.... it's a trade secret Tom.






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Geez Dean, I've known you for a long time and you never held secrets before. If I show you how to use a checkering tool, will you tell me what Trade Secreit is? My curiosity is high. I need to know.

I have no idea Tom ... I was messing with you.:corn:





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Darn!!

I use liquid Gun Sav'r to do my stocks and it's a tedious process but works well for me. A friend of mine recently told me of "Trade Secret", which is very hard to come by but readily available in England. It's been around a very long time and contains Alkanet root. My friend swears by it and will be finishing a stock for me, using it.
You can get the product from a gentleman in Pa. That is the only way you can get it in the states.

Google it, and you can read up on it.

Ah ha! Thanks for clearing this up Carl. Sounds interesting. I'll bet someone from Purdey or the like came up with it.

You're right Tom, I think it's an old standard. There are actually 3 main products offered in the complete package, one is a colorant which is the Alkanet root, another is called "Rapid Oil", which I believe is a form of linseed oil with a dryer in it, and the last product is a wood sealer. Anyway, my friend, the stock maker, knows how to use the combination to produce what he calls... the best finish ever. I'm anxious to get the stock back and see for myself.

Sounds a bit like the slackum and oil process used by Purdey and other London makers. Please send a picture of the stock when it is finished. I'd like to see it. I've used slackum and oil on my best Harrison and Hussey gun because that is what it was finished with originally. The finish the London gunmakers used on their wood provided superb and classic results. I image that Trade Secret produces a similar finish.

Will do, I should have it back by months end