doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com "Period Correct" Wood Finish

What would be a correct for a early-ish German wood finish? I am modifying a rifle built by my Dad and I am adding some Germanic elements and would like to finish it with an appropriate finish. Nothing tied to a specific era but thinking post-WWI-ish. It is a fairly plain, straight grained walnut originally made by someone like Fajen or similar back in the '60's. I don't need it to be authentic 'dragon's milk' but I would like it to look like it belongs...if that makes sense.

Thank you for any input!

Hoot,
After appropriate sanding and "whiskering", I suggest "over the counter" Tru-oil or Lin-speed or similar finish. It should be applied (I rub it in with my bare hands) and allowed to dry. When dry, sand and/ or steel wool it back to bare wool with the abrasive "backed up" to prevent rounding edges and making "ripples". Apply another coat and take it down to bare wood, like the first coat. Continue until you are satisfied with filling the pores and sand the last coat to bare wood. If you will have checkering done, now is the time to do it. After checkering or if none will be cut, the final finish would be one coat of "Boiled Linseed Oil", applied by hand and rubbed off. It should be noted that this is not the method I observed German stockmakers use with normal "field" stocks", which were submerged in oil (sometimes with dyes added, if the blank has sap wood) until the wood took up all the oil it would absorb at which point it was removed and wiped dry and hung to cure. This takes the least actual labor, but doesn't always fill all the pores flush with the surface.
Mike

Hoot, Der Ami's advice is excellent. I have just one addition: wear nytril gloves; they have a good texture for rubbing, and keep hands free of finish.

If you can find a copy of pilkingtons, finishing instructions that came with their finish, you would be well served. I have a copy, but it's not available to me at the moment.

Thank you all for the input. I have everything here except the Pilkington's instructions (and may have a lead on that).

Onward and upward!

Brownells has the instructions.

https://feeds.brownells.com/userdocs/learn/Pilkingtons_Instructions.pdf

Thank you!

The pilkington instructions can be applied to just about any available finish ,drying times may vary with each product

Pilkington's sanded-in finish and a 50/50 mixture of pure Tung Oil and Marine Spar Varnish works very well for me, and the amount of "gloss", or lack thereof, can be easily controlled. I seriously doubt I'll ever refinish gun wood any other way. This graded Parker of mine was refinished this way.

That's very nice Stan! Lovely piece of wood.

Thanks, Hoot. That type finish can make a plain, straight-grained piece of wood look nice. The Parker is a DHE grade, 16/20 gauge with 32" barrels in both gauges.