Finishing help: pg1, texture and color
I don't believe I stressed the proper techniques clearly enough in the Finishing Guide I was including in the package when I shipped out an order of Fairtrimmer's Military
oX. Here's help I want to make available to everyone on texture and color. (It will replace the old finishig guide pages.)
The best results one can achieve with Military oX are those when it is applied to bare wood on new stocks, or stocks that have been completely stripped.
The proper texture for a military rifle is not slick and glossy. The stock must be grippable, and have low sheen. That is why the final sanding on them was usually
accomplished with a medium grit sandpaper. This also left the stock quite open to the penetration of the oil used to treat the wood.
I find nowadays, that 180 grit sandpaper is readily available and is what I prefer to use as a final sanding medium to provide just the right texture to a stock. It gives the right
exposure and feel. So, final-sand new replacement stocks and stripped-to-new-wood stocks with 180 grit regular red or tan sandpaper, lightly, but thoroughly. Sand, but
don't overdo it in the cartouche areas if that is applicable to the rifle you are doing. When the wood is freshly sanded, dust it off a little with the air hose or pop it with a dry
rag to achieve the same purpose. It is not necessary to wipe at this time with mineral spirits or other solvents, and that can be detrimental to proper curing. We are not
shooting lacquer or clear coat poly, here. We are treating the wood with a penetrating, curing stock oil that a little wood dust doesn't bother at all.
Use a small jar or cup to pour a small amount (one or two ounces) of VERY WELL-SHAKEN stock oil into, and use 1/8th sheet of 320, or 400 wet-or-dry sandpaper folded
in thirds. With two fingers behind the paper, dip into the jar while holding it over the wood and drip the oil copiously onto the surface from your wet fingers and tri-fold paper.
Rub the oil into the wood with the wet-or-dry tri-fold in the direction of the grain.
Be sure to keep all the wood wet for one hour. Check it every now and then after you have rubbed in the initial application to all the surfaces to be finished, and pat a little oil
on the spots that are soaking in more and appear drier. They are easy to see. You only need to use the tri-fold once over all the surface. The re-wetting of dry spots can be
accomplished by just patting some fresh oil with your fingers. These super fine wet-or-dry grits are not going to remove the texture put into the surface of the wood with the
heavier 180 grit paper you finish-sanded with. The microscopic cut of the grit just facilitates the penetration of the Military oX oil into the molecular structure of the wood.
Just rub the oil in, once-over lightly, but thoroughly with the wet-or-dry. Do not over-do or polish.
After one hour of soaking, take paper towels and rub all the oil off the surface of the wood. Then, rub the wood hot with the heel and palm of your hands. Get all the newly
oiled surfaces warm with this friction. This is hand-rubbing. It provides just the right amount of heat to get the oil down in the molecular structure of the wood curing faster,
without the drying effect of a heater or hair-dryer. Not only that, it gives you muscles. Do it. There is a huge difference in “drying” and “curing“. We want curing, here. If your
tendons start singing to you, find a leathery looking chap with three chevrons on his shoulder and whine about it to him. He will help you get over it. :D
After hand-rubbing (the more, the better) let it lay a half hour or so. Then get a clean paper towel and rub the wood down very well again. You can leave the tri-fold in the
little jar and put the lid on for next time. PUT OIL-SOAKED PAPER TOWELS IN A CAN WITH WATER COVERING, AND THROW THEM IN THE DUMPSTER IN THE
MORNING.
If your metal is ready, properly lubricate it and assemble the rifle. You can take it out and shoot it. The next morning, rub a little more stock oil into the wood with two fingers
without dissassembling the rifle. Keep it off the metal, and wipe it tight again with a new paper towel in fifteen minutes. If you get a little on the metal, just remove it with the
corner of a rag, slightly damp with mineral spirits. You don't need to wax it to have a fully protected stock, but some like it. Wait three days before waxing, if you do.
This technique will provide you with the best penetration and deepest color it is possible to achieve, and a very grippable, appropriate texture to the wood.
There will be a slight variation of tones due to the natural variations in the wood of different stocks, but the look and texture achieved will be a very good one for your military
wood. It will also be excellent, but redder and brighter on undyed Birch stocks, which many love the look of. It can be made to look like walnut on a birch stock if an alcohol
based dark brown dye is applied to the birch previous to the light final sanding and allowed to dry prior to the application of Military oX stock oil in the usual fashion.
Fiebing's alcohol-based dark brown leather dye, cut 50/50 with denatured alcohol, is a favorite of many to accomplish this effect. The dye will not affect the penetration or
curability of the oil. Just let the dye dry well before application of the stock oil.
