Recently we visited Midlands Gun services run by Kristian Reilly to meet his apprentice Alfie Edwards and Kristian and Alfie talk here about their development process of their unique form of Slacum for finishing stocks.
Kristian explained: Alfie joined MGS after leaving school at the age of 16, Alfie has spent the last 2 years learning and developing Gunmaking techniques including stock alterations, checkering, Jobbing, finishing and repair work.
“We have been working on a variety of shotguns during this period and what has become apparent is Alfie’s thirst for knowledge and personal development. This has been highlighted primarily in oil stock finishing of which he has shown particular flare. He has however encountered some challenges by way of fluctuating temperatures as our premises are challenging as we reside in a basement,” said Kristian.
Alfie commented that “we have in recent years used over-the-counter stock finishing system such as Trade secrets, this has given us very good results, but being naturally curious I wanted to develop a formula/system in house where we could adjust drying and soak times according to the temperature change and variety in wood we use. I then noted that the colour of over-the-counter Alkanet root oil was not as dark as I would have wanted so we acquired some ground alkanet root powder and infused our own boiled linseed oil. The oil took some months to leech out the required colour and the desired depth of colour was achieved.
Pictured above: Alfie Edwards working on a stock.
We then turned his attention to the Linseed-based finish. After numerous conversations with trusted industry craftsmen, we were given a basic formula which we could develop. Our trusted industry source was a huge help sharing his knowledge of 45 some years finishing. He advised that our experiments should not exceed one litre at a time and to always make notes of process and techniques. I started by acquiring a suitable copper pot for warming through the oil so that we could safely blend the oil over a stove. We were also advised heating the boiled linseed oil for an extended period of time to remove any moisture inherent in the oil due to the modern technique of turning raw linseed into boiled linseed by way of steaming. This method imparts moisture into the oil which isn’t suitable for making Slacum. We acquired some beeswax pellets, Flaked Carnauba wax and some Blackfriars liquid driers. I started by warming through the boiled Linseed oil so that the Beeswax could dissipate into the oil, and I allowed this mixture to cool before adding the liquid driers. The blend was put under the bench and mixed periodically. The oil was applied after a week to a few stocks but I wasn’t keen on the finish as it appeared to leave streaks. We ran numerous tests in differing temperatures in the room and different levels of driers, however, the streaks persisted.”
Kristian commented, “Alfie had the bright idea of warming through the oil prior to application to the stocks. This had a great impact on the lustre of the finish and overnight we lost the streaks. This finishing formula was noted, bottled and dated. Alfie then started a new blend to experiment with this time adding Carnauba wax. The same techniques were observed during the making of the oil and the product began to produce a high level of sheen in the required soak time. Given the fact our workshop temperature is low, he has now observed that we have a blend which suits summertime and winter temperatures.”
We commended Alfie for this work as it really demonstrated how a young apprentice can contribute significantly to a gunmaker at his young age.
Please Help
As our apprentices are spread out geographically across the UK, we are always looking for additional mentors to cover the various parts of the UK where it is a stretch for our current mentors. If anyone would like to put themselves forward to becoming a mentor, please contact us.
