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Old June 2, 2009   #1
Worth1
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Default Wood trade secrets.

I’m going to delve into the little mentioned world of wood and how they did it years ago.
Not known by many folks these days we are subjected to sub standard wood finishes that are easy to manufacture and therefore cheaper to sell on the market.
We go into the store and see those high gloss pieces of furniture and say to our selves, “how lovely”.
We take it home it gets a scratch and it is never the same again, try as we will we can never seem to get it back to what it looked like in the store.
What they really don’t tell you is the fact that this finish is really inferior to the age old practice of finishing wood the right way.
We have become accustomed to it so we quite expectedly think it is the way it should look.

I have to go put up some stuff in the garden so I will cut this short and let you guys in one of the things some of us do to make wood look real classy.
It is called whiskering and mudding.

First whiskering,
This requires a hard wood so don’t try it with pine or some other real soft wood.
You ever get the wood sanded down to a real shiny finish and even after you buff it with 0000 steel wool you put the finish of your choice on it and it comes out horrible or at lest not as good as you want.
Well here is the trick, whisker it.
Get it all nice and smooth with steel wool making sure you have sanded out any cross grain scratches look with a magnifying glass if you must and do it in good light not in the house.
Make it shine and then wipe it down with water and let it dry.
The water will raise the grain and cause little whiskers.
Cut these whiskers off with 0000 steel wool and water it again. Keep doing this until no whiskers come back.

Now you are ready for mudding.

Mudding is done to fill in all of the pores of the wood that you see with good light.
A tight grained wood will have smaller pores such as a good walnut cut from a stump or crotch of the tree and red oak is very porous.
First mix some linseed or Tung oil and a wee bit of turpentine 1 to 4 heavy on the oil, you don’t have to be exact on this just experiment.
Put a dollop of Japan drier in it maybe about 1/8 cups to a quart of the above mix.
Now wipe the oil on the wood liberally and sand with 200-400 grit wet dry sand paper.
Do this until you have what we call a thick sawdust slurry (mud) all over the wood and let it dry completely this may take a few days depending on the humidity.
Now steel wool it off you will see the pores are beginning to fill, repeat this step until the pores are completely gone.
Now you are ready to apply the pure oil in thin coats letting them dry after each coat.
If it gets gummy no worries just use 0000 to wool it off and put another coat on it.
When you are done you will have the must beautiful wood you have ever seen and it is easy to maintain as you just periodically put on another coat of oil.
It doesn’t flake, peel, chip or anything, even if it rings from a wet glass you just let it dry and wipe with a little oil.
Tiny scratches are easily repaired with a little 0000 steel wool and oil.
If you want what is a very high class finish on your wood this is the way to do it if not break out the clear coat or epoxy and go at it. Just be prepared to cry when it gets damaged.

Small dent removal,

Some times we may get a small dent in wood and this is usually seen when we have a pice of furniture we are refinishing.
Don’t try to sand out the dent if the wood is bare just put water on the dent and let it soak in, do this until it is really soaked good and wet.
Next get a wet rag and a hot iron and place it over the dent, heat it up until the water that has soaked up in the wood starts to steam or get very hot and it will push the dent back out.
You may have to do this a few times and it my not get it completely out but it will be a lot better than it was.
Here are a few pictures of a gun stock I did a few years ago from a piece of extra fancy grade black walnut.
I paid $250 for a chunk of walnut and my wife liked to died when she saw it.
"You paid that much for that!!!!!!!"
Then she saw what it became and things were mucn better.

Pardon the pun but it is a little battle worn.

Attachment 8739

Attachment 8740

Attachment 8741

Attachment 8742

Attachment 8743

More later.

Worth

Last edited by Worth1; November 17, 2012 at 05:44 PM.
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Old June 2, 2009   #2
robin303
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Nice work and info Worth.
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Old June 2, 2009   #3
garnetmoth
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that is gorgeous.
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Old June 2, 2009   #4
ContainerTed
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Y'all pay attention now. Worth definitely knows his wood.

