Which finish is best?

[fox shooter]

Excuse my ignorance, I'm fairly new to the forum and sometimes post in the wrong place. I've been refinishing my SW 16 for some time now and should have finished by now. Seems it's either too dry or too glossy. I took the advice of a member and tried the Dembart's, sanded and rubbed in. I had the stock refinished 8 years ago but was not happy after a friend pointed out it's flaws. I lightly sanded and recut the checkering, "flat top" and cleaned out the finish from the lines. I didn't totally strip it, I used the tung oil finish as a filler for the grain. Actually the stock looks pretty good now, I would just like to tone down the finish some. I'm looking for a "soft satin like" hand rub finish. I'm ready to start on my SW 12 pretty soon, any advice? I'm also wondering how durable the Dembart's oil is, does this take a while to cure and harden? My buddy finishes with Gun Savr from Brownell's and swears by it. The only thing I don't like is the finish will flake or peel making repairs difficult. I like a finish that is in the wood not on it, any ideas?
thanks, Chris.........AZ

[Twice Barrel]

Formby's makes a satin Tung oil finish. They also make a gloss and dull version. I have used both the satin and dull with great results. Just make sure that all your pores are filled as Tung oil does not build up and fill like linseed or polly based finishes.

[vaturkey]

Let me preface this by saying I have not tried this, but I know at least one stockmaker that said he just started using it and its impressive and looks correct for vintage type guns:

http://timberluxe.com/

[fox shooter]

Thank you, this Timberluxe looks easy and impressive. I'm curious of the oil it contains. My stock is done but a bit on the glossy side. I think we will lightly steel wool with 0000 and shoot a couple coats of the Brownell's Gun Savr on it and tone it down. This product in this heat of AZ. dries fast and allows you at least 2 coats a day. My buddy has been sanding in the liquid Gun Savr 3-4 coats and then spraying the last few coats with the Gun Savr Satin spray. The only problem I found with this product is the inletting and areas where metal meets wood do need to be relieved of the finish build up. When scraping and filing, one needs to be extremely careful not to work too fast. Sometimes the finish will chip or lift. When cured nothing will hurt it. I've avoided the spray in search for the perfect hand rub finish and look. I wanted a finish that's in the wood, not on the wood.
Chris................AZ

[fox shooter]

Thank you, this Timberluxe looks easy and impressive. I'm curious of the oil it contains. My stock is done but a bit on the glossy side. I think we will lightly steel wool with 0000 and shoot a couple coats of the Brownell's Gun Savr on it and tone it down. This product in this heat of AZ. dries fast and allows you at least 2 coats a day. My buddy has been sanding in the liquid Gun Savr 3-4 coats and then spraying the last few coats with the Gun Savr Satin spray. The only problem I found with this product is the inletting and areas where metal meets wood do need to be relieved of the finish build up. When scraping and filing, one needs to be extremely careful not to work too fast. Sometimes the finish will chip or lift. When cured nothing will hurt it. I've avoided the spray in search for the perfect hand rub finish and look. I wanted a finish that's in the wood, not on the wood.
Chris................AZ

[Silvers]

Chris, just some random thoughts. First off you're on the A H Fox Collectors website. Second, you haven't defined "best". Best for what? Just reading your posts it seems your definition may be a stock finish with what is nowadays perceived to have a classic look, also one that's going to penetrate deeply and bond with the wood fibers to provide superior protection. You mentioned "in the wood and not on the wood" a couple of times. The typical Fox factory stock finishes are mostly on the wood surface, namely oil-based varnish for earlier guns and nitrocellulose lacquer for the newer ones. I think many would prefer an otherwise honest Fox with wood finish wear, over one that's been redone. Thus you may not get too many replies on the modern products you named. You might be better off asking on another site that's devoted to modern custom gun making.

Just some further thoughts fwtw, TO ME a finish that's on the surface is perfectly functional. And if someone had me in a headlock and I were forced to get a Fox stock refinished, or a new one made, I'd ask my stockman to use as close to an original finish for that era gun as can be cooked up in today's world of VOC regs etc. Sure, that finish will never fool a collector, but after a few years shooting clays and in the field, in all kinds of weather, it will be passable as more of a classic - to my eye at least.

