Polyurethane

[Braxton1]

I have never used polyurethane on anything (furniture or guns). Lately, I've been getting more guns in the shop that had trashed poly finishes because of abuse. I usually strip the poly off and then do a good Lemon Oil rub and get a dark satin finish. I'd like to start doing polyurethane, just to restore back to original. Any tips? I think it should be a good ROI, provided it's not TOO labor- and time-intensive.

I have a couple of stocks from otherwise unserviceable guns laying around, so I have practice material...

 

[Granite3]

Rimfire Central has many experts on the subject, and many threads dedicated to it-

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/stocks-making-repairing-refinishing-mods-etc.275/

 

[BLIP]

Personally not a big fan of poly... the look seems "unnaturally" plastic looking. From my experience ploy tends to yellow and in a think coating needed ( for a firearm) does tend to crack...

Nothing IMO as beautiful as a labor intensive hand rubbed finish...
Patience, labor, quality oils land earning to enjoy your efforts...

Slow fire roasting over microwaving...

 

[Mac2002]

Late to the thread but I use a blend. 1/3 Poly, 1/3 Mineral Spirits, and 1/3 Boiled Linseed Oil. It takes longer to build up and gives you a great finish that has some of the durability of Poly but still looks more natural. I started using this for furniture but then had great luck with it on gunstocks. You can also cheat a little and add a small amount of oil based stain if you decide it is not as dark as you wanted.