BLO No. 2

[Char-Gar]

Before I do the BLO thing, do I need to fill and seal the wood? Roy Dunlaps's book on Gunsmithing has been my bible for over 45 years and he states that unless the stock is filled and sealed you can rub BLO into the wood until your arms fall off and never get a quality finish. Is he right?

[Beekeeper]

Not really,
What is the sence of doing a BLO finish if the wood is already sealed and you can't get the BLO to be absorbed by the wood?
If you want to seal the wood as well as get a BLO finish I recommend using (0000) steel wool to apply the BLO and do what they call a BLO scrub.
The BLO being scrubbed into the wood creates a dust that mixes with the BLO and seals the pores of the wood.

The finish that I do was taught to me by my Grandfather who refinished furniture back in the (old ) days.
He did a BLO scrub a couple of times, waiting 24 hours between scrubs and then mixed either amber or white shellac with BLO about 60/40 or higher to start and gradually reduced the amount of BLO to 40%and raising the shellac to 60%.
Rubbed the finish on by hand. The BLO allows the shellac to be rubbed in to the grain and very slowly build up to a beautiful finish.
The deal was 3 coats on and 2 rubbed off with steel wool(0000) and then another 3 coats.
Do it until you acheive the finish lusture you want.
I have a stock I did 50 years ago and it still looks like new.

Jim

[Pepe Ray]

With perseverance and dedication you can have a nice finish in 3 months.
It helps to have a drying cabinet.
Pepe Ray