doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Wood stock sealer or not

I finally am able to get a finish on this black walnut stocked British style fowler I am building. I plan to use Tru-Oil as I have had good luck with ot on the other guns that I have refinished. The other guns though that I had redone were not virgin wood. They were strip and refinish English walnut or maple stocked guns. Now, this black walnut is porous in comparison to the other guns I have done. I am not in a real hurry, but I was wondering if I should just omit the BC sealer and just build a finish with Tru-Oil? The stock has some decent figure, but it is not extremely pronounced. I have a fear that using a sealer will "muddy" the grain somewhat and not permit all the grain that is there, to stand out. Listening to those hear and others, I intend to test the wood response to Tru-Oil in the barrel channel with just straight Tru-Oil to see how the wood looks and then probably and hopefully no stains will be needed. Any thoughts on sealers,etc.? There is also much carving on the stock, so the fear of also contaminating these carvings is a concern also. Thanks in Advance! All the hours are about to show fruit.......maybe.

"Sealers" such as Permalyn sealer and Waterlox sealer are really no more than thinned finishes. If you're going to use Tru-oil, simply make your own sealer by cutting it with an equal part of mineral spirits. The purpose is to achieve the maximum penetration possible with the first couple of coats. There's no reason any sealer should muddy the finish.

If you're referring to fillers, I'm personally opposed to them.

Ok, thanks. I have BC's wood sealer & filler "in stock". That is what I was thinking of using as a sealer & filler if that is what would be smart to use. Since it is a filler as well, I should probably avoid it. Thanks for the response.

I cut the finishes with mineral spirits. This allows the "sealer" to penetrate the wood. I usually "soak in" three coats of sealer prior to using the final un-cut finish. And if I am staining, I mix the stain with the sealer.

"Soak In": Brush on a good heavy coat, when it is almost dry, brush on another, repeat until I have the number of coats desired. Let the final coat dry a few days prior to finishing.

I don'tknow anyone who knows more about refinishing than Mike Campbell.
He recommends giving it a bath in 50/50 mineral spts and oil , rubbing it in until it stays wet and won't take anymore, then do it again.
Then, I think he says, wet sand sucessive coats of 50/50 to fill the pores.

Has anyone ever tried Watco Danish oil ? Paul

worked well for me on a bookcase.

I've used it indoors - just wondering about gunstocks.

Watco Danish Oil should work well as a stock finish.....it's a urethane modified tung oil.

I finished 5 or 6 stocks with Deft brand Danish Oil before my quart went bad. When I needed more I couldn't locate it so I tried Watco. Since I was in the market for something new, I tried a variety of things. During that time frame I watched Joe Balicki's tape and was encouraged to try Permalyn. Bottom line; I never actually finished a gunstock with Watco Danish Oil because it lost out at the time to Permalyn....which I've since abandoned.

I slightly re-profiled and refinished an old model Ruger 77 rifle stock a number of years ago with Watco Danish oil. Over 20 years and some hard use, it still looks decent!