Gunsmithing - Stock Finishing with Bar Top Varnish Presented by Larry Potterfield of MidwayUSA 

Legend has it, he's still applying coats to that stock.

The ways Larry teaches are the ways it was originally supposed to be done, by craftsmen. Not the fast & easy answer in a can or plastic is fantastic resolution. These videos are Fantastic...

Did anyone else notice he grew a beard by 5:36....Must be a really long process ;)

Beautiful work! I've never seen such a capable CEO :)

Great workmanship - starting to understand the price of such a stock.

Wow, what can I say except thank you so much for sharing this Larry Potterfield. You absolutely have some of the best if not all of the best gunsmithing videos out there, and I am supposedly a master gunsmith according to one of the schools. You have many years of training and experience, which you share freely in these videos, and this is absolutely on of the best of the best.

Man iam going to get some water in a bowl an do that finger trick 😂 I did but forgot it was my hot coffee,ouch

1:03 Shaved 5:36 Fully bearded Jesus Christ for how long you´ve been making this stock?

This process took so long he had full beard at the end

This is what all CEO s of companies should be like. Know their business with hands on knowledge. Larry needs to run for president of this country!! I would vote for him over the last guys in office any day!!

Hunter then trips and stock gets scratched......$1500.00 finish is screwed!

Excellent work, Larry... You do things the way they used to be, and should be done. This kind of craftsmanship needs to be kept alive.

What do you do over checkered areas?

Bar top varnish on my BAR stock. Im redoing the stock. Im already at the wet sanding part.

Wow. The guy won't take second best, love these videos, what a craftsman.

I see bar top varnish is used, does this differ from any other varnish/spar varnish for this application?

Love the guys' videos. Always learn something. Usually it is patience.

Now I understand why gun makers want people to buy synthetic stocks.

Maybe you should put a little lacquer in that varnish....i tell you what

My preference is tru oil much easier and quicker but you do you bud.

I cant find this varnish can someone tell me please where I can buy this product thanks .

Your personal collection must be amazing

Not familiar with "Rottenstone" over here Larry, could it be powdered Pumice ?

I am totally blown away by the craftsmanship! That has got to be an expensive piece of art work.

Seriously a true Craftsman. Can’t beat best practices.

I like using water as lube...... Wait are we talking about rifles stocks?

I love the old ways

Great job of imparting knowledge. Old school is still the best.

He sanded so long he grew a beard lol

Instead of shellac or varnish as a wood filler, why not use a gellatin or water reduced hide glue? that's what we do when making violins and only 1 coat is needed.

Last Sentence..."An additional coat or two..." Additional coat or two of what?

8 coats of oil 3 days in between coats of oil....24 days to grow a beard sounds right.....did you even listen to the video?

Wow this was very complex. I'm going to have to watch it a few more times to understand it.

Unfortunately I don't have the patience for all the sanding and recoating... beutiful job.

That stock turned out beautiful.

I wish it could look like the varnish is wet...damn that looked sexy with the wet grain

A perfect explanation on how to use linseed oil. Nice.

That stock looks fantastic

Your skill is outstanding. I wish I could learn from a master like you

Good job, after sanding and 3 layers of danish oil, I spray 3 layers of 2k clear coat high gloss for cars and it's amazing how beautiful and scratch resistant. It remains beautiful for years. A lot easier to do and a very durable finish

6 coats True Oil works well

A question to Midway USA: Now that Behlen's rockhard table top varnish is polyurethane based (old non-poly formula no longer available) would you still recommend its use or would you please recommend an (non-poly) alternative ? Thanks a lot in advance!

I've been woodworking for a long time, by far natural and traditional finishes are my favorite to work with hands down. while I'll be honest and say synthetic finishes such as epoxy, resins like polyester, lacquer like urethane or acrylic can be much stronger, wear resistant and weather resistant. You just don't get the beauty and feel you do using traditional Lacquers like Shellac, Nitrocellulose, oils and varnishes, waxes. EVEN BARE WOOD SANDED SMOOTH.. No really. Although I don't think I'd recomend the two latter for a rifle stock ha. The sweat from your hands would most likely cause your stock to swell. Take that out for a rainy day and you'll have yourself a fat, soggy, misaligned gunstock at the end.. Softer, more natural finishes wear over time yes, but that'll just give your wood character. Something you can't really appreciate with plastics. Not to mention traditional finishes are often easy to fix without disturbing the rest of your piece or using harsh chemicals. Though everyone has their personal preference. Larry dose great work on his stock finishing videos he seems like he knows all the trade tricks.

Linseed oil NEVER dries. Heat it up 20 years after finishing the stock, and it will come oozing back out.

That is a gorgeous finish!

Gary RU-vid how did I think about this just five minutes ago and it show up on my feed I have not searched this I've never done this in my life I have an old gun I purchased a few years ago and I was just thinking about doing this today

Beautifull finish im soon to aquire an american walnut stock for my 97k . Looking forward to finishing it myself Joe UK

I just got to say you are a icon in my book. I would love to take a tour of Midway USA . I would be like a 6 year old in a candy store. 👍👍👍👍👍🇺🇸 love your videos

fantastic stockwork Larry! Thanks!

