Gun Cleaning Box Finish Completed wWith BLO

I have stained under epoxy with dye and oil stain, and have top coated with conversation varnish. No problems.

Mike; do all your finishing before applying epoxy. West system is impervious to most chemicals use daily so forget staining afterwards. You can taint the epoxy with colors and dyes. West System has some. Looking forward to see the finished product.

Have a pleasant Thanksgiving.

-Madts.

Great! I will do my dyeing/staining prior to epoxy coats. Thinking of doing the bullets BEFORE I apply them to the Granadillo top piece. I other words I am thinking that only the maple base and appliques get stained and the Granadillo goes natural. Probably going to leave the internal partitions unfinished and loose within, because that will make it easy to replace/remove them if/when this box gets re-purposed.

Nice looking box Mike. All of the above info is good. My only suggestion, if you haven’t already bought epoxy, is that if it were me I would use S1 sealer. To my knowledge WEST doesn’t have an equivalent product.

Oops! Sorry Paul, I have already purchased the West Systems short “gallon” of resin and short “quart” of hardener. About 20 or so years ago, I used to use West System when vacuum bagging/laminating RC Sailplane wings with fiberglass and Obechi veneer over custom cut foam airfoils, so I do have past experience with West Systems slow set products. Made some great high-performance wings BTW. Sure wish I hadn’t sold my vacuum bagging system way back when… 8-(

That S-1 sealer definitely looks like the superior of the two and knowing your boat-building background I will remember “S-1 Sealer” for future products, when the time comes. I have a number of outside wrought iron benches that I need to replace the wood on, so when I get to that project I’ll be sure to remember this.

Thanks for the tip!

I’d think the oil from the gun cleaning would provide a nice protective finish such as tung oil does.

By golly Randy, I think you are right! I was having a hard time installing those tiny #2 hinge screws (actually broke one in place) because of the \+2500 hardness of the Granadillo. Had to increase the drill tap above recommended size PLUS… Had the bottle of gun oil at arm’s length, grabbed it and it made threading those little screws a piece of cake! On two of the three hinges that I used the gun oil on, it doesn’t come clean, even after naphtha and denatured alcohol. So I am considering using BLO with just a touch of Japan hardener, and then use the epoxy.

Got some more cleaning rods in and test fitting how/where I want the finger joint slots on the bin separators. Used my finger-joint practice pieces for mock up and liked how they work.

Taking my sweet time on this. I have changed directions on this so many times that I wonder if I am already there!… ;-)

Mike, have you used a bar of soap or bees wax put on the threads before inserting. Works like a gem.

-Madts.

My appologies, I have been remiss about posting this box after finishing it. Thus far I am staying with a BLO finish, with the exception being those bullet appliques that were finished with amber shellac, metallic Sharpies, and final coated with a clear lacquer for protection against the dissolving properties of the BLO and gun solvents. Did much testing of that to assure color retention. Used hidden magnets for the lid latch, though I think I can improve on that part on future boxes.

I have re-coated with BLO 3x and may continue with that choice, OR I may eventually coat with epoxy. I do like the warmer tone of BLO though…

Mike. Even though I am totally against guns, you did a nice job building the box.

-Madts.

Really nice job .

madts, please understand just how much I agree with you RE guns. While being a flaming liberal on politics, I support gun ownership. I do understand the oxymoronic nature of that argument, it is how I feel.

I am NOT religious at all(agnostic),… but no more Masada s, if you understand the underlying meaning…

I apologize RE any political overtones…
HorizontalMike

Very Nice Mike, outstanding job.

Very nice work Mike.

Hey, thanks guys/folks! Smaller projects for me have been have proven to be the equivalent of much larger projects for many of you more talented WW’ers. That said, thank you for the kudos you share. I will strive to do more…