Chem Pak Pro-Custom Oil

My good buddy swears by it. He has been using it for quite a while and turns out first rate work. I’ve been a Tru Oil man myself and by nature I don’t change anything without having a compelling reason to do so.

Anyway, I had an unopened can of Pro-Custom sitting here and decided to give it a try. I’m sure liking what I’m seeing so far. I really, really like working with it. A lot, and I’m only about 25% of the way done with the stock I’m finishing with it. I see why he likes it so well, it really is nice to work with.

Not that I have anything at all against Tru Oil, but I’m seeing more Pro-Custom in my future.

I'm curious, what are the traits that make it so nice to work with? Drying time, viscosity, amount of solids present, something else? I finished my first stock almost 60 years ago and tried a bunch of different finishes over that time. Never did try Pro-Custom, though. Seemed that all had plusses and minuses. I tended to like the thicker viscosity with the most solids the best, as it took less time to fill the grain with it, since as in most everything, time costs money. I found a urethane based varnish worked pretty well for me, easy to use, quick to fill grain, could be rubbed out to get varying surface sheen, very durable and non yellowing (at least for the 20-25 years since I first tried it).

I used it on several stocks back in the '90s, and liked it. It sprays on easily and doesn't run. The niche it found in my shop was for refinishing not-so-nice stocks rapidly. If I recall correctly, the Chem Pak has gloss and satin, and the satin worked very well. Today I'm back to Tru Oil, but not the old painstaking 25 thin coats method.

DG

Used tru-oil and Chem Pak and both worked very well. I have now switched to Min Wax rub on satin urethane and probably will stay with it. Just seems to be a much more durable finish and still looks great. Many different ways to skin a cat.

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Originally Posted by Shawlerbrook

Used tru-oil and Chem Pak and both worked very well. I have now switched to Min Wax rub on satin urethane and probably will stay with it. Just seems to be a much more durable finish and still looks great. Many different ways to skin a cat.

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Got a pic of a stock with the Min Wax finish? I would like to try it on a laminated stock.

Having trouble loading pictures but there should be others as I know they have used it. It ends up looking very similar to truoil

Thanks, I think it is called wipe on and not rub on. Just ordered some from Amazon.

i was a "stocksmith" in a target shotgun shop. finished 400 +- gunstocks. started with tru-oil, then switched to chem-pac. and never looked back. more durable on a target shotgun stock that gets 10,000 rounds a year thru it. the caveat is that you need the experience to put heavy coats of hand rubbed and aerosol on it without making a mess. i will add, that the wipe on finishes are very easy to use and make a nice finish. they are mostly mistake proof.

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Originally Posted by porthos

i was a "stocksmith" in a target shotgun shop. finished 400 +- gunstocks. started with tru-oil, then switched to chem-pac. and never looked back. more durable on a target shotgun stock that gets 10,000 rounds a year thru it. the caveat is that you need the experience to put heavy coats of hand rubbed and aerosol on it without making a mess. i will add, that the wipe on finishes are very easy to use and make a nice finish. they are mostly mistake proof.

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Viscosity seems lighter than Tru Oil, to answer the question above. Drying time is really great with it. It seemed to penetrate very well.

My buddy is The Target Shotgun Go To Guy around here. I’m blessed to be able to walk out my front door and five minute walk down the street knock on his door. He works on guns for guys who drive three hours to get here.

We have been friends for decades and appreciate each other’s work. I don’t know how the topic came up, but he said that once he went to Pro-Custom he never looked back. I think I threw it on a Brownells order to get the free shipping minimum and it’s been sitting here for a few months. The other day I thought I might as well give it a try.

I know it really holds up, I know target guns Mike finished the stock on in the 1990s that still look great.

10,000 rounds/year is the low end of what competitive shooters will shoot around here. I used to shoot 100 targets every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday practicing. Then go to shoots and 600 more on the weekends, six months out of the year.

I've done a number of stocks with it wiping it on. Easy to work with.

[QUOTE=porthos;5678484] the caveat is that you need the experience to put heavy coats of hand rubbed and aerosol on it without making a mess.
I found an easy way to avoid runs and sags with heavy coats is to spin the stock with a grill rotisserie motor for a few hours. Spinning prevents any runs and sags before the finish sets up.

Found a can of Pro Pak in the cabinets. Will have to give it a try. Liquid, not spray, never opened.

I use a lot of the Pro Custom oil liquid, you can't beat me hard enough to make me use TruOil. Pro custom oil is not so thick and sticky and will allow you to rub in final coats which I thin somewhat to achieve the desired gloss.
Phil

For example, here are two stocks i built. I used the liquid Pro Custom oil from start to finish. This is the sheen I wanted but I could have easily done them with less sheen or more. Top stock is Claro for a Browning Superposed and the bottom stock English for a Sterlingworth Fox.
Phil
https://i.postimg.cc/R0qNNb85/1.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/B6944YfC/2.jpg

Nice work, Phil! Very pretty stocks.

DG