New grip project - Herrett's Shooting Stars for Ruger 357 Max

[pokute]

Right after I found my 357 Max Ruger, I found an interesting set of grips on Ebay. They are Herrett smooth deluxe walnut XRSB, with the box label stating that they are for the Super Blackhawk with serial # above 1500. I can't find any documentation about what happened at serial #1500.

I decided I would try finishing them with pure Tung Oil and nothing else, and wax them after they cure for a few months.

I found a similar set for an SAA a while back, and did them with 2 coats of Tung Oil followed by 4 of Tru-Oil and 4-0 steel wool, which came out very nice:



The new set for the Ruger are coming out VERY dark after 4 coats of Tung Oil. I am wet sanding with the Tung Oil now, and the 4th coat was 600 grit and it looks very silky, but natural. I'm going to go all the way to 2000 grit to see how far the Tung Oil will go. I'm doing this because I probably won't be able to shoot for another month, and I need something to keep me busy. And it's good practice for being patient... Not a strong point with me.

Steel wool is a pain to work with, but I found that by wrapping it around a little magnet it was a little less annoying.

 

[creosote]

I'd be pissed that somebody stamped a horse on my favorite ruger.
They are looking good though.

 

[pokute]

I'd be pissed that somebody stamped a horse on my favorite ruger.
They are looking good though.

I knew when I was writing the post that it was confusing. The picture is of the finished grips for the SAA. The Ruger grips are not ready for the camera yet, and the gun is still in jail.

 

[gman]

One thing I love about the max is that it’s easy on the back end. Those square back trigger guard 44’s bust my knuckle but the max doesn’t. Post pictures when you get her out of jail.

 

[creosote]

I'm always too late to give someone some greef, I couldn't resist.
My ssa still has the grip pin out. I'm still working on fitting the grips my daughter got me about 15 years ago.

 

[Ian]

If you really need to kill some time, do your sanded coats with boiled linseed oil. It will fill the grain much better and take about 10 times as long to cure, but will also pop the grain as well or better than tung oil. Topcoat with your favorite varnish.

Steel wool is all made in China now out of shredded garbage, not shaved from high-carbon steel wire like it should be. Naturally, it just crumbles and falls apart. I wish I had better advice for you, maybe bronze wool, or just use denim and rottenstone like they did 100 years ago.

 

[waco]

Ian. I am not being snarky. Promise. But is there any subject on which you have no clue? You seem to be, for lack of a better term, a Jack of all trades....
And I don't mean this in a bad way.
Just asking......

 

[Ian]

Yes, there is: Human beings. Complete enigmas.

 

[Bret4207]

Yes, there is: Human beings. Complete enigmas.

Truer words were never spoken!

 

[Brad]

I understand people pretty well, I just don't care for many of them.
I have spent enough years working with the public and communicating with them to have developed a reasonably good ability to determine certain qualities in their personality and behaviors.
We all have quirks and hang ups, it is our ability to get over them that allows friendships and relationships to occur.

 

[pokute]

If you really need to kill some time, do your sanded coats with boiled linseed oil. It will fill the grain much better and take about 10 times as long to cure, but will also pop the grain as well or better than tung oil. Topcoat with your favorite varnish.

Steel wool is all made in China now out of shredded garbage, not shaved from high-carbon steel wire like it should be. Naturally, it just crumbles and falls apart. I wish I had better advice for you, maybe bronze wool, or just use denim and rottenstone like they did 100 years ago.

I thought BLO cured super fast? Anyway, the experiment I decided on was the pure Tung Oil one because there seems to be a lot of confusion between pure Tung Oil and all sorts of modified varitations. I bought the "Milk Paint" Tung Oil, which is supposed to be the real McCoy, and I'm doing the work in my office, which is hot and dry.

I bought some rottenstone a few years ago, and it had big pieces of feldspar floating around in it. Bronze wool all seems to be of variable "weight", and it scratches the hell out of everything. Yeah, the steel wool just crumbles to bits. The magnet makes a big difference, but I still have to chase the steel bits out with a toothbrush. Generally, if I lose patience with a grip job, I mix Tru-oil, turpentine, and Tung Oil in equal parts and get a nice result like on those SAA grips.

 

[pokute]

My first try with Herrett's on the SAA was an all-around embarrassment (lots of steel wool bits where they shouldn't be, too):

 

[Ian]

That doesn't look too bad to me, but I can see how you'd want more gloss and depth to go with the bright blueing and case color.

