Sealing a laminate stock

[Penyard]

Hi Guys,

I have just had a Proof Research Carbon Sendero profile barrel fitted on a Sako 85 action, it replaces a worn out steel barrel of a medium profile and the stock is a hand made laminate. I need to remove a small amount of material from the fore end to ensure sufficient clearance which will be quite straight forward with some sand paper wrapped around a bit of water pipe. I will finish with very fine paper followed by wire wool to ensure a smooth finished surface.

My question is, "should I be sealing or treating the surface that has been worked on to seal it?" I was thinking some beeswax or is there a lacquer that is used to finish laminate surfaces to ensure durability and prevent any moisture getting?

Many thanks

Penyard

 

[Donkey Basher]

Who made the ‘ hand made’ laminate stock in the first place & can they tell you what it was sealed with?

GRS laminate stocks can be refinished/sealed using their ‘special’ oil which is actually Danish Oil I believe so that’s what I’ve revealed mine with.

 

[Greenmist]

Danish oil

 

[Penyard]

Thanks for the replies. Rob Libbiter made the custom stock and I guess I could ask him but was imagining it was a fairly simple generic question with an equally simple answer which sounds like Danish Oil

 

[7-08Ai]

I use the oil that GRS sell for there stocks and it works well

 

[jthyttin]

Assuming that the stock was properly sealed in the beginning, just ask the maker to recommend an epoxy.

Oil is not sealant, and if you impregnate it with oil I doubt you could use proper sealant afterwards. If the maker used oil in the original finish, just ask him to recommend an oil and go with it.

 

[scotch_egg]

I would love to see some photos of the finished rifle

 

[Jagged77]

KKC recomended Rustins Danish Oil. I used it and it seems to work well and bring out a nice finish.

 

[Donkey Basher]

KKC recomended Rustins Danish Oil. I used it and it seems to work well and bring out a nice finish.

This is exactly the stuff I’ve used on my GRS

 

[MarinePMI]

Polyacrylic urethane will work best, and easy to clean up.

 

[Heym SR20]

Hi Guys,

I have just had a Proof Research Carbon Sendero profile barrel fitted on a Sako 85 action, it replaces a worn out steel barrel of a medium profile and the stock is a hand made laminate. I need to remove a small amount of material from the fore end to ensure sufficient clearance which will be quite straight forward with some sand paper wrapped around a bit of water pipe. I will finish with very fine paper followed by wire wool to ensure a smooth finished surface.

My question is, "should I be sealing or treating the surface that has been worked on to seal it?" I was thinking some beeswax or is there a lacquer that is used to finish laminate surfaces to ensure durability and prevent any moisture getting?

Many thanks

Penyard

With a laminate you have layers of wood bonded with epoxy or some other glue, so there should plenty of glue bonding all the layers together. How far the glues soak into the individual layers will very much be down to the viscosity of the glue, how much filler is used, length of time the glue is allowed to soak into the layers before laminating and then how much pressure is used to force the laminations together. It also depends of course on the type, density and thickness of the individual laminates.

If you have thin laminates, very thin glue that has been allowed to soak for a good length of time and then bonded in a vacuum you will pretty much have wood fibre encapsulated in epoxy lamination. Thicker layers you will have wood bonded together.

The whole point of a lamination is that all the stress and strains are locked together. Removing a bit of wood in the barrel channel will very unlikely release stresses etc so minimal chances of warpage etc.

What you do want to prevent is water trying to seep in and eventually breaking down the laminate. But in reality guns are not permanently in the wet. They mostly sit in a dry gun cabinet and will be dried out after a wet day.

When sealing the stock you are just trying to stop water entering into the open pores of any wood that are not filled with glue. Something like a danish oil or true oil will soak in and polymerise. Danish oil / true oil are nothing more than boiled linseed oil mixed with turpentine, drying agents and waxes.

Before you use it, stand the can in tub of hot water so that the oil is thin and runny and will soak in well. Apply a thick coat let it soak in for an hour. Should still have some sticky oil on the surface. Put a drop or two of oil on 320 grit wet and dry and then sand it into the grain. There will be a slurry of sawdust etc that will fill the pores. Do this a couple of times and you will have a good seal / finish on the inside of the barrel channel that won’t hold water.

Going forwards, I do like to dry my rifles out properly before putting them away. I do run a cleaning patch or paper towel between the barrel and the stock just to remove any moisture that might be lurking.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

CCL stock oil - the more coats the better I believe

 

[Klenchblaize]

Mask the sides of the barrel channel and surrounding areas. Then spray the channel with a matt polyurethane finish that permently seals what otherwise would be an inaccessible area to other than rainwater-born moisture.

The use of Danish Oil is fine but to keep up replenishment of such a sealant you will need to regularly remove the rifle from the stock to ensure full and meaningful coverage of the area/s in question.

K

 

[MarinePMI]

The reason I mentioned polyacrylic is that it doesn't yellow over time. Polyurethane (oil based) will. Both will seal the stock, but one will change color over time. Natural oils will also yellow over time.

 

[Penyard]

I would love to see some photos of the finished rifle

As per your request @scotch_egg here is a photo of the finished rifle. Load development not easy this time of year but early signs are promising. Once I have load I am happy with I will be looking to put a dedicated top end thermal scope on here in time for my annual fox campaign as soon as the corn is cut. I think it will be the business.

I did the forend work and sealed with beeswax which worked fine.

 

[ChesterP]

Liberon fine finishing oil or make your own oil blend up using Linseed/tung/Venice Turpentine. The Venice Turps acts as a resin hardener improving durability. You'll need 7 to 10 coats. Did my laminates this way and they looked great and the finish was durable and moisture resistant. You can also sand to 320 grit and also use acrylic spray lacquer for a more rapid finish using satin finishes. 3 or 4 coats. That can be doe in a day, oils will take a few weeks for the coats needed.