Anyone ever use it on a gun stock? If so, what were the results? I use it on some antique farmhouse furniture that we have and is does a nice job of conditioning the wood. Was thinking about rubbing down my Rizzini stock.

What say you guys?

For new guns with synthetic finishes it is just fine.
Put a LITTLE on the pad and use sparingly.

I also use Lemon Pledge on newish guns
that see lots of handling

Mike

Worthless on a gun other than for a few minutes shine.
JR

Could you please elaborate John? I'm sure the humidity is much higher in Mississippi than here in the desert.

Here are the Amazon reviews
http://www.amazon.com/Formbys-300115-Lemon-Treatment-16-Ounce/product-reviews/B0015R7VY0

I use Old English Lemon Oil routinely on our oak antiques, and Pledge Orange Oil for 'washed out' wood. I like Howard Feed-N-Wax (which has Orange Oil) to restore and protect gunstocks, but it will slightly darken the finish.
Maybe I'm fooling myself, but the wood sure looks better, and for a long time.

Formbys Lemon Oil is paraffin oil w/some solvents/thinners and (lemon) perfume in it.
Paraffin oil is refined kerosene.

Can't hurt it too bad,,I guess.
It'll certainly remove grime from the surface.

Most of the spray dusting stuff like Pledge is silicone.
That's why the resulting very slippery surface on plastics and hard wood finished surfaces. Silicone onto unfinished wood is a nightmare for most any wood finish to be applied over it.
Makes things look shiny though.

Kreighoff uses walnut oil on their oil finished stocks. They must have an idea of what they are doing. I find walnut oil in health food stores.

bill

Lemon grass oil is a good cleaner for dirty gun stocks. It isn't a finish on it's own, per say, but, more of a maintenance/cleaner.
Ditto what Kutter said about the "Pledge". Yuk.



Best,
Ted

Furniture inside a house is not subjected to the elements like a gunstock. Sure, lemon oil will bring out the character and beauty of a piece of dry furniture that is made of some nice wood to begin with that has a decent finish on it. But that is all it does. Furniture is not handled like a gunstock either.

Any oil will make a gunstock shine for a few minutes, but does nothing else. Actually, Clenzoil is touted for use on wood, but it does the same thing. This idea of "feeding" wood is nonsense. The best thing to put on a dried out gunstock, other than a refinish, is some form of boiled linseed oil, or a more sophisticated form of it with other polymers added, which will cure and harden in time and protect the wood from moisture and wear.
JR

Reminds me of once upon a time I had a gun with a oil finish in from Cabelas for inspection. I was giving it a thorough going over in my shop and had a 200 watt bulb in my swing arm lamp. Well, the light put out a lot of heat and I had to run into the house for a while. Forgot to turn the light out and when I came back it had heated the wood enough that it was bubbling lemon oil everywhere. Wiped it off, removed the stock from the action and left it under the light. For days it continually seeped that damned lemon oil and I finally gave up and returned the gun. I now am a firm believer you can ruin a stock with that stuff. I don't think a stock soaked with lemon oil or something similar could ever be refinished or repaired.

Joe,
Did you tell them that you had fried the stock for a while before you sent it back?, just curious
franc

Two or three light coats of Tung oil hand rubbed into the stock will be much more durable than any polish. Formbys sells Tung oil finish in three finishes shiny, satin and dull. I prefer the satin and dull myself but that's just a personal preference. You can do two coats of Tung oil over a four day period and if reasonably cared for it will last may seasons.

i would think you would clean the stock of wax, polish, before tung oiling it.

I never thought anyone would use Formby's Lemon oil, or actual Lemon grass oil, as a gun stock finish.

Best,
Ted

ALLERGIES! Test a little of the oil before using. I did not and ended up in hospital with severe allergic reaction, it was not funny.

Some years back I tried using tung Oil & while I liked it as a finish every time I used it my hands broke out with a rash, so I discontinued it use. In his book "Gunsmithing" Roy Dunlap mentioned this caveat of using tung oil stating a good number of WWII GI's developed a rash from handling Japanese rifles they had picked up off the battlefield. It5 would seem that most are unaffected by it but some are.

