Avalonthas
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toronto ON
I picked up a Cooey Model 60 for $50. It was in decent shape then a few imperfections. The bore is in excellent condition which was the selling point, as it made for an opportunity for me to test the waters refinishing a firearm. It was missing the magazine tube rod, but that's okay I will find one in the EE. The stock was in excellent condition, couple minor dings, and the finish was uneven; some areas being glossy, some being rough. The sight was bent and the blueing on the metal was worn off, and rusted in some areas.
So I did some research, asked some questions, and started her up. I will continue to update as I add to the project.
First thing is first; buy some gear. There was an initial upfront cost, but considering the materials especially the liquids will last for years, the price tags did not concern me.
I started out by buying some Circa 1850 products from Rona (Home Hardware is an alternate) which came heavily recommended by my fellow CGN folks and sources on the internet. I picked up
Circa 1850 Heavy Body Paint & Varnish Remover (1L, $12.99+HST)
Circa 1850 Furniture Stripper (250ML, $4.99+HST)
Circa 1850 Tung Oil (1L, $11.99+HST)
Bulldog #000 Fine Steel Wool (1 Pack, $3.99 + HST)
Bulldog #0000 Very Fine Steel Wool (1 Pack, $3.99+HST)
and an assortment of sand papers from 320 to 600 wet ($2 a pack)
There is essentially no difference in the Heavy Body versus Furniture Stripper other then the Heavy Body was a bit thicker and more gelatin like. But in all intents and purposes, both would work equally well.
I did 8 cycles / coats of stripper until the wood wouldn't get any lighter, so it would seem the original wood was of the darker variety.
Originally I did not plan to do any sanding however I did concede to doing a light sanding job with one cycle of 400 then one cycle of 600 to get the very minor imperfections out. My focus was not to take very much wood off. I wasn't too concerned about every imperfection as this is just a test project for my first go. I wanted to do it right, while experimenting at the same time. If I spent an extra 3 days going super detailed I could use some rougher paper or wool and work out a lot more areas
I was silly and did not take any before shots. But I took a damp towel and put it over the stripped/sanded wood and used an iron with heavy steam setting to raise some of the wood. I did it a long the entire stock and it did a good job on all the small imperfections eliminating some of them all together. On a couple of the deeper holes, I couldn't quite raise them enough to fill in the hole but it wasn't too bad, so I moved on instead of nit picked it.
I then let her sit overnight to let all the moisture out of the wood from the steaming. I then moved into the tung oiling stage. From what I had read and been told, I was directed to use a "liberal" amount of oil and let it stand for 15 minutes. I dislike liberal, so I gave her a good soak
After about 10 or 15 minutes I returned to the project and took a cloth to wipe off the excess and do a quick buff job on the stock. The shiny coating then transformed into a real nice tone, very similar to the original, but much more even and more more eye pleasing. Was nice and dark, I'm not a big fan of blonde wood anyways, and it had a slight shimmer to it.
So I plan on having it soak in and cure over the next 24 hours and will go at it again for a couple more cycles with the upcoming coatings to be thinner and a little more buffing afterwards
For comparison sake here is what the original finish looks like compared to the current finish with a single coat of oil.
So while I wait I moved on to the butt stock, which was originally had spotty rusting spots and had lost most of its bluing.
So I gave it a good elbow grease run using a combination of fine steel wool to get rid of the rusting and a lot of the bluing remnants. I then moved on to some 600 grit wet sand paper to get rid of most of the remaining bluing. There are a few spots left to hit, but another day and I will be set up with that. Then some more steel wool to follow to buff evenly. I am debating about leaving it as is, maybe some polishing, or re-bluing it. I like blued metal, but I also like the contrast of the light grey on the dark wood. Time will tell
And that is where I left off with this project. I will continue after new year celebrations
So I did some research, asked some questions, and started her up. I will continue to update as I add to the project.
First thing is first; buy some gear. There was an initial upfront cost, but considering the materials especially the liquids will last for years, the price tags did not concern me.
I started out by buying some Circa 1850 products from Rona (Home Hardware is an alternate) which came heavily recommended by my fellow CGN folks and sources on the internet. I picked up
Circa 1850 Heavy Body Paint & Varnish Remover (1L, $12.99+HST)
Circa 1850 Furniture Stripper (250ML, $4.99+HST)
Circa 1850 Tung Oil (1L, $11.99+HST)
Bulldog #000 Fine Steel Wool (1 Pack, $3.99 + HST)
Bulldog #0000 Very Fine Steel Wool (1 Pack, $3.99+HST)
and an assortment of sand papers from 320 to 600 wet ($2 a pack)
There is essentially no difference in the Heavy Body versus Furniture Stripper other then the Heavy Body was a bit thicker and more gelatin like. But in all intents and purposes, both would work equally well.
I did 8 cycles / coats of stripper until the wood wouldn't get any lighter, so it would seem the original wood was of the darker variety.
Originally I did not plan to do any sanding however I did concede to doing a light sanding job with one cycle of 400 then one cycle of 600 to get the very minor imperfections out. My focus was not to take very much wood off. I wasn't too concerned about every imperfection as this is just a test project for my first go. I wanted to do it right, while experimenting at the same time. If I spent an extra 3 days going super detailed I could use some rougher paper or wool and work out a lot more areas
I was silly and did not take any before shots. But I took a damp towel and put it over the stripped/sanded wood and used an iron with heavy steam setting to raise some of the wood. I did it a long the entire stock and it did a good job on all the small imperfections eliminating some of them all together. On a couple of the deeper holes, I couldn't quite raise them enough to fill in the hole but it wasn't too bad, so I moved on instead of nit picked it.
I then let her sit overnight to let all the moisture out of the wood from the steaming. I then moved into the tung oiling stage. From what I had read and been told, I was directed to use a "liberal" amount of oil and let it stand for 15 minutes. I dislike liberal, so I gave her a good soak
After about 10 or 15 minutes I returned to the project and took a cloth to wipe off the excess and do a quick buff job on the stock. The shiny coating then transformed into a real nice tone, very similar to the original, but much more even and more more eye pleasing. Was nice and dark, I'm not a big fan of blonde wood anyways, and it had a slight shimmer to it.
So I plan on having it soak in and cure over the next 24 hours and will go at it again for a couple more cycles with the upcoming coatings to be thinner and a little more buffing afterwards
For comparison sake here is what the original finish looks like compared to the current finish with a single coat of oil.
So while I wait I moved on to the butt stock, which was originally had spotty rusting spots and had lost most of its bluing.
So I gave it a good elbow grease run using a combination of fine steel wool to get rid of the rusting and a lot of the bluing remnants. I then moved on to some 600 grit wet sand paper to get rid of most of the remaining bluing. There are a few spots left to hit, but another day and I will be set up with that. Then some more steel wool to follow to buff evenly. I am debating about leaving it as is, maybe some polishing, or re-bluing it. I like blued metal, but I also like the contrast of the light grey on the dark wood. Time will tell
And that is where I left off with this project. I will continue after new year celebrations