Drink everytime he says finish.

I'd like to know if that drying cabinet is custom made or commercial made.

Larry, your carpentry skills are excellent.

Dang. There's alot of gork goes onto that stock.

We must rub with rottenstone before the last coat of oil got dry? This is not very clear.

Liquidubricant is my new band name.

larry knowes quite a bit but hes not the best in finishing theres far better out there

Back into the gun safe..never to see the light of day again, much less taking afield to risk scratching it.....good job!

I was looking for a way to fill the grain prior to finishing a gunstock with tung oil, so I find this video very informative, but it takes forever to finish a stock following every instruction in this video. I've already finished a stock (previously sealed) with tung and teak with success. Now, what I'm going to try is put in practice the general idea of this video with more practical products : Sealing with 2-3 coats of wipe-on poly (thinned poly), followed by the 3-4 coats wet sanding of my own recipe of danish oil (6 parts of Circa Tung and Teak, 4 parts of Minwax satin oil/urethane varnish, 1% Japan dryer, no thinner). With this recipe drying time is down to 2-3 hours, and there's no need for a drying cabinet as long as the temperature is 20 degrees Celsius or over (68 F +) . Wish me luck!

I could not locate this product anywhere. It appears the company was bought out and the same varnish is now polyurethane based. My guess is that the EPA killed off the original varnish.

Some projects can’t be rushed!

Has anyone ever tried water based polyurethane varnish instead? I'm just wondering how well it works ...

Larry got that al gore beard thing going on. I used this method On my lc smith looks great took 6 days between coats !

I'd like to know if that drying cabinet is custom made or commercial made.

Just curious if anyone has tried Shaftol, on a stock. Not that I have seen it sold in the USA, it comes from the Ballistol company, brought a can when I moved back to the states. It is linseed oil with different colors, mine is a red tint, and has silicone additives. It is what the gunsmiths at the gun shop I worked at in Germany use to finish stocks.

Ok Sir your stock will be ready in 8 months.......and will cost 5 x what the rifle cost

I'd like to know if that drying cabinet is custom made or commercial made.

I get the same results from Daly’s “ship to shore” product and it only take 3 days at most. Once you hit 220 grit apply let dry (04:00:00) then repeat using 320,400,600,800,1000,1200 grit sand papers then dry polishing wheel.

That's what I need to do with the stock on my Winchester Model 60. It was already nearly black and cruddy when I got it 50 years ago.

I'm refinishinga Monte Kennedy stock on a rifle that Pfeifer built up on a Mauser action in the mid-1950's here in California. I'm up to my 6th coat of linseed oil as we kill time here on lockdown. What a great way to live in the slow lane doing a linseed oil finish. Thanks for the video Larry!

God bless America, this is a mind-numbing process. I am consistently amazed Larry Potterfield hasn't lost his mind trying to be patient.

More videpw like this please!

Surprized you didn.t use that Gilbert Myles gun stock you sale very good worked super nice on mine don.t worry Larry like always with you it looks super

The way Larry respects all of his guns is exactly how it should be for every firearm. And that's the way it is

Man could I sent my dads ruger 44 mag carbine to be restored an rerifled I cant find a good gun smith around here that I can trust to do it right or trust them in general

I am surprised you don't use a UV cabinet to dry that is what violin makers use.

Got a K 98....should I put anything on the wood to take care of it ? Thanks

If I wanted to listen to the music I would have turned on the radio

Thank GOD. FOR SOME BEAUTIFUL WOOD

what kind of dryers do you add to the b.l.o.the boiled linseed oil that they used in the 18th-19th centuries had lead and other dryers that we now know are toxic. the b.l.o. that we use now doesn't have any dryers that i know of. i have friends that add a lot of japan dryers to their b.l.o., but i just don't use it. it's not a very strong finnish, meaning it may be o.k. for a firearm that doesn't leave the safe more than once or twice a year, but for a flintlock brush gun, nope.all iv'e ever gotten was cracking and crazing. i love your video's. as a self taught black powder gun builder, the video's you produce are informative and very helpfull. thank you very much.

Varnish and THEN Blo? This is why I love Larry's videos. Keep up the good work Midway.

Nice but i dont have the patience to do a stock for a whole month

Larry is a stud .. I did not realize the depth of his skill and knowledge ..

아저씨ㅎ 나 거기 취직하고싶어 배우고싶어ㅜㅜ

he has a beard at the end!

How long do you need for dry time if you do not have a drying cabinet?

I never tire of hearing Larry say "morsture"

Did this on my stevens 315 And my 51 navy. And the wood is gorgeous much better than the factory finish showed

That’s one kickass finish

0:46 good God that's beautiful!!

I bet if you use a vacuum chamber you will save a lot of time

Do you have to sand the gunstock after each coat of varnish or only after the 3 layers?

And it only took 496 hours.

nice work

What is rotten stone the last step in the stock finish dept?

Your the best Larry...thanks

That is a very nice stock!!

that is a crazy amount of time and dedication to just one stock

I take it its not the same as work top oil ?

Nice detail in explaining

Wow, incredible, what is possible.