I'd like to buy a pint of Velvit Oil. Suppliers seem to be out of stock; the company doesn't answer their phone. Please let me know if you a source.

Velvit is out of business. Been gone a while.

It was a hardening oil/varnish finish. There are many others out there.

Best,
Ted

It was varnish linseed oil and mineral spirits.faster dry add varnish slower dry add linseed oil or mineral spirits

I use a 50/50 mixture of Tung oil and Marine Spar Varnish, sanded in, beginning with 320 grit (3 X), once with 400 (1X) and ending with 600 (1X). You blend the 50/50 mix with mineral spirits, 1 part finish to 2 parts MS. There are more subtleties to it, but it yields a beautiful satin finish with the pores 100% filled. If anyone is interested I can provide before and after pics, and details on the process.

Mineral spirits speeds the drying process, mc. It doesn't slow it. It evaporates quickly, thus speeding the drying process. I just finished three gun stock sets using it to do this.

I got that from a wood workers site explaining velvit oil contents
mineral spirits dilutes the dryers.i thought mineral spirits had a high flash point.

I know a gentleman with an unopened gallon of Velvit Oil, but I believe he paid a prince's ransom for it last year when he purchased it. He's had it for some time, but still hasn't opened the can.

Unless there is a drier already in the varnish you spoke of, there would be none in that mix you cited. Linseed oil has no drier, unless it's added.

The mixture I used originally needed no drier to be added, but the recent can of spar varnish I bought (ACE hardware brand) has some Tung oil already added into it, causing the 50/50 mixture to dry too slowly for the best usage. I bought a can of Japan Drier. A friend of mine in MT determined that 1/4 tsp. of the 50/50 mixture, 1/2 tsp. mineral spirits, and 4 drops of Japan Drier would dry completely in the length of time that it used to take the mixture that was made with spar varnish that had no Tung oil in it.

Varnish by definition has dryers correct?

No, what's considered varnish today is, basically, thinner, oil, and resin. But, I would expect driers to be added, although you can buy varnish without added driers.

Okidoki

Adding mineral spirits would dilute all of the ingredients equally mc. The Marine Spar Varnish/Tung Oil finish you bought almost certainly had some type of metallic dryer added to the formula. The ratio of dryer to resins and oils would still be exactly the same. The more volatile mineral spirits would flash off or evaporate fairly quick, leaving the lesser amount of finish behind. The thinned coats would appear to dry more quickly only because the material is diluted. Many so-called sealers are nothing more than some type of finish that has been thinned with a solvent to permit deeper penetration, with little or no surface build.

Whether the Marine Spar Varnish/Tung Oil or the Ace Hardware Spar Varnish/Tung Oil actually contained much if any real traditional Spar Varnish or real Tung Oil is another story entirely. Manufacturers have been using modern polymer substitutes for costlier products like Copal Resin, Rosin, etc., and pure Tung oil, for many years. The real things are still available, but are more costly low volume products. It sounds like Velvet Oil is very similar in composition to Watco Danish Oil, which Mike Hunter tells us is what the Winchester Custom Shop uses when a customer asks for an oil finish on Model 21's and Model 70's.

There is a link here for Velvit Products, but the website doesn't seem to be active:

https://www.loghome.com/companies/velvit-products/

Velvit is out of business

I think I pointed that out, a page or two ago.

Not recently, either.

Best,
Ted

Keith post had a link I was responding to .thank you for your astute observation

Your results may vary based upon where you purchase the product. In Kalifornia, we can't easily buy any of the old school solvent-based products that actually work, because of air quality regulations. Watco (in its CA compliant formulation) is one of the products that is no longer useful without applying a lot of DIY chemistry to the mix. The compliant products that we can get typically have very long drying times, and some never seem to dry completely. Some things, but not all, can be ordered in very small quantities. Some products can be brought back from Nevada and Arizona, but people have been busted and fined for doing that. And the vendors in NV and AZ are often getting product from distributors in CA, so they get the CA formulation. I have been mixing my own stuff for years with decent success.

Mixing finishes isn't difficult, it's mostly just a matter of getting your info from a reliable source. It's just too bad someone doesn't sell just the resins, phenolic and alkyds, in a mixable form, then you could just bypass the premade stuff altogether.

It's awesome to know the Liberal Left Democrats who run Kalifornia are concerned about the danger of V.O.C.'s in a can of Watco Danish Oil. And very interesting to see they will bust you and fine you if you smuggle some of "the good shit" in from Nevada or Arizona. Probably just a matter of time before they send in a SWAT Team to take down guys who mix their own stock finish.

These are the same Liberals who are giving free syringes to drug addicts, and turning a blind eye to the Fentanyl being smuggled in the open Southern Border, which is killing over 200 U.S. citizens from overdoses every single day.

Can you imagine how much Liberal Democrats would carry on if there was even one mass shooting that killed 200 people? Yet they say nothing about this???

I ordered a pair of boots made of kangaroo and they cancelled my order and said couldn't sell in kaligonorria how stupid is that

Probably did you a favor. They can and are sold here, and I can tell you they do not last 2 weekends in pheasant cover. Worse boots ever. I was lucky - I got my money back.

True enough, lightweight and a pleasure to walk in, wear out way faster than a cheap pair of socks. The soles on the pair I had were suitable for sidewalks on a dry day, nothing more challenging. It is hard to find good pheasant hunting boots these days.

I've been wearing Meindl boots for a while now. I'm very happy with them. A friend likes the more expensive Crispi boots. A high rubber rand seems to be crucial to long wear and moccasin toe construction is pretty much incompatible with hunting in decent cover of any type. There are a lot of boots sold as upland hunting boots with totally inadequate tread as well. I have no idea why they do that.

I have been wearing mine for years light tough really comfortable .I went back to the store in Wisconsin and bought another pair these were not cheep boots retail about 300.00. I use them for everything every type of hunting.

Lowa boots are the best boots for everything pricy but great

My dad had a pair of Kangaroo boots. They were expensive, and he loved them. We have no mountains here, and he was not the guy who willingly stomped cattails in the snow, but, he had them for years. They were light, more of an early autumn boot. He understood what they were for. He was old enough when he got them that he was doing more blocking than pushing, and he would bring them along when he went goose hunting, just in case the weather went bluebird on him.

They were almost green in color.

Glad he had the chance to have them. Can’t understand why a bureaucrat thinks it is his job to tell a man what he can wear on his feet.

Best,
Ted

Pretty sure both Brent and I hunt Pheasants the same way, lots of walking, often through CRP fields which wear out Kangaroo leather fast. Great boots for blocking on an early autumn day though, no denying that. No argument from me regarding the stupidity of outlawing Kangaroo leather in CA.

Steve