Beautiful figure in that wood, Worth. You picked a really nice chunk on that one. Most of what I get here is the deep dark (dark chocolate) Black Walnut usually locally harvested. I've got some field harvested (by myself) pieces (mostly root burl) that is almost black.

Ted

Again, beautiful finish job there.
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Old June 2, 2009   #5
Zana
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I love to see the work of craftsmen like yourself, Worth. Those that take the time to do the job the best way to show the true nature of the wood with which they're working. Attention to details shoots loud and clear from your work. Thanks for sharing.

It reminds of the type of stuff my late grandfather used to do "just to amuse himself". He's been gone 15 years now, but I see him in so many things I have from him. Thanks for reminding me of the care it takes to produce such fine work.

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Old June 2, 2009   #6
Barbee
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That is one beautiful hunk of wood.
I took an adult education class about 15 years ago in woodcarving. We covered carving, but not really much was discussed on finishing. Your post was really helpful. Thanks!
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Old June 2, 2009   #7
Worth1
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Gee thanks you guys the flattery is a constant source of embarrassment to me but go ahead I need the ego boost.

Just the other day I was talking at the airport in Anchorage to my friends and a hot blond drove up and yelled, “hey good looking do you want a ride”?
The conversation I was having at the time was how I was faithful to my wife.
I got in and we drove off she was my dinner transportation and we always buy her dinner.
There must have been 50 people standing around when it happened, talk about an ego boost.

Worth
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Old June 2, 2009   #8
kwselke
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What kind of action and barrel do you intend to mount in that stock? I've switched to HS Precision carbon fiber aluiminum bedded stocks myself. My friend in College Station has a Wood-Miser mill. We built a kiln. It's amazing to see the wood transform. Been doing wood for decades now.
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Old June 2, 2009   #9
Worth1
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It has already been finished, it is a Mauser 98 that I had and it is barreled for a 6.5X55 Swedish.
I chambered it and cut the shoulder back on a lathe the thing shoots ½ or less groups.
The action and barrel are slow rust blued and the trigger has been worked to provide a nice 2 lb pull.
The bolt is turned down with a 4 panel checkering pattern and I did all of the work myself.
I like the beautiful marriage of wood and metal as much as I do anything.
I don’t really care for the new synthetic stocks it just isn’t my bag, I like to work with wood even though I know the new stuff is better.
My next project will be a 458 Winchester magnum built in the traditional African game rifle style with set triggers, express sights and a nice mesquite stock made from stump wood and a 98 action I have.
I never intend to shoot anything with it I just want it to look at. (Strange)
Some would call me a purest.
Worth
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Old June 2, 2009   #10
kwselke
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A 6.5 Swedish is good. I'm not a fan of the big magnum rifles. My one home grown custom walnut stock is a '98 Mauser chambered for .308. I've never figured I'd need more gun than that. The plastic stocks do the hard work.
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Old June 3, 2009   #11
robin303
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I must be simple all I have is the everyday normal stuff.LOL
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Old June 3, 2009   #12
Worth1
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Guys you all may think I am a jerk for saying this and I have even spoke some myself but there are some folks here who detest guns and I would rather the subject stay on wood and not go to the gun side of things
The stock I showed was an example of the wood and its finish not the apparatus from which it came.

Hugs and kisses,

Worth
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Old June 3, 2009   #13
kwselke
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I agree about the guns. But I will say I spent every other weekend for four years harvesting downed trees, milling the logs, kiln drying, planing, and installing oak, elm, and pecan wall boards in a 2,400 square foot house. Since then I've added aromatic cedar and hickory to the list of woods I've worked with. Sometimes what I see as a flaw in the wood is seen by another as a thing of beauty. I have a work bench that I made from 2 x 4 pine studs that I got a deal on from the owner of a 90 year old house in the Heights area of Houston. The house was being remodled. The East Texas yellow pine had been in the walls of the un-air-conditioned house the entire time. I can hit that bench full force with a claw hamer and the wood will not dent. I finished it with six coats of tung oil.
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