Air Arms Conditioning new Air Arms walnut stock?

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Bear-of-Grayling said:
BLO is combustible. An oil saturated rag is how my business burned down. Never keep a rag that has been used for oil.
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This is a fact. Spontaneous combustion can and will happen with linseed oil products. I have seen it happen twice. Especially when driers have been added to the oil. On a jobsite you must have a metal can filled with water to put used rags in. When doing stain work on new homes I would NEVER leave used rags in a house. I might leave them in the yard away from the house for a few days. Never bunched up. Once on a commercial job I told a subcontractor he must not leave used his used rags on the premises overnight. The idiot hid them in a pile behind something, I don't remember where. 5 am I get a call, the jobsite is ablaze. Fire marshall determined the rags were the cause. $1,000,000 damage. $200,000 of it was drawn from MY liability insurance. I was very angry at that monkey head. Another time I saw it cause a dumpster fire on a commercial job. NEVER leave any rags with oil products of any kind without a proper disposal.
 
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The “oil” finish you now see on some guns seems to be a spray coat of some modern polymer. It can be of variable thickness depending on how much remaining porosity is desired, and can have a gloss reducing agent added to produce the desired sheen. From the pictures I have seen of the AA walnut stocks, they are applying a very thin coat, almost a seal coat. If it is a modern polymer finish, you shouldn’t have to do anything other than wipe it down with a silicone treated rag after use. Any wax or additional finish you add will build up in the pores and add gloss. That said, I do seal unfinished areas inside the stock and sometimes the checkering. I use thinned Minwax Antique Oil for this.
 
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Bedrock Bob said:
I like linseed oil or Watco and wax. I like shoe polish. It's a great quality carnauba wax.

I'm not fond of hard finishes and sweaty hands. The oil and wax leaves a great finish that feels wonderful.

I'm not sure what AA uses for finish. But linseed oil won't penetrate a hard finish. A coat or two with lots of palm pressure will slick up any finish though. I like steel wool to apply it too. Then a couple good coats of carnauba wax.

Steel wool (and rags) with any linseed based product will spontaneously combust. Especially in hot weather or under other old rags. Keeping an oily rag or chunk of steel wool around is a bad idea. I have a metal can to put every scrap in and I empty it regularly. In the summer you can see pinhole burns in the rags and the steel wool almost disintegrates.

Linseed oil is especially nasty stuff. But steel wool is a hazard with any oil. One tiny spark will ignite clean steel wool. It's what most guys use to start a fire with flint and steel. I love to use it to rub oil on wood and it leaves the perfect finish (IMO) but if you toss it in the trash can or leave it on the floor sooner or later your going to have a fire.
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Never used or seen steel wool with flint & steel. Not allowed in competition.
kent
 
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Renman said:
Never used or seen steel wool with flint & steel. Not allowed in competition.
kent
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Then you should try it and see for yourself how well it works!

Competition? I know nothing about "competition". It's used to ignite a fire with a flint and steel. It replaced charcloth more than a century ago for that purpose.

It's treated with a light oil to keep the steel fibers from rusting. The wooly matrix allows oxygen to react on every surface. It's like fluffing your tinder to get it to blaze. Only this tinder is already fluffy.

Regardless of what is allowed in "competition" a tiny spark will catch in steel wool immediately. It's EXTREMELY combustible. Get some linseed oil on it and put it where the heat can't escape and it will spontaneously combust with no spark at all. Soak it in salty water and let it dry and the same thing happens.

Steel oxidizes rapidly when a lot of surface is exposed. Oxidation produces heat. Any oxidizer will cause it to heat up (exotherm) and combust readily in the proper conditions. No spark needed.
 
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Personally, I'm a huge fan of Royal London Oil, from Air Rifle Headquarters. I've used it on at least 4 walnut stocks now and have had great results. It's super easy to apply and really brings out the character of the wood. You can apply as many coats as you want to obtain anything from a matte to glossy finish. I usually apply 3 coats to get a slight satin finish. It's also a very sturdy finish.

It looks like there are server issues where I can't post pictures - sorry.

EDIT - below is a thread where I posted a picture:

AA Walnut

I just couldn’t resist any longer. Twebster posted this stock in the classifieds back in January. I held out as long I could, and then caved. It arrived today, very well packaged. Photos just cannot relay its beauty. He has a 510 for sale last I looked. I will not look again, no no.
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com
 
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Bedrock Bob said:
Then you should try it and see for yourself how well it works!

Competition? I know nothing about "competition". It's used to ignite a fire with a flint and steel. It replaced charcloth more than a century ago for that purpose.

It's treated with a light oil to keep the steel fibers from rusting. The wooly matrix allows oxygen to react on every surface. It's like fluffing your tinder to get it to blaze. Only this tinder is already fluffy.

