Hight Gloss Finishes for on top of oil based finishes? That are easy to use

I am looking for something with low toxicity that I don't have to wear gloves to apply or applies well with just a brush, something that can be fixed if something does happen like I can sand it back down and re do it without adverse affects, I mainly use linseed oil and I believe its Dutch oil? or a mix of linseed other things to add pigment/color to the linseed, but I want a finish to go over my color that will give it that wet hight gloss or semi gloss look.

Warning labels tend to turn me off to products. It will be used for finishing custom made pistol grips and gunstocks so needs to be able to take handling type wear and continue to look good.

I don't mind using my hands or a rag to apply I would just rather not read a warning label that says if I do I'm going to lose my sight in x amount of time and so forth, i.e. formbies which my father has used to hand finish furniture for years untill all the sudden it has a warning label....

Anyhow thanks for all your replies, having a heck of a time finding something on my own.

Reply to
redice
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You won't. Warning labels today are so commonplace as to be meaningless. In a few more years I suspect that they are going to be tattooing "warning, breathing air can be hazardous to your health" on our noses at birth. Used to be that they had some relation to real dangers, now they report the ungrounded fears of some loon in the legislature.

Reply to
J. Clarke

The labels are meant to protect the companies from lawsuits arising from fools misusing their product.

Max "The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools" - Herbert Spencer, 1891

Reply to
Max

I am at a loss to figure out any likely misuse of an electrical cord that would result in the misuser developing cancer.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Yep, according to Kalifornia, almost anything on planet earth causes cancer. Or at least anything outside of Kalifornia. And half of the stuff inside of Kalifornia too.

Reply to
Lee Michaels

For gunstocks and grips a mix of BLO (boiled linseed oil) thinned with turpentine seems to be the favorite and one used by a close friend and avid gun collector/gunsmith. This polished with a good paste wax will hold up under most any circumstance.

Dave

Reply to
Teamcasa

I think I recall some studies showing that prolonged exposure to electrical fields (such as are found close to power cords) may increase the likelihood of cancer.

Extrapolating this to an electrical cord at household voltages may or may not be valid.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Friesen

I have learned that the word "foolproof" is an oxymoron. And any fool knows that cancer is caused by greedy corporations.

Max

Reply to
Max

redice wrote: : I am looking for something with low toxicity that I don't have to wear : gloves to apply or applies well with just a brush, something that can : be fixed if something does happen like I can sand it back down and re : do it without adverse affects, I mainly use linseed oil and I believe : its Dutch oil? or a mix of linseed other things to add pigment/color to : the linseed, but I want a finish to go over my color that will give it : that wet hight gloss or semi gloss look.

Probably your best bet is shellac. Can be as glossy as you like (or dulled with steel wool), is easily repaired and stripped, and cheap. The solvent is alcohol; in commercially mixed stuff, like Bullseye, it's likely going to contain some wood alcohol, so apply in a room with ventilation.

: Warning labels tend to turn me off to products. It will be used for : finishing custom made pistol grips and gunstocks so needs to be able to : take handling type wear and continue to look good.

For that, maybe a varnish liek Waterlox would be a better bet.

Exposure to the solvents in most finishes, in the amounts we use, is not going to harm you. A couple of possible exceptions are lacquer, and a finish I once used made by Behlen called 'woodturner's finish". I don't know whjat was in th latter, but it made me a bit ill using it. And lacquer thinner is pretty toxic to breath, over time anyway.

-- Andy Barss

Reply to
Andrew Barss

Andrew Barss wrote: : redice wrote: : : I am looking for something with low toxicity that I don't have to wear : : gloves to apply or applies well with just a brush, something that can : : be fixed if something does happen like I can sand it back down and re : : do it without adverse affects, I mainly use linseed oil and I believe : : its Dutch oil? or a mix of linseed other things to add pigment/color to : : the linseed, but I want a finish to go over my color that will give it : : that wet hight gloss or semi gloss look.

: Probably your best bet is shellac.

As an additional note, before someone jumps in with "shellac isn't water resistant". It's used on canoe bottoms, particularly guide canoes that go through shallow water and over rocks.

-- Andy Barss

Reply to
Andrew Barss

I have done this but havent found a wax that really does the job yet for getting a nice gloss finish, I got it to a dull gloss on one shotgun I did a while back but I think it was more the 20x coats of thinned boiled linseed than the liquid wax I went over it with. Actualy I think thats still one of my favorite stocks just because its so blond not many guns look good with really blond stocks but that one does.

Reply to
redice

Varnish.

Reply to
dadiOH

For a gunstock? Remember the old tables that would get white rings when you set a glass with some condensation on them? That was shellac. Don't get me wrong, I really like the stuff, but I don't think I'd use it on something that had any reasonable chance of getting wet.

I think Waterlox is making a waterborne poly these days as well. It (the brand) comes highly recommended at the hardwood dealer for appearance and abrasion resistance on floors- it's probably good enough for a grip.

It almost certainly had a warning label of some type on it, but I made a shifter knob about a year ago and coated it with helmsman spar polyurethane out of a spray can. 22,000 miles and four complete seasons later, it's looking better than it was new (better because it is cherry, and the UV has darkened it.) Very glossy, and handling has just polished it. And I do a fair amount of driving with bits of abrasive gunk on my hands going from jobsites back to the shop, so it's got at least a fairly good abrasion resistance.

Reply to
Prometheus

20x coats maybe a bit much however, if its dried thoroughly and rubbed down with 000 steelwool, you should be able to get a high gloss with a quality hard paste wax.

I like blond stocks. I made a stock for a Winchester 30-30 brush gun from Birdseye Maple. Still looks great.

Dave

Reply to
Teamcasa

If you live in the PRC (People's Republic of California), you're out of luck. Everything will kill you. If you live in other states, you will be safe with most of what's on the market.

Reply to
CW

I don't think that "This product contains chemicals, including lead, known to the State of California to cause (cancer, and) birth defects or other reproductive harm." is directed at those who would wrap the power cord to their toaster around them and then sit for weeks at a time pushing down the handle every time it pops up.

I can't tell if you were being facetious or if you really do believe that having government-mandated warning labels on _everything_ does something other than cause people to ignore warning labels.

Reply to
J. Clarke

And part of the reason is that it dissolves slowly over time.

Reply to
J. Clarke

: For a gunstock? Remember the old tables that would get white rings : when you set a glass with some condensation on them? That was : shellac. Don't get me wrong, I really like the stuff, but I don't : think I'd use it on something that had any reasonable chance of : getting wet.

The white rings only occur with shellac that has a high wax content. Dewaxed shellac is very water-resistant. One of the prominent finishers and authors (I think it was Jeff Jewitt) did a test involving leaving standing water on dewaxed shellac, and found zero water penetration after 24 hours, IIRC.

-- Andy Barss

Reply to
Andrew Barss

Really? That's good to know- I'll have to try it out. There have been a lot of projects where I wanted to use it, but didn't care to risk damaging my new project when someone set down a pop can on it, so I used poly instead.

Reply to
Prometheus

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