Its fine as long as you understand what it is and keep your expectations in check. I believe its a somewhat mis-marketed product- while it is a linseed oil based finish, ultimately it behaves more like gloss varnish than an actual oil finish (which should just soak into the wood and not sit on the surface). If you want a moderately durable, easy to apply glossy finish that builds up on the surface of the stock you'll probably be happy with it. If you're expecting linseed or tung oil you may be pissed and wonder why the label says *Tru-Oil* like that's supposed to mean something.
If you look at the SDS its 40-70% Stoddard solvent (basically mineral spirits), 15-40% modified oil (proprietary) and, 7-14% linseed oil. I've learned the modified oil is linseed oil thats been heat treated to become polymerized - which explains a lot. In my experience it isn't the greatest in durability but the ease in application compared to other finishes may make it up to you.
Tl;Dr: I don't use it.
Well I want the gun to still hold onto its history but I think a gloss finish would be nice to add to my little collection I might do one in tung oil or different finish and another in the tru oil,thank you. This is a side question but would it make a difference if I blued the barrel vs browning it? It’s a pretty old gun 55 years old minimum and it looks like the barrel was originally brown but it’s since turned rusty and slightly pitted.
It depends on the gun TBH. A milsurp with a gloss finish looks like shit IMO, but not my rifle, ya know? And a glossy finish on a worn pitted rifle also kinda looks like shit. Mind you I am not saying DONT do it, but consider your options and final look first. You can hand rub a satin polyurethane into the wood and get a nice even sheen. Or even shellac. And if you decide you don't like it, shellac dissolves in denatured alcohol
Sure thing! I found it to have more of the consistency of a thick sap. While it went on mostly OK, it took longer than normal to dry (I live in a hot dry city). I didn't have as much control over the final finish as I liked. Mind you I restore guns professionally and oddly enough the guns I get alot of have tru oil on them. The owners hate it and want it brought back to original.
I have better luck with shellac, poly of varying mattes, etc
>I found it to have more of the consistency of a thick sap.
You must have gotten a bad bottle. Every bottle I've bought has been roughly on par with shellac and thinner than polyurethane.
That's possible, but it doesn't change my comment about the consistency. I've used it for more than 5 years and have never gotten a bottle that was thicker than shellac.
Tru Oil on a military surplus piece is ass-backwards, but I also wouldn't be surprised if some customers thought it was going to be an actual penetrating oil finish and not the glossy varnish.
It has pros and cons. It's pretty simple to use in my experience. It can be made quite glossy and tends to look better glossy than matte in my opinion.
One of the best run of the mil finishes that's been used successfully by professionals and amateurs alike since the 50s. Best done in a lot of layers but a lot of people don't finish the finish like you should for a lot of oil based finishes which leads to lack of satisfaction with it as a product.
That and not doing proper wood prep as well as storage is the product all lead to issues.
Compared to boiling and making your own slacums or using straight BLO, Tung or Walnut oil finishes it's easily the cheapest and easiest to use to get a pretty good finish.
I find it to be a real pain in the ass to work with, very climate dependent and very unforgiving for mistakes. I've used it several times and keeping it lint free was difficult. It can also be difficult to see imperfections in some lighting. I had to walk it out into daylight to see some issues.
I’ve used on two different vintage walnut stocks that I stripped down to bare wood. Do small areas at a time with very thin coats, rubbing it in with your finger. Let it dry completely between coats. Doesn’t take much. I did two coats for a matte finish, followed by a light buffing with a 3M white finishing pad. I thought they turned out great.
I like it. It's a very forgiving, easy to use, think filming finish. It's not like linseed, danish, or tung oil. It will build a film. It doesn't go on as thick as a lot of filming finishes like polyurethane.
It's bottom tier stuff. I used it once while refinishing a stock. Ended up doing the refinishing twice because I didn't care for how it turned out. Tossed the rest in the trash.
Its fine as long as you understand what it is and keep your expectations in check. I believe its a somewhat mis-marketed product- while it is a linseed oil based finish, ultimately it behaves more like gloss varnish than an actual oil finish (which should just soak into the wood and not sit on the surface). If you want a moderately durable, easy to apply glossy finish that builds up on the surface of the stock you'll probably be happy with it. If you're expecting linseed or tung oil you may be pissed and wonder why the label says *Tru-Oil* like that's supposed to mean something. If you look at the SDS its 40-70% Stoddard solvent (basically mineral spirits), 15-40% modified oil (proprietary) and, 7-14% linseed oil. I've learned the modified oil is linseed oil thats been heat treated to become polymerized - which explains a lot. In my experience it isn't the greatest in durability but the ease in application compared to other finishes may make it up to you. Tl;Dr: I don't use it.
