Completely giddy about this stock!

[painter]

I'd like to see a photo of that rifle !

I'll take some tomorrow.

 

[Robert Losekamp]

Update photos after another coat of thinned T&T, and a fourth coat vigorously rubbed with a few more dots of oil.

Starting to get some depth!

 

[Robert Losekamp]

This drying setup seems to be working well enough. Used too much oil on one coat and it took 48hr to dry to a satisfactory level. Other than that oopsie 24-36 hours is sufficient in my inexperienced judgement. The wood doesn't feel like it has any tack whatsoever and is "slick" like my dining table after this timeframe in the conditions I describe below.

Basement bathroom nobody ever uses. Dehumidifier running nonstop keeping the room under 30% humidity, exhaust dry air blowing straight over a small fan pointed vertically at the stock keeps the air circulating up and around the wood.

I swept and dusted the room well beforehand to cut down on junk getting blown into it.

 

[IanH]

If you really want to know how the finish is doing, cut some strips of clear, hard packaging material with tin snips and tape them to the wall. Put a smear of oil on one and mark time/date with a Sharpie every time you put on a coat. Check the plastic coupon, not the stock, for dryness.

Keep doing what you're doing, maybe one or two more full-strength coats, put on just like your last one with a few dots of oil and rub it in hot and heavy with clean, bare hands, then buff off with a soft cloth. If your shoulders and hands aren't hurting after applying a coat, you didn't rub it hard enough!

 

[Robert Losekamp]

If you really want to know how the finish is doing, cut some strips of clear, hard packaging material with tin snips and tape them to the wall. Put a smear of oil on one and mark time/date with a Sharpie every time you put on a coat. Check the plastic coupon, not the stock, for dryness.

Keep doing what you're doing, maybe one or two more full-strength coats, put on just like your last one with a few dots of oil and rub it in hot and heavy with clean, bare hands, then buff off with a soft cloth. If your shoulders and hands aren't hurting after applying a coat, you didn't rub it hard enough!

That's a good idea, I may grab some scrap plexiglass or acrylic from work to do that as a test. Maybe put one above the stock, another on the sink, and another in the garage to compare dry times in/out of the direct dry air. Might be a cool experiment!

My shoulder is fine but I feel like I'm about ten minutes of rubbing away from a blister on the heel of my palm!

 

[Salty Cracker]

Update photos after another coat of thinned T&T, and a fourth coat vigorously rubbed with a few more dots of oil.
View attachment 284044
View attachment 284045
View attachment 284047

Starting to get some depth!

Lookin real good

 

[Arrowhead124]

Wow, love the color. Very nice job!