doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ithaca stock finish?

I've never used boiled linseed oil simply because so many highly respected stock making experts have advised that it is a poor choice. Comments like "better than nothing, but not much" seem about par. My 16 ga. NID with original finish has a tiny bit of cracking and peeling near the buttplate, and enough gloss and surface build that I would guess it is an aged varnish or lacquer.

Unfortunately, the guy who would probably give you the most definitive answer, Walt Snyder, has not posted here for a while. Someone pissed him off with their comments recently, and I for one wish he would reconsider his decision because few, if any, have his level of Ithaca knowledge.

Motion: C'mon back Walt Snyder! Will anyone second that?

You got my vote....sure, everyone has/or is entitled to opinion's,it's just that some fella's don't have the good sense(respect) when or when not to throw em in the mix....
I miss his informative post's as well

A few weeks ago Walt told me he would be traveling and out of touch for a while. I don't think he left mad. He'll be back when time allows and I'm sure the source of Ithaca info he's always been...Geo

There use to be a finish call LINSPEED. I used it many years ago and at that time thought it was good stuff. I haven't even thought about it though till you mentioned boiled linseed oil. I just finished a stock with truoil and it worked out good again, but if I had thought about it I would have tried Minwax wipe on.

Yeah.......I've been looking up linseed oil applications on the internet and the whole one coat per day for a week, one coat per week for a month, one coat per month for a year, and one coat per year for the rest of your life is way more work than I feel like putting into a field grade gun.

I've used hardware store linseed oil several times. It takes a bit longer to dry, but it's essentially the same as Tru Oil.

As for protecting wood, none will prevent wood from absorbing moisture slowly to reflect the ambient humdity (-) of the environment where they're stored. (This from the dean of the Forestry school at my local University.) The Forestry school placed maple blocks in houses all over GA, side by side. All were dehydraded to the same level, (8 % if I remember correctly.) One block was finished with poly, the other was not. The blocks were inside a non-heated area. At the end of a year, all blocks were the same moisture content.

So basically, nothing keeps out moisture, although rehydration is far slower than dehydration. And so far as protecting the wood, no finish is absolutely necessary except for looks.

This is a summation of a lengthy experiment, and necessarily brief. Only the conclusions are reflected here, and then, not entirely.

The famous thing about linseed oil is that when it gets a bit thin, you can slap on another coat without stripping the entire stock down to the get-go. It will look great. Can't do that with laquer or varnish.

I have changed over to using Tung Oil on my rough use hunting guns. It penetrates deeply and seals very well. The only problem with Tung Oil when used by itself doesn't fill pores well even when sanded in so taking a hint from one of SDH's tutorials on stock finishing I mix in a bit of Rottenstone to fill the pores. It takes a bit longer but you end up with one tough finish that is very moisture resistant and looks nice.