Regardless of what is allowed in "competition" a tiny spark will catch in steel wool immediately. It's EXTREMELY combustible. Get some linseed oil on it and put it where the heat can't escape and it will spontaneously combust with no spark at all. Soak it in salty water and let it dry and the same thing happens.

Steel oxidizes rapidly when a lot of surface is exposed. Oxidation produces heat. Any oxidizer will cause it to heat up (exotherm) and combust readily in the proper conditions. No spark needed.
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At rendezvous or other primitive get together.there are contests involving fire starting , ,throwing hawks & knives. I’ve used steel wool a lot , familiar with its properties but not for firestarting. I don’t use blo anymore.
kent
 
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Renman said:
At rendezvous or other primitive get together.there are contests involving fire starting , ,throwing hawks & knives. I’ve used steel wool a lot , familiar with its properties but not for firestarting. I don’t use blo anymore.
kent
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Then you have learned two important facts about steel wool this morning!

1) Steel wool is excellent tinder for starting a fire with flint and steel.

2) Steel wool is a fire hazard in the shop whether it is saturated with oil or not.

Another fun fact... Watco Danish oil is modified linseed oil with some additives. It will spontaneously combust on steel wool or rags too. Almost any oil will to some extent if the conditions are right. Some less than others. Almost all wood finishes are some blend of plant based oil (flax, safflower, rapeseed, cotton seed) and pose the risk of spontaneous combustion. Linseed oil (flax, safflower, rapeseed, cottonseed) is the base for almost all oil finishes including Watco Danish oil, teak oil and even polyurethane hard coats and oil based enamel paints. So whether you use BLO or not the risk of spontaneous combustion is there with most oil based finishes.
 
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All of these have been treated with many hand-rubbed coats of BLO.
#2 is beech!!!

IMG_2763.jpeg
 
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For many years riflestocks were finished with BLO. Every old Winchester repeater and surplus military rifle I've ever seen has a BLO finish. And boot wax or shoe polish is what the rifleman maintained them with.

Enough time spent rubbing BLO in with lots of palm friction and it makes a sweet finish. It feels just like titskin. Perfect gloss and good weather protection. You must maintain it. You can't expect it to last for years without some attention.

If you seal the pores with a lacquer sanding sealer and work it all off with 400 or finer it dosent take long. On open unsealed wood it needs to be re oiled often. Sometimes for months. And BLO takes months to fully harden. Even then it is soft and will thin with new coats.

I oil my open grained stocks when I oil the barrel. I wipe off the hand cheese stuck to the stock with a wet rag. Then hand rub BLO or use steel wool. A couple times a year I'll use a heavy coat of Kiwi shoe polish. I like it better than Johnsons paste wax.

It takes a year of use and oiling to get (most) bare unsealed wood slick with BLO. That's not the process most guys want to follow.

Watco oil finishes are much the same as BLO they just dry faster, get harder and last longer. Over sealed wood they work great. Tung oil is even better even on unsealed wood. But the traditional BLO/shoe polish finish is my choice for a gunstock. The smell, feel and finish is perfect for a wood riflestock. But that's just me.

A hard finish on a stock prevents staining and seals the wood better. It is arguably a better more maintenance free finish. I simply don't care for the feel nor the shine.

I prefer a synthetic stock on my hunting rifles and pellet guns anyway. If I were interested in finishing a showpiece it would probably be sealed, sanded and BLO finished. I couldn't carry it in the desert or lay it on the tailgate while I drink beer so I probably wouldn't shoot it much.
 
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KWK said:
Steel wool and a 9v battery. Fun. Put some magnesium chips in. More fun. I have a few bars out in the shop but never machined any of it. Yet.
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Try soaking it in salty water for a few hours. Then letting it dry until you see crystals forming. Hit it with a puff of oxygen from the torch. It's almost like a flash bulb. A little supernova.
 
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I used the 100% tung oil and I like my results. No the pores aren't filled, but I didn't sand it. I did apply several coats over a couple of months, as it takes time in between coats. And it takes time for a complete cure once done. But it did darken the wood from it's dry light colored factory look.
IMG_7638.jpeg

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✌🏻
 
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Got one today. Will post images of the walnut and its potential (vibrancy enhanced) when the servers are up… looks a little dry/dull too.

btw, slightly concerned I may have gotten a refurb. Looks brand new but the action was all oiled up and had dust/lint on it. Anyone know if that’s the norm. Ordered from PA
 
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RicL said:
Got one today. Will post images of the walnut and its potential (vibrancy enhanced) when the servers are up…

btw, slightly concerned I may have gotten a refurb. Looks brand new but the action was all oiled up and had dust/lint on it. Anyone know if that’s the norm. Ordered from PA
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Mine came wrapped in plastic in a Air Arms box.
And it was dry inside and out.
 
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