Stock finishing or refinishing

[HWB13]

As the repair thread kind of went into a stock finishing line I thought I would open one up dedicated to the subject. I will connect it to JenCho and my conversation about truoil below.
https://mainesporting.com/threads/recommended-repairs-for-older-hunting-rifles.56/#post-265
Feel free to add any truoil thoughts or techniques here. I'll start the next post to my techniques with BLO, boiled linseed oil.

 

[HWB13]

BLO, boiled linseed oil, not to be confused with raw linseed oil.
I have read many linseed oil techniques . The original M1 Carbine stocks were submerged in raw linseed oilfor 5 minutes and left to dry until dry to the touch. No mention of how long that took, but it had to be a long time. Raw linseed oil takes day or even weeks to dry.
My BLO process is not as long. Sand wood down to 220 grit, making sure all deeper scratches are gone. Use a damp cloth to wet the wood and let it dry, take a propane torch and very lightly burn the hairs in the wood that stood up on the surface. You don't want to get so close or hot that you change the color of the wood. On to page 2

 

[HWB13]

Pg 2
Repeat that process twice sanding between . After the second time don't sanding. What you have done is open the grains of the wood. With the grains open your first coat of BLO is put on kind of heavy. But you want as deep of penetration as possible. After fully coating let saturation go for about 45 minutes then wipe off excess and let dry for about 24 hours. Then apply 2 more thin coats lettering them dry for 24 hours each. Then with 220 grit lightly sand smooth. This is you base. The smoother it is at this stage the better the final finish will be. I proceed with 2 coats between sanding to add depth. As you get to the desired finishyou increase the sanding paper from 220 on the first to 400 on the second, 3rd 800, 4th 1000 or 1200. After I think I'm where I want to be, I let it dry for about a week then put the finest of a coat maybe a dime drop in the palm of my hand rubbing till my hand feels hot then again let it dry. Deepest finish in the old world traditions. I know someone will bring up the old standard of once a day for a week , then once a week for a month then once a month for a year. That applies more to raw oil. My first stock was done with this process in the late 70's and it still looks good. Dents and scratches hide in the depth of the finish . a fresh coat every couple of year makes it look like new again.
Let us all know your techniques .