Silvers

[fox shooter]

Amen Silvers! I do prefer an original finish myself. I bought this gun 12 yrs. ago and shot it until I noticed a crack below the upper tang on the right side. I was referred to someone to have it fixed. He pointed out other cracks around the fore end's ejectors. I've seen his work prior and ask him to refinish, the stock was rough. The gun I thought looked great until a friend pointed out the finishing flaws like oil filled checkering and open grain with dust specks in the finish. I decided to recut the checkering, straightening and cleaning out the oil. Wanted it to have more of a flat top look. Maybe I should leave it alone and call it finished. I guess it has a semi gloss look to it. I was trying to make it look like a gun Bobby refinished in the Custom Fox section, I think it was a CE grade. I have a SW 12 I would like to refinish because the wood is rough. The gun is a sound gun. Both guns have bits of color left so I have no plans of touching the metal. I'm not one to alter a gun, all of mine have the original finish, some 100 yrs. plus in age. I guess these 2 were the exception. I do like a hand rub finish, did Fox do this originally?
Thanks, Chris

[fox shooter]

I forgot to define "Best". I guess that would be somewhere between "Original Look" and a "Durable Original" look. I use my guns to hunt and the stocks see a lot of sweat. I wasn't sure if the Dembart's checkering oil would hold up to the extremes.

[Silvers]

I'm pretty sure the usual oil-base varnish that Fox used on earier guns was a "wiping varnish" that was applied and merely wiped or brushed off. Wiping varnishes typically start getting tacky within minutes and hand rubbing can be counterproductive.

[fox shooter]

I've used an "Antique Finish" made by MinWax, and maybe it's the age of the can, but it did tack up rather quickly. I found this hard to work with around checkering. I checker or recut and mask off the area and then start sanding or rubbing in the finish. The MinWax started raising the tape and making a mess. It works and looks great on the old Marlins and Win. that have no checkering. I know finish strips easily off the older guns. I or we've used a stripper by MinWax that's easily applied with 0000 steel wool and it takes it to the wood fast without removing a lot of the vintage or original color. I'm always looking to make the gun look gently used and not like it just came out of the box. I like the original metal finish also, I think it gets more attention and inquires like, "What is that?" or "How old is that?"

[WPGRIFFON]

My dad did stock work for many years and used a product that has been available since the late 50's called Lin-Speed - easy to apply in very thin coats, builds up well,and drys to a hard finish, it's pretty durable, the feature most important to me is you can make repairs to the stock when you get a scratch or wear the finish off when hunting over the existing Lin Speed finish. You can achieve a gloss finish or you can rub out to a more subdued tone with rotten stone or oil free 0000 steel wool. They key with this finish is very thin coats, tiny dab on finger and rub in, let dry completely, sand base coats,fill in grain, continue applying until you reach the desired depth of finish that looks good to you.

WPGRIFFON

[fox shooter]

I have a jar of this and have used this a couple times usually on touch up or small jobs, but like you said, thin coats. I do like linseed also, but it does take awhile to dry. Touch ups are easily blended in with existing finish for sure, that's what I like. I think I'm having trouble with my stock because I didn't strip it completely. I lightly sanded and recut the checkering. The fella that refinished it before me, finished with the butt plate attached and a bit proud. I could not get it off so I sanded it even. I've been using thin coats of Dembart's oil and slowly building up a nice satin finish. I'm doing my Sterly 12 next and will strip it completely. Bobby suggested the Dembart's sanded in and 8-10 coats after, rubbed in and wiped off. It's a great looking finish!

[fox shooter]

Bobby, we scrapped the Dembart's idea and lightly hit it with steel wool, then sprayed 3 coats of Hunter's Satin spray finish from Gun Savr. The Dembart finish looked good but started feeling a little tacky. This other finish dries fast, sometimes we get 3 coats a day in this Arizona heat. The 16 is ready for assembly and I'll post pics afterward. I have not decided what to do on the SW 12 yet. Wish I could finish like you.
Chris...........AZ

[bbman3]

Chris I am not that great on finishing stocks. Bobby

[fox shooter]

Bobby, I can't remember the posting, but that stock you cut and fit sure looked nice. It may have been that semi-pistol grip 16 SW. I'll post a pic of my 16 when it's done, maybe 1-2 weeks.
Chris............AZ