# Finishing Stabilized Wood



## TRfromMT (Nov 8, 2014)

I just bought these blanks to turn into grips for a pistol. They are stabilized maple. 

After shaping and sanding, what would be a good finish? I want the blue/gray to remain, and I want to accentuate the ripple. I hear people talk about True Oil and Danish Oil, but I don't want to stain them.

Recommendations?

I searched for info, but "finishing stabilized wood" resulted in all of the threads that has any one or two of the words.


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## Tclem (Nov 8, 2014)

I use ca on all my stabilized wood


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## SENC (Nov 8, 2014)

Whether stabilized wood gets any value from oil finishes is debatable. Since the wood theoretically can't absorb any oil, it shouldn't help... that said, I often do a singe tung oil treatment and let is cure for a couple weeks before buffing and (I think, though it may be placebo) it seems to pop the grain). You can just sand to a high grit (say 800-1200) and then buff and polish and you'll get a very nice finish. Wax if you want extra shine.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## JR Custom Calls (Nov 8, 2014)

I use tru-oil on a lot of stabilized calls.. It does pop the grain a bit, but obviously doesn't provide any additional protection to the wood. It looks a lot better than just a buffed finish though.


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## Schroedc (Nov 8, 2014)

I use a lot of stabilized wood for pens and I generally use a CA finish on them. You can also just sand to 800 or better and just polish and wax them but I like the extra durability and it seems to be a deeper or more vibrant finish with CA.


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## ripjack13 (Nov 8, 2014)

For grips that are stabilized, you can just sand em to hi polish then use wax, With wax, you just polish it over.
Also it's hard to sand ca on a grip unless you have patients....lots of it. I find it's a pain in the butt. For turning on a lathe its perfect.
But, if you'd like to see how ca is applied to grips go on youtube and look at how this guy does it...

.



Almost near the end of the video is the ca process...

He makes sweet grips....

I have switched to using truoil though. On lots of my projects. It dries quick, and fills in any pores.

Reactions: Like 2


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## JR Custom Calls (Nov 8, 2014)

Gee... I would have thought a heat gun would be bad news around CA. That's certainly an interesting way to go about doing it


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## DLJeffs (Nov 8, 2014)

I use stabilized wood for fly rod reel seats and simply sanding to 1200 and then buffing with the red stuff and then the white stuff (I can't remember what the waxes are called). If the stabilization was done well, the finished product will shine like glass. Or ivory or something.


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## TRfromMT (Nov 20, 2014)

Hi all,
So the wood blanks arrived in the mail today. They came from Canada, so 10 days in the mail about drove me nuts....

I was out in the shop prepping them for drilling the holes. The first step is to make sure the back side is 'perfectly' flat. I was using ol' fashion elbow grease and scrubbing them down on a piece of 100-grit paper taped to a flat piece of MDF sheet.

I notice on one of them there is a polished area that looks like I've sanded through the finish. I thought stabilizing completely saturated the whole piece to the core.

Is stabilized wood colored completely through and through? Does it penetrate more from one side than the other? I'm not completely familiar with the process. Just curious.

I guess I'm wondering if the finish sands off, what's the point of stabilizing before shaping the piece to the final contours? Again, just curious.

Thanks.

Tony


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## manbuckwal (Nov 20, 2014)

TRfromMT said:


> Hi all,
> So the wood blanks arrived in the mail today. They came from Canada, so 10 days in the mail about drove me nuts....
> 
> I was out in the shop prepping them for drilling the holes. The first step is to make sure the back side is 'perfectly' flat. I was using ol' fashion elbow grease and scrubbing them down on a piece of 100-grit paper taped to a flat piece of MDF sheet.
> ...



Tony, were theses blanks "dyed" and stabilized ? A picture of the "polished" looking area would be helpful. Resin filled pockets might show up as polished or shiny .