BLO cure time is legendary. Here's what I understand about oil and varnish finishes:

Chemically "boiled" versions of BLO with Japan drier added (Manganese and Cobalt catalysts) can dry a thin film in a few days, but it takes at least a week to sometimes months to fully cure when soaked into wood. If you continue to build coats on uncured substrates, you'll get a sticky mess that sweats uncured oil on hot days for years afterward. There are other preparations including heat-treated (vacuum-boiled) Linseed oil, and bleached versions which I think use sunlight and water to pull out one of the fats to lighten color and speed curing of raw oil somewhat. Double-boiled means heat-polymerized and chemically augmented for increased cure speed. Tung and Linseed are the main drying-oil finishes, and neither build much on the surface, which is a good thing for seeing grain and getting a great-feeling satin finish. Pure Tung oil dries a lot faster all on its own than BLO and is often preferred for that (looks almost as good, too), if you don't mind the 5X expense.

Varnishes (like Tru-Oil) are mixtures of resin, drying oil, and thinner. Resins are either Alkyd, Urethane, or I think Phenolic if I remember right. All of the pretend oils like Formby's tung oil "finish" are nothing more than thinned varnish which penetrates somewhat but builds quickly on the surface of the wood, and are usually very short-oil finishes, meaning less oil and more resin. These you have to level/scuff between coats to build an even shine with no trash in it. The pure oils do not require this as your hand-rubbing and extremely thin, soak-in coats smooths the surface well, though it will never build a high gloss like the varnishes will if that's what you want.

If I want a high-gloss or even a high satin finish, I use BLO or Tung oil (PURE form only!!) to penetrate and seal the wood, and when that is good and dry and all the grain has been filled by sanding it in and rubbing the slurry into the wood pores, then I topcoat with as many THIN, rubbed-in coats of varnish as needed to achieve the desired shine. Buy rottenstone from Brownell's and it won't have feldspar in it. Or use automotive rubbing compound, just make sure you fill the grain with sanded drying oil and have at least one coat of varnish on it or you'll never get the compound out of the pores. You can do the same sand-filling and topcoating with varnish, but it's a lot more work on the first part and to me it never seems to give that deep, 3-D illusion down into curly grain like doing the first bit with drying oil.

As always, YMMV.

 

[pokute]

Ah, I think that the BLO that I once worked with was what you called "Doulbe-boiled", so I assumed that "Boiled" meant partially polymerized by heat. Where I spilled some, it gelled overnight. I have used auto rubbing compound successfully to shine up checkering. I usually want to cut the teeth on checkering anyway. I've got checkered stocks on a LAR Grizzly that will take the palms off of leather gloves in no time.

 

[Rally Hess]

If the BLO has such a long dry time, how long are you waiting to seal it?
The reason I ask is that up here, lots of folks with log homes are using a 50/50 mixture of Linseed oil and turpentine on the exterior of said log buildings, decks, and outdoor wood furniture. The belief is the thinned mixture penetrates deeper and they are not top coating it. Folks that stained and then varnished log buildings 20 years ago have top coats flaking off and look horrible.
With the 50/50 mixture they just reapply in @ 6-8 year periods to keep the logs sealed and looking good. It only takes about two years of a log being exposed to show real signs of rot/ageing here, do to moisture levels.

 

[Ian]

Put a drop of BLO on a piece of glass or plastic and let it sit under same conditions as coated item. When the BLO drop has crinkled up and hardened all the way through, it's dry. Often this is months. Keep in mind the BLO penetrates wood 1/8" or more even when put on lightly, so the thickness of a drop on glass is about the same as what's in the wood and takes as long to dry. Until the BLO is truly dry, forget putting varnish over it. The flaking mess of varnish over stain or varnish on bare wood is why I typically don't varnish my stocks anymore.

 

[Rally Hess]

That's kind of the same line of thinking on the log homes. A log here is moving all the time with the change in weather and temperatures. A log is really just a straw and draws and sweats with weather changes. Moisture is going to get under a top coat one way or another, the thinking here is that your really just preserving the outside surface from weather/mold.
There's also a saying here, that there are only two kinds of concrete. Those that are cracked and those that are going to crack.

 

[Ian]

One really bad thing BLO that I'm told (no experience myself because I don't us it on permanent outdoor stuff) is that it attracts mold like crazy. (yeah, THAT kind of mold). Maybe there are additives to prevent this? IDK.

 

[Rally Hess]

Most anything wood here will form mold if it is in the shade constantly. I'm guessing the turpentine would deter some mold growth at the surface. PPG used to make a mold additive for paint that was going on metal and vinyl siding. IDK either for sure.

 

[pokute]

Architects have been recommending 50/50 Linseed oil and beeswax applied hot for over 100 years. I've seen entire homes made of redwood that were treated in this way about 1920 that have never been retreated. Of course, this is Los Angeles...