Question about gun finish

[rriverot]

A friend of mine built me a speargun 55 inches long with three 9/16 bands .The speargun is built with three vertical lams of "native" teak. I completed the work of sanding and finished with four coats of Riffe penetrating tung oil and two of finish tung oil.
The problem is that the first time I use it note in the water some rough areas, then out of the water note that the entire surface of the wood was rough. Any idea what happen?.

[deepdestroyer]

That happens a lot, the fibers will raise the first time they get wet. To prevent this sand the gun, run a damp cloth over it, sand again.

[Behslayer]

Did you ballast the gun with Lead? Usually after you ballast a gun with Lead in Water, and your initial sanding get wet, the wood usually bumps up a bit. Then you fine sand it down and give it the Finishing treatment.

Another thing could be that sometimes people will apply those oils with Steel wool. Steel wool, is also used to get an 'Antique' finish on Teak.. it tends to remove the softer areas around the grain. If you use it enough you can get a really nice effect of popping out the grain of the wood.. but this isn't usually what you want for a Speargun.

Sometimes fine dust of an oily wood will get stuck in the grains and then will get rinsed out with oiling and then become more visible and textured once the gun is used. Before Oiling, it's a good idea to either use an air hose or a strong vacuum and remove the dust. This will usually let you know if you need to continue Sanding.

The last thing is the importance of being thorough and progressive with your sanding.. i.e. 80 or 100/150/240/400.

[rriverot]

I don't ballast the gun with lead, but I used steel wool between each coat.

[Mr Paul]

+ 1 on the air hose between sanding coats. I also wipe my guns down with acetone before I put a final coat. Tung oil is tricky, try applying a heavier coat with a foam brush, then use a dry foam brush and wipe smooth. It will leave almost an epoxy finish.

[alemaozinho]

beautyful picture,nice wood.

[Behslayer]

The problem is the Steel wool... you have removed the softer material between the grains of the wood. You can either embrace this as a form of enhancing your grip on the gun, or you can sand it out..

Mr. Paul is that an Oil Finish? That is Sweeet.

The other thing about Oils.. is that really they take atleast 24 hours to really set.. So, if you put on 6 coats in 12 hours and then go diving.. it's just not gonna be the good stuff.

[Mr Paul]

Originally Posted by Behslayer

Mr. Paul is that an Oil Finish? That is Sweeet.

Yes, Tung oil, 3 coats over epoxy wiped base coat.

[Behslayer]

tung oil over epoxy? does that work? what is an epoxy wipe base coat? you rub in a thin coat?

[Mr Paul]

Originally Posted by Behslayer

tung oil over epoxy? does that work? what is an epoxy wipe base coat? you rub in a thin coat?

I epoxy the entire gun with west systems, then wipe it smooth and let it dry. I sand it completely smooth with 400 and then start my oil coats. The epoxy fills in all of the grain and leaves a glass finish on the teak without a thick epoxy coat. And yes, it works.

[Behslayer]

I'll be trying that. Thanks.

[rriverot]

Thanks for the replies. I started to sand it again, but this time I'm not going to use steel wool, and I'll be sure to carefully remove any dust.