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## Molokai (Nov 21, 2014)

One coat of tru oil will soak in stabilized wood and it will not scratch or anything. Tru oil is for me the best to enhance the wood. I use it all the time and it dries quickly. I didnt use it on any professional stabilized woods, so i am not a expert in that. Just works the best for me. Pure Tung oil takes too long to dry. But is also a good solution because it doesnt darken the wood like linseed oil.


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## JR Custom Calls (Nov 21, 2014)

When sanding, make sure to keep your paper clean. It can 'burn' the paper and make shiny spots. Steel wool after sanding will help remove any glossy spots after sanding

Reactions: Agree 1


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## TRfromMT (Jan 18, 2015)

I have finished up some grips for my pistol, both stabilized and natural wood blanks. I used tongue oil (100%) that I mixed 50/50 with paint thinner. The first coat soaked in pretty well and dried for about 24 hours before the second coat. The second coat dried for about 24 hours, and I wiped on a 3rd coat using a very lightly damp rag with the same 50/50 mix. The third coat was really rubbed in until it looked dry. 

That was a week ago and the grips still have damp weeping finish on the surface. Do I simply need to keep wiping them down (with a dry cloth) until they are dry? Have I screwed something up? I did notice the tongue oil bottle says not to put on more that the wood will take, but I am not sure how you are supposed to know when you have come to that point....


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## Molokai (Jan 18, 2015)

I dont know about mixing tung oil with paint thinner. Try using white spirit. When do you remove excess oil from wood? I remove it after half an hour and let it dry 24 hours.
tung oil finish is a process of one month !

Reactions: Agree 1


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## TRfromMT (Jan 18, 2015)

After the first coat at about an hour. After the second coat after an hour and again the next morning. The third coat: after about 12 hours, and they have sat in my garage for a week while I gave been doing other things. I wiped them down and I will keep them in the house where it is warmer for another week or so and see how they dry out.


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## ripjack13 (Jan 18, 2015)

1st, 2nd & 3rd coats in 24hrs? That's where the weeping problem is. Tung oil needs a lot of time to dry in between coats. And on a stabilized material it will just pool up and not soak into the wood because the woods pores are filled with resin that has been hardened....as an example...
It's like sanding frozen wood, painting it 3 times and wondering why it's still wet...


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## TRfromMT (Jan 19, 2015)

Sorry - I wasn't clear. I wipe off the excess immediately and then again after an hour or so. Then let it dry for 24 hours between coats. I have only applied coats to what appears to be dry wood. I am just surprised that the 3rd coat is still weeping after a week.


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## Molokai (Jan 19, 2015)

What type of wood ?


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## TRfromMT (Jan 19, 2015)

1. Stabilized curly maple - in the photo in the first post. These grips seem to be completely dry now, no more weeping.
2. Natural curly maple - seem to be weeping the most. Also, I notice when I put pressure (press with my thumb) there is fresh oil pressed to the surface.
3. Stabilized Afzelia Xylay - only a minor amount of weeping.

I think it's just going to take time to dry fully, and at least I know I have enough on them.


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## TRfromMT (Jan 22, 2015)

So I finally got the grips dried. I cheated... I put them on a hot plate (more than warm to the touch, but not hot enough to burn you). It definitely flashed off the remaining spirit from the pores of the wood grain.

So now my next question. What can I put on these to put a little sheen on them. The tung oil is pretty much a matte finish. Will minwax (or similar) buff to a sheen?

Thanks all.

Tony


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## ripjack13 (Jan 22, 2015)

Canuba wax.....(good car wax, the high end stuff like, Mothers.)


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## TRfromMT (Jan 22, 2015)

Thanks, Rip. I'll give that a try.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Molokai (Jan 23, 2015)

The best thing to use and the most expensive is micro crystalline wax.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Jan 23, 2015)

Molokai said:


> The best thing to use and the most expensive is micro crystalline wax.



I have that (renaissance wax) but I suggested the carnuba only cuz I figured he didn't have any on hand....

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Jan 23, 2015)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AJWN62/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
^^^renaissance wax
And...the price went down since the time I bought it.

Reactions: Agree 1


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