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Crude oil stock finish?

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I have been reading about the beeswax finish for stocks. Has anyone tried crude oil. Unrefined rite out of the ground? Our oil here in Pennsylvania is a clear amber color and my 95 year old aunt told me when she was a kid they would use crude to finish furniture. Any opinions?
 
Actually have a bottle of a product called ‘Crude Oil, but not sure exactly how close it is to pure crude oil. The stuff is very dark, almost black. Listed on the bottle label as a household cleaner and furniture polish. Only remember using it to try and hide some scratches on some very dark old furniture.

Doubt it would be approved for use in California.
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I once saw a shotguns stock "finished" with motor oil. It was open grained, black, stank, ...it was ruined. Mineral oils ruin stocks. The wood looses structural integrity and becomes soft. No efforts to reinforce with epoxy help because nothing sticks to the wood. This is why there are warnings about not letting cleaning/preserving oils soak the stock.
 
Crude oil comes in many different weights, colors, and configurations. Venezuelan crude is 4 gravity and actually sinks in water. Uinta Basin crude has so much paraffin in it that it has to be heated to 120 degrees to flow. Some crude is high in sulfur, and others are low. Most finishing "oils" are polymerized so as to cure. Crude is not, so it never will.

While I can certainly appreciate the intellectual curiosity of thinking about it, it also seems to me that if it was any good at all, that we probably would have heard about it by now from other places. But, for Heaven's sake, what ever you decide to do, by all means try it on scrap first!
 
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Thank you for all the replies. Sounds like a bad idea. I will try some on a piece of scrap and see what happens
 
BLO never seems to dry, yet it's popular. Polymerized tung oil is probably the best "natural" finish out there, not counting beeswax.
Used BLO on my GPR. No problem with drying. Occasionally use on bowls I turn, no problem. It does not dry quickly and excess should never be left especially in close places, it will turn to a gummy mess. Hard to remove. I'm not big on PC but linseed oil , to my thinking, was probably one of the earliest gun stock finishes.
Dave
 
I'm all for hearing / seeing the results of your science experiment. (Like the above members, I predict disaster however.) To my mind, experimenting with stains and finishes is one of the most fun, yet frustrating parts of building.

If you are short on scrap from your exact blank, you can always just sand the whole thing smooth and start over--on both sides. Experimenting in the barrel channel should be your last resort.
 
Used BLO on my GPR. No problem with drying. Occasionally use on bowls I turn, no problem. It does not dry quickly and excess should never be left especially in close places, it will turn to a gummy mess. Hard to remove. I'm not big on PC but linseed oil , to my thinking, was probably one of the earliest gun stock finishes.
Dave
The procedure I learned for BLO is: rub it into the wood; once a day for a month, once a week for a year, then once or twice a year thereafter. It takes a long time to build the finish. The first few days, I rubbed it first with 0000 steel wool dipped in oil, wiped that off, then rubbed in the day's dose. Taking your time fills the wood, and the finish is IN the wood, not on it. I have done a number of guns this way. A bit more work than varnish, but scratches disappear with a drop of oil and a rub. Water marks as well. Usually after a day of shooting, just wipe it down, and the glow will come back.
 
Well, we know that asphaltum was used in the 18th century as a gun stock stain, thanks to the research of the former Master of the Gunsmith Shop at Colonial Williamsburg, Gary Brumfield.

"The stock was stained with petroleum tar, known as asphaltum in the 18th century, and finished with hot bee's wax. The wax is my personal favorite for a finish. It penetrates the maple and is as close to water proof as any finish I have ever tried."

http://flintriflesmith.com/GunsSince1990/2002_rifle.htm

Gus
 
Hi Gus,
Yes, for some guns. However, the majority of surviving long rifles from the 18th century show an oil varnish, not beeswax. For example, this original was not stained with asphaltum or finished with bees wax and it is typical.
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Recent examinations of originals indicates that many were sealed with shellac, and then an oil varnish applied on top. Mitch Yates discusses this method at Dixon's in detail. In addition, none of these stocks were refinished over bees wax because you can't. If you impregnate a stock with wax, that is the only finish it will ever have unless the wax is somehow removed.

dave
 
I wonder what evidence there is supposed to be for the use of asphaltum as a stock stain.... or for beeswax finish, for that matter....
 
Hi Dave,

First, I could not agree more that after wax is applied, one has to COMPLETELY STRIP all the old finish and wax off down to bare wood, before wood can be refinished. I don't think they had the chemical knowledge to do that in the 18th century other than to use lye on it?

Oil Varnishes were indeed the "finish of choice" in the period, no question about that.

Here is a great article on it I'm sure you know about, but some others may never had read:

https://www.muzzleblasts.com/archives/vol5no2/articles/mbo52-1.shtml

Gus
 
I wonder what evidence there is supposed to be for the use of asphaltum as a stock stain.... or for beeswax finish, for that matter....

Before Gary's untimely passing, I'm not sure if he explained that or not on another forum? All I can say is I never got around to asking him about it on another forum.

Gus
 
I agree with Dave, pretty much every 18th century gun I have seen has been pretty obviously finished with Aqua Fortis stain, and a linseed oil or oil varnish finish, or the grain was filled with some variety of lac, with an oil varnish on top, or a spirit varnish.
 
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