HOW DO YOU PROTECT THE FINISH ON YOUR GUNS

[Buck Conner1]

SUBJECT: HOW DO YOU PROTECT THE FINISH ON YOUR GUNS

I just thought of a new subject for us to kick around on gun finishes. I've seen anything from tobacco juice to boiled linseed used on gun finishes over the last 65 to 70 years. It would be interesting to see what you use and the experiences you or your friends have had with different ideas on this subject.

I have used many of the products advertised but keep going back to good old "boiled linseed oil".

What's in your wallet (sorry "in your gun cabinet").

 

[patocazador]

RIG.

 

[exMember]

Truoil and either birchwood casey gun stock wax or now, rays gun stock wax.

 

[Buck Conner1]

When still doing gun shows (several a month unloading guns for years) at that time everyone seemed to be moving to of all things "Turtle Wax". Turtle Wax has a very mild abrasive that cuts the build up found on old antiques from years of handling plus puts a nice luster once its been polished. I would be answering questions on weapons for sale with a gun on my lap below the table with Turtle Wax on it. The only thing anyone would smell was a light odor of the wax.

 

[RonRC]

I use a good quality guitar cleaner and polish without petroleum products and often use Renaissance Wax as a protectant. The Renaissance Wax leaves a sheen, a gloss-like finish, so I do not use it on wood that looks better in a matte finish.
Ron

 

[Buck Conner1]

All our antiques gloss like finish at the shows stood out, customers said "they looked for the brightest spot in the large display rooms and there we were". A couple of fellow sellers asked "why do the possible customers go to your tables first". My wife would reply "Quality Wares", boy would that make them mad and the funny part was, she was correct.  After a while I was referred to as "Mr. Clean", funny times for many years. We never put anything out like some do that need minor repairs, fix whatever the issue is then display the item.

Today the paperwork would drive you nuts meeting all the requirements we have to deal with.

Interesting the number of products used throughout the years, one of the most interesting to me was a couple of old gunsmiths in WV (seen in an old Dixie Gun Works catalog). In this 1950's catalog article it stated these two old boys (mid to late 80's) had been building muzzleloaders since they were in their early teens. Their favorite stain and wood care product was home grow tobacco either soaked in water or just chewed and then rubbed in to the wood. The secret was the hand rubbing that went into the stocks, the more heat you built up with rubbing the better the finish according to Turner Kirkland.

My father claimed that was the secret "the heat that one gets from the continued rubbing makes the finish become harder and really shine".  I've tried that over the years with different products compared to just applying and there is a difference in appearance. I have done this for many years (give it a try, heat that finish with rubbing). :Red tup:

 

[strong eagle]

i did a long article on cast bullets for the best professional finish. it is a sticky now. if any one wants to do a top grade finish like that, pm me and we can talk. too long to write it out again. its not rocket science but just knowing some fact. i come from a long line of custom furniture makers. wood is in our blood.

 

[RonRC]

I will defer to the more experienced experts like conner and strong eagle.
Also, For what it is worth, I should correct my original statement about the guitar polish. The polish that has been recommended for use on banjos and guitars on the forums I go to is Guardsman Wood Polish Cream. I've used it on my banjo necks (striped maple and mahogany banjos) and resonators. It worked so well that I began using it on wood firearm stocks.

 

[Buck Conner1]

i come from a long line of custom furniture makers. wood is in our blood.

The important thing is keeping the wood lubed, anything made from wood no matter what it is needs to have its pores kept protected. If for example like gunstocks we are talking about if not cared for they will dry out and are open to starting to show signs of small cracks like any wood product. That's where the products and suggestions that you guys have provided come in, your caring for your wood items are important facts that need to continue.  Great job guys  :thumbs up:

Years ago some of my family living in PA and WV looked at those old Winchester lever guns as just a tool. Caring or cleaning them were not priorities back in the 40's or 50's which would really upset my father. The lever guns got their yearly cleaning when we arrived to hunt on the family farm near Penn State. My Grandfather and uncles thought this was nice that we put out the effort but they did nothing other than use the rifles. The model 73's, 92's and 94's would be worth twice the dollar figure if a little care had been applied. I tell my cousins today how we (my father and myself applied the love needed) to the guns that now they own, they have their father's attitude thinking we're were nuts.

Like StrongEagle I have a little furniture in my family too. One side of my family has had a little experience with wood working, you may have heard of them "Eastlake Furniture". Called "The Eastlake Movement" was an American nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement started by architect and writer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906) relation on my mother's side. The movement was considered part of the late Victorian period in terms of antique furniture designs.

I had inherited a house full of these old pieces that we found were very frail with their narrow leg designs (the kids broke a leg on one table that really upset us) - I sold most of the pieces which upset the wife and replaced them with "Mission" style antiques with a stronger design. Kids ......

 

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"Eastlake Furniture".
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[strong eagle]

ron c. i see your a banjo picker. i would pm you to talk to you about it but i dont know how to pm on this site. i used to do blue grass until my right index finger wore out. i took up frailing in the style of doc watson when he now and then played the banjo. i ended up being better at that then bluegrass. i can jump right into it as blue grass took a good warm up before going nuts. thats fine wood on your banjo. what style do you play? i have a hint to bring out the best shine on that wood and to anyone else with a fine finished piece of wood. HUTS polish. you can find it on the internet. a pure flannel cotton cloth and huts polish and handrubbing and the smoothness and the gloss will be very superior. for a slightly higher gloss brownells has a 5f polish that nothing else in the world beats. never use a powered polisher. just your own hands and a cotten flannel cloth. huts first and then brownells 5f polish. my favorite thing on the banjo is my own version of train 45. i do a lot of minors and 7th cords. b flat thown in is a good sound. also going gcd go gcfd in a progression. also a lot of 1/2 steps on some note to ture them into blues notes.  anyways this post should be about HUTS and 5F. now every one knows the secret of a good smooth really transparent shine. strong eagle

 

[strong eagle]

P.S. the best wood dye to bring out the figure in a good piece of wood is leather die. a good leather dye can be obtained at a shoe or saddle repair shop. i like medium brown with a couple drops of red in it. it is like the old winchester dye or english dyes of many years gone by. soak in good. let dry good. then wash excess off with water and let dry. a lot of beech is used now days on factory rifles. factories make it bland and not special at all. beech has a lot of figure and can be one of the most attractive if done right with a lot of figure in the wood. as good as a good maple or better. thats the second tip every one should know. strong eagle