doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Alkanet Root - Reddish Stock Look

One small point that I found interesting - my friend the Purdey finisher told me one of the reasons he believes that oil finishes now are not as good as they once were is that lead used to be added to the mix and this enhanced the shine of the finish.

Clearly now this is excluded on health and safety reasons, as the finish is applied with the palm and rubbed repeatedly.

Note: North American source for Schaftol:www.bitsofpieces.com

Dig--- Interesting. The Purdey finisher gave you info that doesn't quite jive with what I know about lead though. Here is a quote from a scientist---

"Paints used to contain lead because lead oxide is a white pigment with very good "hiding" properties. Paint contained lead years ago because lead oxide was one of the few pigments available. Lead, in the form of lead chromate, was, and still is, used in some specialty paints such as primers for steel bridges and ships because it has good anti-corrosion properties. It is also still used in yellow highway paints, because no substitute has been found that works
nearly as well. Today, lead is not used in paints for domestic uses."---Vince Calder

Hence, there would be no reason to put lead in a essentially clear (certainly not white) oil that is used to seal and /or protect wood. It would pigment it white.

However, he may know something I don't know. However, I would ask him what properties this lead was supposed to provide to the oils used on gunstocks?

The kind of lead compound that was formerly used as an anti-knock compound in gasoline over time would leave a dark red deposit on your carburator and even gave gasoline a somewhat reddish color, particularly hi-octane gas. Maybe that's what they used.
Steve

It is correct that lead was used in finishing oils years ago, this could possibly have been a carry over from the paint industry, as many finishing oils started life in the laboratories of paint companies.
I would dispute that modern finishing oils are inferior, in fact I would think the opposite is true.

Sal---I agree that the modern finishing oils are or can be quite beautiful and in many ways superior.

I think the look most manufacturers have gone to recently is more a function of the style or the fad if you will. Matte is in style for many wood guns or the gloss on the laminate stock (which I do not like at all but many seem to like it).

Simply stated: Matte is "in vogue" for many nonlaminate guns and then you also have the high gloss urethane 870 BDL look. Both are FAST to achieve, as well.

However, in restoring a fine shotgun or double gun, or even the finish that some of us would put on a new gun would be one that looks much more like the finish on old guns. (Which is quite different from the TWO popular current directions in finishes on new guns).

I saw some very expensive double rifles newly made, and quite frankly I did NOT like the look of the finish at all. It looked like decoupage...
over a nice piece of wood.

Yogi, To answer your question about Minwax Antique Oil availability, try specialty paint stores or any store catering to woodworkers. I also find it in really good hardware store paint departments. It's not everywhere, but it is out there. Look for a red rectangular quart can.

Cool! I will!

Vinegar?

By the way, I share the view of many others that it seems the beauty of the wood is being covered up or at least not enhanced by some of the "modern approaches". Just for my education, I bought a modern new replica----A Stevens Favorite Model 30, single shot, 22 magnum, octagon barrel, rolling block-type action, and straight stock cut like they did in 1870's. Before I fired a round through it I had it apart and was stripping the finish. (The finish was horrible by the way. Matte finish, bumpy, no fill of the pits and grains. Not that I expected great from such a cheapy gun. The wood looked boring too). But after playing around with the stock since NOVEMBER, trying different oils, varnishes etc and then stripping them off I finally found something I liked: linseed oil, red mahogony MINWAX, spar varnish. The wood is truly beautiful! This piece of wood does NOT look like the same wood of the gun I bought. Guys who have seen it say it does look darn good and they could not believe it was a new replica; they thought it was an old gun in part because the finish looked like the sort of finish they did when they put time and effort into them. I can't wait to get my new "project gun".