Burnishing a stock?

[fort fireman]

I was talking to a guy awhile back. This guy didn't make any claims to being a gun smith or anything but he has built guns in the past. He said he didn't do a whole lot of sanding and whiskering of the stock. He said what he does is burnish the stock with a deer antler.
I was just curious what this entails and what kind of a finish you get with this.
Andy

 

[BrownBear]

I tried it on a stock that had already been sanded and whiskered. Couldn't tell any difference, but I don't know about it as an alternative to whiskering. Maybe after the first coat of finish, to kind of lay the whiskers back down?

I will say that you have to be really careful around any sharp edges, or you'll dent or mis-shape them. Antler is also tough for reaching the small places.

Dunno. Anyone else?

 

[smokehouseman]

I'll start off by saying I'm by no means a gunsmith, gun builder or anything close but I do like to tinker. In the picture below is a gun I made from a kit and finished it by burnishing it with a deer antler. On almost all guns that I refinish I put a burnish finish on them. This gun was sanded, whiskered, re-sanded and whiskered several times down to 400 grade paper then used a filler/stain then burnished it. The final finish involves apply a mixture of turpentine, boiled linseed oil and teak oil with several applications. I really like the final product mainly because of the feel, look and protection it provides.

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As Brown Bear mentions care must be taken when using the antler that you don't gouge the wood. In selecting an antler try to find one that has a fairly smooth surface. You could also pick a wood burnishing tool, or use a discarded car valve or anything with a hard surface but using the antler seems a little more traditional.

Appreciate it if someone can tell me what I have to do to get the "

 

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Appreciate it if someone can tell me what I have to do to get the "" words out of the post.

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Your post's script was this (I changed the first ] to a ) so it will be visible):
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To keep the out of your posts, you just need to take 1 less step. You appear to be using the image posting link from Photobucket, which includes the [IMG] labels, which is serve the same purpose as using the image posting link on this forum. Just copy that link from Photobucket and paste it in the text box so it looks like this:

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Back to the original question. My extent of burnishing in the finishing process was on a cannon carriage I recently finished, and I was applying BLO on it. I didn't burnish the wood, but burnished the BLO between coats with a piece from an old pair of jeans.

According to some internet research, burnishing the wood can give a smoother surface, but it seems like finishes wouldn't be absorbed as well as unburnished wood.

Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.

 

[smokehouseman]

Thanks for the info on the "image", will hopefully get it right next time.

I agree with what you said about burnishing being able to absorb the finish. The fact is that in burnishing you crush the fibers of the wood so it won't absorb as well and I think that's the reason I have to put as many coats on after I burnish. I did forget to mention that every so often especially after being in foul weather I apply a cost of a wax concoction I make up using beeswax, spar varnish and turpentine to further protect the wood.

 

[jdixon]

Burnishing stocks will work just fine, there is one caution. If you burnish one area and say finish an area right next to it with a in another fasion such as a cabinet scraper, sanding ect, the two areas will finish up differently. Stain, oil ect., will not absorb the same as each of these methods does something slightly diffent to the pores of the wood. Sometimes the differene can can really be noticible, practice on some scrap to help you decide what method to use on your completed stock.

 

[smokehouseman]

Point well made!

 

[paulvallandigham]

Burnishing can be done with any Hard, Smooth tool- not just antler! I have used antlers, as well as the shank of a long screw driver to burnish stocks. Do the burnishing after you have finished scraping the wood, and staining it. If you stain after burnishing, some wood will be hard to take stain. Use alcohol based stains, NEVER oil based stains.

Burnishing seems to collapse the wood cells on the surface of the stock, giving it a very hard, slick finish. Not everyone want this in a gunstock. SO, TRY THIS KIND OF TECHNIQUE ON SOME SCRAP WOOD SIMILAR TO THE STOCK ON WHICH YOU ARE WORKING, FIRST! See if its the kind of finish you want on your stock.

The most difficult work to burnish is carving, both relief, and incise carving on stocks. You will need a variety of sized antlers or tools to do that successfully. DON'T Roll( round) the edges on the carving, as carving always looks best with sharp edges, IMHO. :hatsoff:

 

[Vaino]

On a carved LR which most of mine are, burnishing is too much "screwing around"and time consuming. On a plain stock it's OK but I still prefer to sand before staining and not burnish at all at any time. Lately scrapers made from "Red Devil" single edged blades and contoured on a disk sander have really been doing an excellent shaping job, but the final operation before staining is still sanding w/ 320 grit. I guess a builder uses whatever "system" he/she is comfortable with and if done properly, all of them look fine....Fred