Finish

[tim roberts]

Got a selfbow that I have just about finished sanding, and was thinking about the finish that I was going to do on it.  Had considered snake skins, but don't really want to put out that much $$$ right now.  The Osage stave that it come out of has some really pretty color in it, and was thinking about staining it to hilite or accent them.  Before gettin stain, I had a chance to talk with one of my Dad's friends who builds gunstocks, he told me of a way that he heard about but hasn't tried, and I was wondering what ya'll think............
Mix Tru Oil with Mineral Spirits 2/3 tru oil to 1/3 mineral oil.  Sand wood with 320 grit, but sand at 45 degrees to the grain, after sanding put on a coat of tru oil mixture, leaving the dust on the wood.  Continue to do this till sanding is done with 440 grit, and 600 grit.  I was told that it will really bring out the color, and the dust helps to fill in the grain.

Your opinions or thoughts welcome............

[bjansen]

Thats interesting Tim...that would be nice for filling in grain...I imagine it would work quite well..I suppose after that initial coat you would start sanding with the grain again?

[jsweka]

Never heard of that method before.

I'd try it on a scrap piece first.

[rainman]

Gunsmiths use this method all the time.  Walnut takes a lot more sanding and filling than osage.

[Pat B]

You'll have a hard time getting a good dye job after working Tru-Oil into the wood. It doesn't matter with walnut because it's grain and color improves with just the Tru-Oil. If you were not gonna dye the stave but just let it darken naturally the finish method you described should work fine.

[shamus]

"filling the grain"..interesting concept that frankly, I know nothing about. Why does grain need to be filled?


mineral oil in a finish? Mineral oil is not a curing oil... it just evaporates.


For an oil finish, I'd try equal parts mineral spirits and *pure* tung oil.

 Thoughts of mine on finishes  

hope it helps

[rainman]

He meant 2/3 True Oil to 1/3 mineral spirits.

[tim roberts]

Well this morning I put the first coat on the bow, used the 2/3 tru oil, 1/3 mineral spirits.  I liked the way it looks.  The red spots, areas, on the back turned out looking great.  Am going to do about 6 coats working my way up to 600 grit sand paper.  It didn't really darken the stippling that I put in the handle, but I imagine time will do that.