Waxing over oiled finished grips?

[Thecount1980]

I'm in the process of refinishing some sets of Ahrend's grips for a couple S&W revolvers and need some advice. I started out with the standard poly coated Ahrend's and wasn't too impressed by the cloudy finish on them (I've read that this is not uncommon). So I stripped the finish with acetone, sanded smooth and let them dry 24hrs. I'm now done with the first coat of 50/50 boiled linseed oil/mineral spirits, and WOW they look alot better

My question is simple, after finishing with however many coats of the BLO I find necessary..... should I wax the grips? I've never owned any oil rubbed grips before, but see that on Ahrend's website he says to use a paste wax on his tung oiled grips. So what do you guys suggest? BTW, both of these revolvers see concealed carry duty, so they aren't safe queens, this is more about durability of the finish.

 

[arjay]

Renwax or a paste wax work well.Might let the solvents in the oil finish evaporate for a few weeks first.

 

[dfariswheel]

Oils do take a while to fully harden up and cure.
After that, wax does nothing but good for wood.

 

[mcnee229]

I used Mylands wax, antique pine. My M1 and this 629 have pure tung oil under the wax. The M1 didn't get near as much wax, just enough to color and cover. The revolver stocks (Ahrend's Retro Combats, walnut) got several building coats of wax.

Thinner coats of wax, buffed out after a couple minutes will start filling the low spots (grain etc). Once you have the smoothness you desire, if you don't have the sheen you want, leave the next layer on for a good 10-15 minutes and very gently buff it out. I use cotton patches on little things like revolver stocks. Pick your wax for what you want out of it, though. The Mylands is beeswax, shellac wax and carnauba and therefore a softer wax. If you want something thats a little harder or wears better top it up or replace entirely with straight carnauba. Its shinier than the Mylands too.

Scott