Possibly those who don't live in 5% humidity could be less condescending toward those who do. The rest of us non-experts sadly must depend on the advice of others. And the best advice is of course from someone without a financial interest in the product.

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/fl-hi-500.pdf

These folks like Tung Oil
http://artisansofthedesertstudio.com/furniture-care

And we understand that a gun stock is not furniture, but it spends most of the time inside a home, with the rest of the wood.

Strange how those contact allergies work. I don't seem to be affected by much of anything including poison ivy but when I do finish work with Tung or poly oils I do wear surgical gloves just to keep the gunk out of my fingernails.

Ted, you've been on this bbs for a long time. How could you ever think that people would quit doing stupid things to guns? Lemon oil, Ed's Red, linseed oil, Briley chokes, etc. "Going down to the health food store for some stock oil - need any vitamins while I'm there?"

it just never ends

have a day

Dr.WtS

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=399943&start=20

"The gunsmith at the Beretta Gallery in NYC used to use Wilbert's lemon oil on stocks."

Googled Wilbert's but it looks to have been discontinued

My apologies, Drew, if I came across as condescending. That certainly was not my intention.

To your point about furniture and gunstocks spending most of their time indoors, I suppose it would be worth mentioning that fine furniture doesn't get taken afield and used in rain, snow, ice, etc., or handled for hours on end, day after day, with sweaty, grimy hands on a sporting clays course. Just a thought.
JR

Ted,

I didn't intend to use it as a stock finish, the stock is finished. Just wondered if it would be an easy way to make the finish "pop" like it does to my old oak furniture.

http://timberluxe.com/

I really wasn't implying that you did that, it seemed the guy with the light bulb and the gun had someone do it to a gun he wanted to buy.

I've used "Lemon Grass oil" for years on two things I own-guns that have an oil finish of any type that have been out hunting or shooting, and a set of Klipsch speakers that I bought back in the day, and requested to be built in black walnut cabinets that were oil finished. The people at Klipsch suggested lemon grass oil, and the method they told me to use is to very lightly dampen a clean terry cloth towel with water, and to apply a small amount of oil-the water keeps the oil up on the towel, instead of it soaking into the fibers. Gently wipe, with the grain.
I've had a few guns get dusty while out on the road, and this method does an excellent job of getting the grime off. I doubt it does anything for the finish, or, the wood, but, it does leave the surface cleaner than it was. It actually works OK for a gun with a varnish finish that gets grubby also. I don't like wiping varnish down with a dry cloth, and use the same method for those guns.
We've had some dry and dusty years of late.

I've never used Formby's product.

Dr. Sane, I have been here a long time, but, that optimistic part of me always wanted to believe there was more talk of stupid things done to guns, rather than actual stupid actions.

I might have been wrong.


Best,
Ted

I've seen furniture almost blackened by constant overuse of lemon oil. I also saw two guns I sold darkened drastically by oil rubbing by the new owners, but did not know what type of oil was used. No thanks! Steve

I'll stick with Renaissance Wax

I bought some....did a quick 2 coats on my B. rizzini and my Ugartechea....I'm sold!! Great stuff. I formerly used Trewax for my stocks but no longer, the Renaissance Wax gives a depth of finish that's fantastic, and it feels really smooth without a ton a rubbing. Can't wait to see how it holds up to the weather.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Howard's Restor A Finish [numerous colors] and Renaissance Wax is all you need with elbow grease. No Brag ...just fact.

Just a chuckle here---my grandpa had a 1932 Olds he inherited in 1954 from Arthur Hubalek, one day we woke up to see the olds shining in the sun in the driveway. Grandma says she woke up early and polished it, since the paint was oxidized and dull. Wind picked up around noon, and all the dust stuck to the car. What did you use to polish the car? Lemon oil, just like the furniture, of course says grandma. Oh, well, it looked good for a couple of hours...PS: The Olds had about 8000 miles on the clock-it was a Brooklyn car, the subway was more convenient, and yes it was from The Arthur Hubalek, scheutzen rifle builder.