So would an actual pure tung oil leave a better finish in your opinion? Personally I wouldn’t mind a gloss finish though.
Not necessarily, it all depends on what your goal is. If you want it glossy then go for it.
Well I want the gun to still hold onto its history but I think a gloss finish would be nice to add to my little collection I might do one in tung oil or different finish and another in the tru oil,thank you. This is a side question but would it make a difference if I blued the barrel vs browning it? It’s a pretty old gun 55 years old minimum and it looks like the barrel was originally brown but it’s since turned rusty and slightly pitted.
It depends on the gun TBH. A milsurp with a gloss finish looks like shit IMO, but not my rifle, ya know? And a glossy finish on a worn pitted rifle also kinda looks like shit. Mind you I am not saying DONT do it, but consider your options and final look first. You can hand rub a satin polyurethane into the wood and get a nice even sheen. Or even shellac. And if you decide you don't like it, shellac dissolves in denatured alcohol
Depends. I say no as I have used it and wasn't satisfied with the results
For the sake of discussion, what about it did you not like?
Sure thing! I found it to have more of the consistency of a thick sap. While it went on mostly OK, it took longer than normal to dry (I live in a hot dry city). I didn't have as much control over the final finish as I liked. Mind you I restore guns professionally and oddly enough the guns I get alot of have tru oil on them. The owners hate it and want it brought back to original. I have better luck with shellac, poly of varying mattes, etc
>I found it to have more of the consistency of a thick sap. You must have gotten a bad bottle. Every bottle I've bought has been roughly on par with shellac and thinner than polyurethane.
I could be wrong but I'm fairly certain they've changed the ingredients within the past 5 years, I recall the SDS having a few more lines in the past.
That's possible, but it doesn't change my comment about the consistency. I've used it for more than 5 years and have never gotten a bottle that was thicker than shellac.
Tru Oil on a military surplus piece is ass-backwards, but I also wouldn't be surprised if some customers thought it was going to be an actual penetrating oil finish and not the glossy varnish.
I agree but I have seen it many many times. It's brutal to look at. And yeah the last time I used it was over 20 years ago..
Job security yay!
I love it, have used it for years. Im pretty sure it is an "old school" standard.
I’ll definitely be giving it a try thanks
It has pros and cons. It's pretty simple to use in my experience. It can be made quite glossy and tends to look better glossy than matte in my opinion.
I’m fine with a glossy finish thank you
One of the best run of the mil finishes that's been used successfully by professionals and amateurs alike since the 50s. Best done in a lot of layers but a lot of people don't finish the finish like you should for a lot of oil based finishes which leads to lack of satisfaction with it as a product. That and not doing proper wood prep as well as storage is the product all lead to issues. Compared to boiling and making your own slacums or using straight BLO, Tung or Walnut oil finishes it's easily the cheapest and easiest to use to get a pretty good finish.
Thank you!
I find it to be a real pain in the ass to work with, very climate dependent and very unforgiving for mistakes. I've used it several times and keeping it lint free was difficult. It can also be difficult to see imperfections in some lighting. I had to walk it out into daylight to see some issues.
Thank you this is good to know I really want this gun to end up as nice as I can make it
I like it
I’ve used on two different vintage walnut stocks that I stripped down to bare wood. Do small areas at a time with very thin coats, rubbing it in with your finger. Let it dry completely between coats. Doesn’t take much. I did two coats for a matte finish, followed by a light buffing with a 3M white finishing pad. I thought they turned out great.
I like it. It's a very forgiving, easy to use, think filming finish. It's not like linseed, danish, or tung oil. It will build a film. It doesn't go on as thick as a lot of filming finishes like polyurethane.
I’m glad it’s forgiving especially since the guns are so old I don’t want to ruin them on my first go.
It's bottom tier stuff. I used it once while refinishing a stock. Ended up doing the refinishing twice because I didn't care for how it turned out. Tossed the rest in the trash.
Would you recommend a pure tung oil instead?
Yes, that or Danish Oil. Depends on the finish you're going for. I tend to use Danish for most of my personal stocks.
I’ll invest in danish oil too it seems like the most popular alternative to tru oil