE you seal the pores. The wood needs to soak up a mixture of spirit and alkanet before the wood is sealed. Keep applying till you get the colour you like. After you’ve got the ruby tone sorted, then apply standard boiled linseed oil minus the alkanet. There’s plenty of info out there about building up a gloss oil finish. Boiled linseed oil with hardeners (thinners) are useful. London gunstock conditioning oil - I think it’s called - is a good one. You don’t have to wait forever between applications. Good luck! 

[islandgun]

51 minutes ago, Fellside said:

In my experience, if you want to achieve the classic London ‘ruby’ colour and grain definition, apply the alkanet oil BEFORE you seal the pores. The wood needs to soak up a mixture of spirit and alkanet before the wood is sealed. Keep applying till you get the colour you like. After you’ve got the ruby tone sorted, then apply standard boiled linseed oil minus the alkanet. There’s plenty of info out there about building up a gloss oil finish. Boiled linseed oil with hardeners (thinners) are useful. London gunstock conditioning oil - I think it’s called - is a good one. You don’t have to wait forever between applications. Good luck! 

cheers, applied some talc and water slurry earlier [before this post..😄] However it looks very nice, hardly noticeable  and is smooth as a babies bum, I guess the alkanet will soak into the hardened slurry, we will see. Looking forward to the next stage when the alkanet arrives, will send off for a gunstock conditioner and post some more pictures as i go.. 

[Fellside]

7 minutes ago, islandgun said:

cheers, applied some talc and water slurry earlier [before this post..😄] However it looks very nice, hardly noticeable  and is smooth as a babies bum, I guess the alkanet will soak into the hardened slurry, we will see. Looking forward to the next stage when the alkanet arrives, will send off for a gunstock conditioner and post some more pictures as i go.. 

It’s a nice piece of wood - worth the effort. It’s amazing how a good finish can transform a stock. I once ‘rescued’ an old browning with a factory finish which had lovely wood under a horrible coloured varnish. It was a completely different gun when finished…….even with me working on it…… 😀