Anyone use: Arrow Wood Finish Deluxe?

[RTBRICK]

I've been doing a little research to find an appropriate finish for a new Richards stock that's on order.  I came across another shooting site, via Google, where the Arrow Wood Finish Deluxe was popular.  Check it out here:http://www.shootersolutions.com/arwoodfin.html.  The finish can be had anywhere from dull to high gloss (I kinda like the high gloss look).  And you can top coat most other finishes with the Arrow Deluxe.

Anyone use this finish? Is it any different than, say, Tru-Oil?  Is it just a "show" finish that will not hold up to real hunting?

[cntryboy1289]

I have been using it for around a year now to do my stocks.  I like the fact that you can adjust the gloss by sanding the finish into the wood.  If you want a matte finish, sand with 300 and then 400 grit paper until dry.  You can take it further and make it have more gloss by sanding with 600 grit and up and then a final rub down using a cloth or your hands like I do.  Here are some pics of what it looks like.

http://www.solisearch.net/ims/pic.php?u=182726oEkr&i=115783

http://www.solisearch.net/ims/pic.php?u=182726oEkr&i=151653

This stuff is a stand alone finish that not only seals, fills and leaves an oil finish, but it is about as good of a weatherproofer as I have found.  It is nothing like Tru-Oil.  It does it all.

[gunnut69]

I've not used the product but it sounds the same as TruOil to me. TruOil also is a stand alone finsh, if you wish it to be, and can also be used as a sanded in finish. It does leave a gloss finish if you wish but that can easily be cut back with a rubbing compound or sanded back as you do with the arrow wood finish. TruOil also leaves an oil finish and as with any oil finish it is NOT waterproof(just water resistant). The exception is tung oil and that is more water resistant than the linseed oil used as a base in Truoil but not trully water proof. Only poly finishes are truely water proof and they're subject to cracking which allows them to fail, just in a different way. All oil finishes need a bit of wax to protect them. Why is the ArrowWood product better?

[cntryboy1289]

Like I said earlier, it isn't Tru-Oil.  It not only seals the wood, it fills the pores, gives a durable oil finish and also water proofs the stock.  I have used Tru-oil and I have used Tung oil and BLO and the like, this stuff does it all without the bees wax or anything else you want to pull out of the hat like you need to do when you use the normal oil finish.  This is truly an all in one finish.  Once your done with it, it's there to stay unlike most oil finishes that need to be maintained.  It can be used to fix chips or gouges as well.  Just appy a drop and sand the finish dry using 300 grit paper.  When the finish is dry, you can hardly tell where the fix is.  I have used it over some of the oil finishes that I have done and it seals them as well as waterproofs them.  Here's a look a one:

http://www.solisearch.net/ims/pic.php?u=182726oEkr&i=115782


The reason most poly's fail is that they aren't completely water proof to begin with.  They don't let the moisture out when it gets in and the finish will crack on you.  The Arrow's wood finish lets the wood breath so this doesn't happen to the finish.

Believe when I say that I have used most finishes when it comes to wood stocks.  This one is the best I have ever used.  Don't believe me, get a bottle and try it out for yourself.  I no longer have to rub out the finish like I did for years.  All of my pumice and rottenstone have been put away with the felts.  I no longer have to do anything but apply this stuff and rub it dry.  I use sandpaper to rub the stock dry on the first coat which in turn raises the grain and cuts it and uses the fibers to help fill the pores as it seals the wood as well.  The next few coats can be rubbed dry anyway you choose, be it sandpaper or a cloth, and the finish never has to be rubbed down with steel wool or anything else, it is just that simple.  I have done around 20 stocks so far using it, and I am still on the first 8oz bottle.  You can forget about warming the stock or any of the things I used to do for years trying to get the right finish.  This works in a few days versus the months it took me to finish out a fine oil finish.  I start with about a quarter size dollop on the first coat, and then on I use less each time.  I'll hush about it and let you decide for yourself.  If you know anything about stocks and finishing them out, this stuff makes a lot more sense than anything else I have used.

[gunnut69]

I say again I have not used the ArrowWood finish and likely will give it a try but you confuse me. First you say it waterproofs the stock but then you say it allows moisture in the wood to escape?? So it's NOT waterproof? It can't be if moisture can penetrate it to get out! Then you say that poly isn't waterproof and allows moisture in but then prevents it's escaping so that it pushes the finish off. Poly film finishes ARE water proof and that's one of the problems. A waterproof finish that developes a crack allowing moisture to get into the wood but trapping it in over a large part of the stock can fail. If Arrow Wood is waterproof it too will not allow moisture to pass,,in either direction! I will look into the material further but am guessing its some type of wax from your statement that it seals oil finished stocks. The use of prepared waxes is far from a new idea.. french finishing wax has been available for years and I have used it.. Perhaps this is a new application method that allows for easier use? If a finish is 'watewr proof' it will not allow moiture passage in either direction. If it 'breathes' it will allow moisture to pass in either direction. Poly's are waterproof but they are brittle and sit on the woods surface. This allows them to crack and moisture that enters disperses throughout the wood of the stock can cause problems when conditions are such that the wood subjected to rapid drying. The result can be the poly popping loose from the wood. Oil finishes have a better penetrating characteristic but ARE permeable. Moisture can enter and exit but the degree can be controlled by the type of oil and other preperations. lacquers and waxes have been used for finishes to but waxes can be difficult to apply and are in general soft, easily damaged. Lacquers are water proof but brittle and eaasily damaged. A finish can be water proof or not but none are water proof only in one direction.. All in all there are several things that define the usefullness of a finish material for gunstock work and all finishes are a compromise. When ever I hear it proclaimed that 'A' finish is perfect, I get very wary..

[cntryboy1289]

When I say it lets the stock breathe, it does just that.  Waterproof may not have been the best choice of words.  As you said, water works both ways.

You can pour water over the finish and it will not soak in, I have hunted in driving rain storms with the stocks and none have ever had any water soak in.  The one thing I have always seen though is a stock that will soak up moisture before being finished and then when a poly finish is applied, it doesn't allow the wood to breath and the finish can and will crack when the water finds a way out of the stock.  Arrow's seals the wood and doesn't let moisture in, but it will allow it to dry from within wihtout cracking.  Lacquer finishes a re world renowned for allowing moisture under them and then they look like the devil when they peel, Remington is famous for that for sure.  I can repair those peeling finishes using arrow's wood finish most of the time.

[gunnut69]

Amen to the remington poly finish peeling.. A crack and water gets under the finish and the pressure of a dry atmosphere(a house in the winter) and the finish turns yellow and pops loose. I wonder what the ArrowWood finish is made of. I'd guess from your description it's a varnish of some type as are tung oil, TruOil, LinSpeed and many others. As a test try finishing a flat surface then allow a small puddle of water to det on the surface for a length of time. Does the finish yellow or change color?  Oh well I suppose it's just another finish I will end up trying out.

[cntryboy1289]

That was actually the first thing I did when I got the bottles I ordered.  The water just sat there and eventually evaporated.  YOu couldn't even tell where the water had sat on top of it.  I wish I knew what it had in it, but for what it costs me to do a stock using it, it is hard to imagine me finding a cheaper way to do the work.  

The bottle cost me close to $11 by the time you add shipping to it.  Out of one 8 oz bottle, I have finished more than 20 stocks and the bottle is still more than a 1/4 full.  The thing I like about it is that unlike the normal removing of the oxygen like I always had to do with Tung oil, you never have to worry about it with this stuff.  There aren't any solids that have to be shaken up all the time either.  Just seems to work for me and cheaper than using anything else, I know I have tried them all.