finnish on wood for M1 carbine

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ianwd

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I just got an M1 carbine from a fellow nutter , an el boggo universal with a deep varnish finish on it , with a few scratches , so decided to clean old finish off it and it came clean nicely with paint stripper . and a wipe down with alcahol.
its still a bit darker in the piccy because i just wiped it with the alcahol its actually really white
anyway what should i finish the wood with ? linseed, wax,
i dont want to varnish it again , so advise please from guys who re finished stocks would be awesome
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I have refinished quite a few M1 Carbine stocks, but all of them were USGI or at least post-WW2 European replacements. Anything on a collector-grade gun I will clean only, and not strip. In the other cases, I strip with Circa-1850 stripper, steam out the dents, bake out the oil, rub down with super-fine steel wool (or the equivalent synthetic finishing pad), and then usually refninsh with a 50-50 mix of BLO and turpentine (multiple coats, allowing sufficient time between them), and then several coats of straight BLO rubbed-in.

I have found that the USGI stocks normally come out sufficiently dark that staining isn't needed, but I think the wood on the Universal carbines might be quite a bit lighter. You will need to decide if you want to stain it or not, but I suggest using an alcohol-based stain if you do stain it.

You may also want to consider using BTO (boiled tung oil) on the stock as an alternative to BLO, as it is considered to be more durable & water resistant. If you aren't after USGI-type authenticity, I suggest skipping the staining and going with the BTO. It'll look fine and be well-protected.

One word of caution - dispose of all of your rags/pads/etc. in either a water-filled bucket, or by some other safe means. BTO and BLO can spontaneously burst into flame on rags and steel-wool after you are done with them. DON'T BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN!!!
 
+1 for tung oil, my personal fave....it naturally darkens over time to give a nice amber hue to what ever is underneath. As far as authenticity goes I'm fairly sure it was used on early Garands but I don't know about the carbines.
 
Heres an example of tung oil. M44 with 6 or 8 coats(can't remember) of tung over a cabernet stain I did for a friend.The bayo was cut off by a previous owner.
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I just picked up a Plainfield Machine/Iver Johnson M1 Carbine from someone locally that was in rough shape, stock included. Since it was a commercial version I had no problem stripping and sanding the stock. I finished it today with Minwax wood stain two coats. It looks a whole lot better than when I got it. I don't intend to urethane the stock. It's set to go up for sale in EE shortly.

If you have a military contract M1 I would follow Plinksters advice.
 
"...doesn't tung oil leave a sheen..." Yep. The more coats you rub in the shinier the hard, waterproof, finish. Any staining must be done before any tung oil is applied. Tung oil soaks into wood to about 1/4" and keeps any stains out.
BLO gives a flat finish, but not waterproof. Still lets you fix any scratches with a bit more oil though.
 
sunray said:
"...doesn't tung oil leave a sheen..." Yep. The more coats you rub in the shinier the hard, waterproof, finish. Any staining must be done before any tung oil is applied. Tung oil soaks into wood to about 1/4" and keeps any stains out.
BLO gives a flat finish, but not waterproof. Still lets you fix any scratches with a bit more oil though.
Click to expand...

I am using an oil based stain unfortunetly, will the Tung oil work as a solvent on my dried stain and mess it up.

Sorry to jack the thread by the way.
 
well i stripped the ol girl with paint stripper , it came off real good .as it had a real dark varnish on it and scratched .
and i gave it a light rubbing with really fine wire wool.
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then diluted tung oil a few coats . then a few coats of undiluted tong oil
i didnt stain first as i thought the wood looked nice , and it will apparently darken with age . any way im pleased with the end result .
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