What's your favorite gunstock finish?

[Mustang Gregg]

I'm working on a bare laminated stock blank.  It's one of the multicolored Rutland Plywood-type blanks. 

I'm almost ready to seal it.

What is the best clear finish to use to keep the wood colors from darkening?

Much obliged,

Mustang

[John Kloehr]

You might need to go with a poly finish just because of the glue in the laminations. It would also produce the least color change.

 

Whatever finish you choose, test on an area not visible when complete, and prep that area exactly the same as the visible parts.

 

What follows is general and just my opinion...

 

Absent the actual material in your case, my favorite wood finish overall is oil. In this case, gunstock oil. It will cause some darkening, but I like oil (for wood in general) because of it's repairability. A light scuff and more oil fixes many ills. note it can take well over a dozen coats just to fill wood pores. And you want thin coats as thick coats may turn gummy and never cure.

 

With poly, there is a lot more work involved in a finish repair. It is a quick path to a gloss finish.

 

In the middle is marine varnish (the stuff labeled varnish in the store is often poly, read the label). It is not as durable but effort of repair is somewhat in the middle.

 

For these last two, if you want a matte finish... Use gloss for all but the last coat, then apply a coat of matte finish. The matte finish is produced by a smattering of a diffuser such as mica in the finish. Many layers of this will "muddy" the grain; if only the final coat is matte, it cuts the gloss but leaves the grain clear.

 

Shellac is the easiest to use and maintain, but is the least durable and will "blush" white if it traps moisture. And even get sticky if wet. Absolutely gorgeous but just not durable.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

John Kloehr covered it pretty well.  I'd add, if you want as little color change as possible, water based Satin Acrylic.  Almost ALL Varnishes (Poly is a Varnish) will darken the wood.  There are some sanding sealers as well, but read the label really close.  Oh, and you will need to raise the grain several times and resend before applying ANY finish.

[Buckshot Bob]

I’ve always been partial to tru-oil thinned 4 to 1 with mineral spirits. It allows the finish to penetrate deeper in the wood and imho works better when mudding to fill the grain . But it will change the color of the wood . And as John stated a good oil finish is easily repaired, something that’s one of its selling points to me 

[Dusty Devil Dale]

Another easy way to get to a matte finish is to rub out the final FULLY CURED finish with a moistened felt pad and a small amount of powdered rottenstone, available from Brownells.  Work slowly and you can get any degree of desired shine or matte.   

[Eyesa Horg]

I used Tru-Oil on my Stoeger and it came out nice. 30 coats however. On the rimfire forum it was suggested to wipe a thin coat of "ArmorAll" on first after the thinned sealing coats of course. Then wipe on the oil with your fingers. I used a cleaning patch to distribute the Armor-All between each coat, it doesn't take much.The coats dry wicked fast with the Armor-All. It dries as you wipe vigorously with your fingers. You can just keep putting on coats. Be careful not to put on to heavy as it will sort of wrinkle. Easily sanded back if that happens. I did about 10 coats at a time and then let set for 24 hours. The finish was a bit too shiny for me so I lightly steel wooled it to break the gloss. I think pumice may have been a better choice.

[Dusty Devil Dale]

3 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I used Tru-Oil on my Stoeger and it came out nice. 30 coats however. On the rimfire forum it was suggested to wipe a thin coat of "ArmorAll" on first after the thinned sealing coats of course. Then wipe on the oil with your fingers. I used a cleaning patch to distribute the Armor-All between each coat, it doesn't take much.The coats dry wicked fast with the Armor-All. It dries as you wipe vigorously with your fingers. You can just keep putting on coats. Be careful not to put on to heavy as it will sort of wrinkle. Easily sanded back if that happens. I did about 10 coats at a time and then let set for 24 hours. The finish was a bit too shiny for me so I lightly steel wooled it to break the gloss. I think pumice may have been a better choice.

The "orange peel" wrinkles occur because the built up film is thick and conditions are warm enough to  dry the surface before the inside of the film.  It also can occur if you prematurely recoat a finish layer before it dries properly.  All you can do is strip it and start over, or dry it thoroughly, then wet sand it, slowly working down through the different sandpaper grits.  Either way takes a lot if time.  It happens a lot if you get impatient in building French Polish layers on guitars and other instruments.  Orange Peel is a famous way to totally ruin an otherwise perfectly good day.  

 

For a really high gloss, bulid the finish fairly thickly.  Dry the finish thoroughly, then take some Dupont #7 (or equiv) auto polishing abrasive and fairly firmly dry rub the surface with a soft rag.  Keep rubbing until the intense shine comes through.  Work slowly.  Overdo the rubbing and you'll be back all the way to where you started.  

 

If you want a matte finish, rub the surface with powdered rottenstone on a damp or oiled felt pad, until you have what you want.