Stan
The last rotten stone I bought was from Herter's when I was in high school, so can't help much. Rotton stone was always recommended to cut back the gloss to a traditional oil look. I personally prefer the gloss of the finished oil.
A couple of years ago, I tried some of the new generation microfiber ultra sanding pads. They are reuseable non-clogging wet sanding pads that go to, I believe, 8000 grit. (I may be mistaken and they may go to 12000 or so.) When I used them, you could take a sprayed lacquer finish ready for buffing wet sand to any level of gloss you wanted by using progressively higher grits. I would suspect they would be a direct replacement for rottenstone with more latitude in the finish.
I think about all oil finishes are generally just boiled linseed oil. Many(most) have some sort of drying agent. I have always used Truoil simply because it will build faster and dry quicker. In fact, I started years ago buying large bottles, opening them, and then let them set a few years. It gets really thick, is hard to rub out, but goes on in fewer coats and builds a nice soft gloss. Also fills the grain better.
Many custom guitar builders of electrics and acoustics both are moving toward Truoil, which was unheard of just a few years ago. The trend is to saturate with thin epoxy, cut it back to the surface and then go with 8-10 coats of Truoil. The results are stunning.
I never used shellac on guns due to potential water damage, but I have finished several violins with it and the soft glowing look is really nice. I am starting to restore an 1878 lifter and I think I will use some amber resin and French Polish the stock. Luthiers talk about the pains you go through to do it, but when I tried the process, it seemed pretty easy to do. The surface has to be flawless.
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