What's a good finish for Claro Walnut?

Sean Jones

Sean Jones

Well-Known Member
I'm about at the point on my Bowie to either put a finish on it, or perhaps just leave it be. Any suggestions? I have Tru-Oil on hand, or I can get Linseed Oil. I like the look on gun-stocks to a point. Though sometimes they end up looking rather plastic. I put some Claro walnut on another piece I'm working on and sanded to 800 and it looks gorgeous just as is.
 
Tru-Oil should be a great finish for it. Ed has a great youtube video on applying it. I use his method and haven't had any that get the plastic look. The key is to rub it on and then wipe the excess off. It will take 10 - 12 thin coats to build a good finish.
 
Gene Kimmi said:
Tru-Oil should be a great finish for it. Ed has a great youtube video on applying it. I use his method and haven't had any that get the plastic look. The key is to rub it on and then wipe the excess off. It will take 10 - 12 thin coats to build a good finish.
Click to expand...
How long do you let it dry in between coats
 
I use claro walnut pretty frequently (seeing as I have a local source!) and Tru-Oil works great on it. Makes those tiger stripes really pop. I use tru-oil and armor all - https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...-and-truoil-finishing-handle-material.928653/ . It's called "WoodStocks Elixir". I don't do the whole coloring part, just the tru-oil and armor all.

I've been doing things this way for awhile now, mainly because of the "gummy" effect you can get with tru-oil if you leave even a little too much on. It works great on knives. My son and I did a "do it yourself" muzzle loader kit and finished the stock this way. It turned out great.
 
Hey Sean, is this piece stablized or not? If it's stablized you can just take it up to 1500-2000 grit and buff. When I sand I'll use tung oil or tru-oil as the lubricant. This helps to fill in the very small pores.

If it's not stablized, I'll do similar to others and build layers of either tung or tru-oil.
 
JeremyBartlett said:
Hey Sean, is this piece stablized or not? If it's stablized you can just take it up to 1500-2000 grit and buff. When I sand I'll use tung oil or tru-oil as the lubricant. This helps to fill in the very small pores.

If it's not stablized, I'll do similar to others and build layers of either tung or tru-oil.
Click to expand...
It's not stabilized. I don't believe walnut needs to be stabilized.
 
Sean Jones said:
I'm about at the point on my Bowie to either put a finish on it, or perhaps just leave it be. Any suggestions? I have Tru-Oil on hand, or I can get Linseed Oil. I like the look on gun-stocks to a point. Though sometimes they end up looking rather plastic. I put some Claro walnut on another piece I'm working on and sanded to 800 and it looks gorgeous just as is.
Click to expand...
heave you ever thought about doing the sanded in finish that they do on high end double guns? think Old English SXS shotguns. Beautiful guns. Larry Potterfield did a tutorial on how to do that finish
 
I found this recipe for stock finishing oil which might be interesting.

www.sportingshooter.co.uk

How to refinish a wooden stock

Diggory Hadoke lets us in on his tricks of the trade with a recipe for the perfect stock oil, and a step by step guide to refinishing...
www.sportingshooter.co.uk www.sportingshooter.co.uk

I note a lot of guys use Tru oil but I know from a couple of gunsmiths over here they wouldn't use anything like that as full of tackifiers (I think that's what they said) in order to make it harden.

One of the guys is ex Holland and Holland and makes shotguns from scratch costing over $160,000, so we are talking top notch here.

What these guys do is use oils such as in the recipe and 'palm' the oil into the wood a bit at a time uses the heat of friction from the skin to build up to ensure he oil soaks into the wood. The oil is left to dry and the process repeated, not fast but should yield good results.
 
I saw a guy finish a Guitar with Tru-Oil. His first coat he mixed in the sanding dust and Tru-Oil and applied it with is fingers, really rubbed it in. Then wiped it off and after it dried sanded with 00 Steel wool. Then applied his regular coats of Tru-Oil up to his finish coat again sanding with steel wool between coats. His idea for the sanding dust was to fill in any small holes voids in the grain. I have never tried it.
 
Thanks for the tips. I applied the first coat of Tru-Oil and followed basically the way Ed shows in his video. After a nap, I'll apply a second coat and take some photos.
Almost done.
 
I let the first coat of tru oil cure for about 24 hours because it’s the heaviest coat by far. Subsequent coats take an hour or so but I don’t rush it. I do about two coats per day and 0000 steel wool between coats.
 
John Wilson said:
I let the first coat of tru oil cure for about 24 hours because it’s the heaviest coat by far. Subsequent coats take an hour or so but I don’t rush it. I do about two coats per day and 0000 steel wool between coats.
Click to expand...
Thanks John. I let the first coat dry for about four hours and I lightly sanded with 800 grit. Then re-applied. Since the KITH is drawing to a close I won't have that much time.
Still no pictures. I'll post some later. It's been a long few days
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top