Milsurp finish

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After making a sacrifice to the gods of cosmoline and a few small repairs my newly acquired yugo 24/47 is nearly finished. Its looking pretty good so far with two coats of tung oil but I was wondering how many coats other people use. Will additional coats provide more protection? BTW, I'm not planning on doing a wax coat for the final finish. Also, the tung oil is pretty nasty smelling. Will that get better after it has more time to set in?
 
the more coats you use, the smoother and shinier it gets. I use BLO on mine and after each coat drys, (after 24 hours) I rub it down with 0000 steel wool and add another coat. When it gets to the smoothness and shine I want, I quit.

Each piece of wood will be different. I've used 3 or 4 coats on some and 6 or more on others. It depends on the kind of wood and how dry the wood is.

You really can't put on to much, but if it starts taking a looong time to dry, then it's time to quit.
 
I find its best applied in light coats especially by really rubbing in the first couple. After you get a decent start and it quits soaking into the wood, you can lightly wipe on a medium wet coat and hang it to dry for a day. Just be sure to wipe it clean if you're buffing with 00 steel wool in between coats. Any metal fibers from the steel wool will look like stuck on dirt on some of the more flat areas of the stock. I use a can of compressed air like the ones used to blow the dust off keyboards to get in the tight areas, and a clean rag lightly dampened with water to wipe the stock clean before I start with each coat if I've buffed it down.
Don't be afraid of getting it on any metal parts of the stock, you can always wipe those clean with some solvent like paint thinner or turpentine later.
When you get the finish you want using the desired amount of coats, you can also lightly buff the stock with 00 steel wool, or a coarse rag like a clean shop rag or piece of burlap. That will take some of the gloss from the finish and make it look more natural, plus get rid of any dust nibs.
Depending on how dry a stock was when I satrt, I'll usually use 4 to 5 coats, and yes the smell goes away after a week or so.
 
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