The descriptions of the “real” London Oil Finish (IIRC) that I’ve read entail a mixture of boiled linseed oil and “Spirit Varnish” (ie shellac dissolved in alcohol) mixed together and rubbed into the wood with a piece of clean cotton cloth covering a ball of “tow” (whatever that is) attached to a stick for a handle. Of course, since the oil separates from the alcohol solvent, the mixture has to be shaken up well for each application.
With the usual drill of letting it harden, sanding it down to the wood surface, and repeating as needed. Which seemed to be quite often.
I dunno—I guess if I was in Audsley Street in London, and the rest of the gun was still a bunch of steel forgings clamped in bench vises being gone over with files by 12-18-year-old apprentices under the supervision of 60-year-old Master Gunsmiths, (and the delivery date for the whole shebang still years in the future), such a finish might seem more practical than it does to me now.
Generally, I have the stock off the gun for the finish applications, and by the fourth or fifth such, my ambition for the project has devolved from achieving perfection to being able to shoot the gun before I die of old age.
I notice that Tru-Oil has little tendency to darken as the coats build up, whereas the fine London guns I see at the high-end gun shows have such dark stocks that only the most prominent aspects of the wood figure are visible. I’ve also noticed an obscuring of the figure with the use of “filler sealers.” These have some sort of silica preparation in them, which precipitates out into the wood pores as it is applied. This speeds up the filling process, but again obscures the figure, and the stuff dulls checkering tools something fierce.
I go for a finish that is all oil filling the pores and not darkening with succeeding applications (or, at least, not needing so many applications that it does eventually darken). Properly done, it seems that one is looking several inches down into the wood, with the figure glowing and rippling in the light. For me, Tru-Oil does this.
The “glinty” look that Tru-Oil leaves at the last application can be steel-wooled off to as dull a finish as one could want, with the glow and figure still visible. Or, it can be cut just a little by rubbing with one of those commercial pumice-in-petroleum-naphtha rubbing compounds on a piece of old t-shirt.
"Tow" is loose fibers of hemp or flax.
Last edited by uscra112; 11-03-2022 at 05:03 PM.
Cognitive Dissident
And therein, I believe, lies the appeal of these Johnny-come-lately products like Tru-Oil. Gunsmiths want the job out the door as quickly as possible, so as to maintain cash flow. Amateurs are just impatient. The true connoisseur lives for the process, and doesn't care if it's never "done".
Cognitive Dissident
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |