Used some Watco Danish Oil with dark walnut tint on maple gunstock. Followed the directions. I flooded the piece. Let it sit for ~30 minutes. Put more on there to get it wet. Let it sit for another 15. Probable closer to 30. Then I wiped it off. I've been wiping it off every ~30 minutes to clear any extra oil leaching out. Some parts are a but darker than other parts. I'm no workworker expert so I have no idea why some parts darked more than other. I'm OK with it like is it, it isn't a show piece just a cheap black powder kentucky rifle I'm playing with. But if I can get the finish evened out more then I would like that. The directions don't mention more coats or surface prep between coats. Can I just lightly sand and put on more coats after this first application dries? I think this was finished with 220 grit before the initial coat. Should I go finer or stick with 220 grit?

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Posted by doliss

Northern VA

Member since Sep 2009

979 posts

Posted on 12/27/16 at 4:27 pm to DeoreDX

Did you sand it down prior to putting the stain on? You should hit it with 120, 150, 220 in succession to open up the pores of the wood and let the stain get taken down into the wood.

Unfortunately wood naturally will take more stain in certain areas over others. Best thing you can do is apply a conditioner to the wood prior to the stain, that will help even out the stain and leave less spots like what you have

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Posted by Bleeding purple

Athens, Texas

Member since Sep 2007

25315 posts

Posted on 12/27/16 at 4:35 pm to DeoreDX

based on what appears to be a slight pattern to the lighter areas, I am going to venture to say that those areas had already absorbed some oil thus blocking further absorption. skin oils, and gun oils usually don't make the wood darken that much but they definitely absorb.

The other possibility would be some form of wax in those areas blocking the stain.

The difficulty in placing more coats to darken those areas is you will only manage to outline the lighter areas with a darker ring as the stain will still not take to the pretreated wood.

As the 1st response mentioned pre treating with proper cleaning and sanding and then a wood conditioner helps make the finish more even. For tight grained wood applying the stain in a warm or hot bath where the wood is immersed in the stain is a possibility.

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Posted by DeoreDX

Member since Oct 2010

4053 posts

Posted on 12/27/16 at 10:14 pm to doliss

I don't know much about woodworking so I just used 120/150 on a 1/4 sheet sander to shape the parts as the fit on the brass to wood parts needed a lot of wood removal and finished by hand with 220. Wiped it down with a microfiber cloth then put the Danish oil on. The lighter areas do coincide with where I had to do most of my material removal to get the brass fitted right. Not sure if that is a coincidence of if some type of poor sanding technique lead to the missmatching coloration. I'll put another coat on it to see what it does. As long as it's functional I'm not going to worry too much about an uneven coloring. Though if I ever make a "nice" flinklock rifle I will want to k ow what I did wrong to avoid the same fate in the future.

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Posted by Da Hammer

Folsom

Member since May 2008

5750 posts

Posted on 12/28/16 at 8:03 am to DeoreDX

My first thought is I wonder if you didn't sand enough at first. It seems like where your cheek would sit on the stock and where your hand would go on the grip are the light areas along with the area near the but plate. Just a thought but I would expect skin oils and other things from handling to build up in those areas and block stain absorption. I would consider sanding down further and try again.

Another tip I love Danish oil but it sometimes takes a long while to dry that isn't your problem here but it can sometimes take a while to dry and not be tacky.

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Posted by Oxforder

Oxford

Member since Jun 2016

144 posts

Posted on 12/28/16 at 8:06 am to DeoreDX

I had the same thing happen when I finished my Traditions Deerhunter. The areas that required more work didn't absorb the stain as well. I thought that maybe the wood was compressed, but now I'm thinking that it absorbed my skin oils. I really don't mind the unevenness, though. I think it makes it look more interesting.

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Posted by LakeviewYakker

NOLA

Member since Aug 2014

358 posts

Posted on 12/28/16 at 10:31 am to DeoreDX

That area that you were sanding down, did you keep putting the stock up to your face to see how it fit you? If so then it's likely that part absorbed oils from your face. As others have mentioned, it's what is preventing the stain from soaking in the wood.
Wiping down with denatured alcohol might have helped remove the oils prior to staining. A box of latex gloves is also good to have in the shop, using them not only keeps your hands from getting stained and dirty, but it will also prevent the oils from your hands to get into the wood.

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