Trouble with a smooth coat on grips (Tru-oil)

[Ashen]

Need some advice/help in coating my grips. I picked up some smooth black grips (http://nighthawkcustom.com/detail.aspx?ID=114) from nighthawk custom recently, and decided to coat them to protect the finish.

I picked up a bottle of Tru-oil and used a finger to rub a layer over the grips. Unfortunately, I used a little too much and the coat had many bubbles and runs that dried. I thought sanding and adding more Tru-oil would help, but because of the amount of bubbling and overrunning, it only looked worse. So today I removed the coats of Tru-oil using a water-based varnish remover, which worked pretty well except now the grips are looking pretty ragged.

So I'm back to square one. I'm thinking of either:

1) Trying again with Tru-oil, but using just a tiny, TINY amount to coat the grips, just enough to cover the wood but not enough to create runs.

or

2) using kiwi black shoe polish to coat and protect the wood. I do not need a high gloss finish, and since these grips are black to begin with, I have no concerns about overdyeing.

Any advice is welcome.... thanks!

[pa_guns]

Hi

Yikes !!! Stay away from the shoe polish unless you like it on your hands.

Boiled Linseed Oil is a good low luster finish for grips. It's not going to be slick on your hands, but it does protect the wood. Real genuine Tung Oil is another option, it will be higher luster. If you go that route you want some that's clearly labeled as 100% pure Tung Oil.

Bob

[Blackhawk]

good advice from PA guns.

[rollback88]

I'm a big fan of Tru-Oil (as Blackhawk will atest). Lightly sand down to the wood, and rub a thin coat on the grip. I use cotton gun cleaning patches to apply the oil. After at least 2 hours, hit it with 0000 steel wool and apply another thin coat. My experience is that 2-3 coats will give you a nice low-luster finish. I usually stop between 5 and 7 coats (with steel wool in between each) to get more of a gloss finish.

--jcd

[Ashen]

Allright, I'm giving it another go with the Tru-oil.

Thanks for the tip for using cleaning patches - I started again tonight using a VERY thin coat and the patch applied the Tru-oil evenly without any problems.

here's how it looks right now. As you can see the wood is a bit dry and there isn't much shine. But my mistake in the beginning was coating way too much Tru-oil. So now I'm going to try and build it up slowly, 1 to 2 coats a day.

http://melancoholic.com/cacheimages/nhc_grips1.jpg

[pa_guns]

Hi

If you are going with Tru Oil put it on, let it sit for a bit (depends on how hot it is) and then wipe it *all* off. You really can't wipe it all off, since it's soaked in. What you take off is any oil still sitting on the surface.

You may think that you will never get a finish that way, but you will indeed.

Bob

[sarge43]

With wood and smooth finishes, a few light coats are ALWAYS better than one heavy coat. These guys have you on the right track - Light coat, let it soak for a few minutes (not until it's dry), wipe off any and all excess then let it dry completely before the next coat. I prefer 1600 grit paper to steel wool, but to each his own - give a quick "buff" with it and dry wipe it between coats. You will see the finish start to develop. After a while it'll be beautiful, and you'll be happy. ;)
Sarge

[Mike5]

With wood and smooth finishes, a few light coats are ALWAYS better than one heavy coat. These guys have you on the right track - Light coat, let it soak for a few minutes (not until it's dry), wipe off any and all excess then let it dry completely before the next coat. I prefer 1600 grit paper to steel wool, but to each his own - give a quick "buff" with it and dry wipe it between coats. You will see the finish start to develop. After a while it'll be beautiful, and you'll be happy. ;)
Sarge.
Good advice from a Man that knows His business :appld:

[Jerry944T]

I've refinished and finished many a shotgun and rifle stock with TruOil. There are better products such as ChemPack but TruOil is OK.

The main ingredient is patience. As many have said put on a very light coat and let it dry. Then the 0000 steel wool. I use steel wool because it doesn't clog as fast as fine sandpaper.

Make sure that you keep putting on coats of TruOil until all the grain is filled. Once that happens you can thin the TruOil with mineral spirits and start putting on really thin coats.

Eventually you will achieve the desired result.