God Bless and safe shooting,
Frank.
oX. Here's help I want to make available to everyone on texture and color. (It will replace the old finishig guide pages.)
The best results one can achieve with Military oX are those when it is applied to bare wood on new stocks, or stocks that have been completely stripped.
The proper texture for a military rifle is not slick and glossy. The stock must be grippable, and have low sheen. That is why the final sanding on them was usually
accomplished with a medium grit sandpaper. This also left the stock quite open to the penetration of the oil used to treat the wood.
I find nowadays, that 180 grit sandpaper is readily available and is what I prefer to use as a final sanding medium to provide just the right texture to a stock. It gives the right
exposure and feel. So, final-sand new replacement stocks and stripped-to-new-wood stocks with 180 grit regular red or tan sandpaper, lightly, but thoroughly. Sand, but
don't overdo it in the cartouche areas if that is applicable to the rifle you are doing. When the wood is freshly sanded, dust it off a little with the air hose or pop it with a dry
rag to achieve the same purpose. It is not necessary to wipe at this time with mineral spirits or other solvents, and that can be detrimental to proper curing. We are not
shooting lacquer or clear coat poly, here. We are treating the wood with a penetrating, curing stock oil that a little wood dust doesn't bother at all.
Use a small jar or cup to pour a small amount (one or two ounces) of VERY WELL-SHAKEN stock oil into, and use 1/8th sheet of 320, or 400 wet-or-dry sandpaper folded
in thirds. With two fingers behind the paper, dip into the jar while holding it over the wood and drip the oil copiously onto the surface from your wet fingers and tri-fold paper.
Rub the oil into the wood with the wet-or-dry tri-fold in the direction of the grain.
Be sure to keep all the wood wet for one hour. Check it every now and then after you have rubbed in the initial application to all the surfaces to be finished, and pat a little oil
on the spots that are soaking in more and appear drier. They are easy to see. You only need to use the tri-fold once over all the surface. The re-wetting of dry spots can be
accomplished by just patting some fresh oil with your fingers. These super fine wet-or-dry grits are not going to remove the texture put into the surface of the wood with the
heavier 180 grit paper you finish-sanded with. The microscopic cut of the grit just facilitates the penetration of the Military oX oil into the molecular structure of the wood.
Just rub the oil in, once-over lightly, but thoroughly with the wet-or-dry. Do not over-do or polish.
After one hour of soaking, take paper towels and rub all the oil off the surface of the wood. Then, rub the wood hot with the heel and palm of your hands. Get all the newly
oiled surfaces warm with this friction. This is hand-rubbing. It provides just the right amount of heat to get the oil down in the molecular structure of the wood curing faster,
without the drying effect of a heater or hair-dryer. Not only that, it gives you muscles. Do it. There is a huge difference in “drying” and “curing“. We want curing, here. If your
tendons start singing to you, find a leathery looking chap with three chevrons on his shoulder and whine about it to him. He will help you get over it. :D
After hand-rubbing (the more, the better) let it lay a half hour or so. Then get a clean paper towel and rub the wood down very well again. You can leave the tri-fold in the
little jar and put the lid on for next time. PUT OIL-SOAKED PAPER TOWELS IN A CAN WITH WATER COVERING, AND THROW THEM IN THE DUMPSTER IN THE
MORNING.
If your metal is ready, properly lubricate it and assemble the rifle. You can take it out and shoot it. The next morning, rub a little more stock oil into the wood with two fingers
without dissassembling the rifle. Keep it off the metal, and wipe it tight again with a new paper towel in fifteen minutes. If you get a little on the metal, just remove it with the
corner of a rag, slightly damp with mineral spirits. You don't need to wax it to have a fully protected stock, but some like it. Wait three days before waxing, if you do.
This technique will provide you with the best penetration and deepest color it is possible to achieve, and a very grippable, appropriate texture to the wood.
There will be a slight variation of tones due to the natural variations in the wood of different stocks, but the look and texture achieved will be a very good one for your military
wood. It will also be excellent, but redder and brighter on undyed Birch stocks, which many love the look of. It can be made to look like walnut on a birch stock if an alcohol
based dark brown dye is applied to the birch previous to the light final sanding and allowed to dry prior to the application of Military oX stock oil in the usual fashion.
Fiebing's alcohol-based dark brown leather dye, cut 50/50 with denatured alcohol, is a favorite of many to accomplish this effect. The dye will not affect the penetration or
curability of the oil. Just let the dye dry well before application of the stock oil.
God Bless and safe shooting,
Frank.
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