Redoing wood stocks
- Thread starter Timber22
- Start date
I've restored several military and hunting rifle stocks, best way is to use Circa 1850 stripper with fine steel wool to remove the old finish. After that, use a wet paper towel to remove any residue. Let dry overnight and if need be, sand away any scratches or imperfections using very fine grit sandpaper and final sand with ultrafine steel wool. (take your time on this step) If you want a gloss finish, hand rub in Truoil (4 light coats, allow to dry overnight between coats) or for a semi gloss finish, do the same with TungOil. If you want a Military low gloss finish, use boiled linseed oil.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!
jlovie
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Sorry to thread jack, but I'm looking at redoing 2 stocks myself. 1 to an original finish and one I will be painting. If anyone has tips of painting/getting paint to stick, etc. That would be great too.
300shooter
Regular
- Location
- Windsor, Bantario
Another product I've found for an "oiled" type finish is Howard Feed N Wax, gives a nice finish and smells like citrus. It really makes the woodgrain "pop" out, my CZ stocks look amazing.
X2 This is it in a nutshell.
It might help some to know that when using Truoil, you hand rub with very small amounts until it feels dry, one small area at a time. A thimble full will do a coat on a rifle stock. Very hard finish that really richens the looks of the wood.
I posted this in the Rimfire section a while back, thanks cut and paste!
Once the old finish is removed I'd further sand it smooth with 320 grit emery cloth. Sand with the grain at all times and collect this sanding dust, it will come in handy later. Dont collect the first rough sanding dust though.
Finish it off with a final sanding of 400 grit until all sanding marks are gone. Also at this time any checkering can either be recut with needle files or taped off with masking tape.
Now you can finish with any number of finishes including boiled linseed oil, Tung oil, tru oil... whatever. I'd use tung oil so i'll give tips on that. I find it gives the nicest finish, to my eyes anyway. Though the steps would be the same with BLO.
Mix tung oil (i use circa 1850 brand) and mineral spirits 50/50 and give the stock a heavy soaking in this, after 1/2 hour wipe it down and let it dry for no less than 2 days.
Next step is very important if you want a high quality finish. Lightly sand the stock again with 400 grit. Now, take out your saved sanding dust and add enough tung oil to make it a wet paste. Using a clean cloth you lightly smear the paste all over the stock perpendicular to the grain to fill in the grain pores. Keep smearing until you have the stock covered but with little apparent residue left on the surface. let dry 2 days.
Next, you sand off the stock again, very lightly with 400 grit again. For best results, you repeat the above process 2-6 times to ensure you have totally filled in all the grain. Once you are happy with the smoothness of the surface you can apply the finishing coat.
I again use tung oil mixed with a couple drops of japan dryer which will help to make a very tough finish and it will dry quicker. Apply the mix with the tips of your fingers, rubbing it the length of the stock with quite a bit of pressure so that it becomes quite warm. Keep looking at it from different angles to make sure you dont have any areas with more or less varnish.
I like to let it dry at least 24 hours per coat for this process, and i apply about 6 coats. Every 2nd coat i use oil soaked 800 grit to smooth out the finish, and i dont sand the last coat.
Once done, i use a coat of johnsons paste wax to seal the finish. It takes me on average about 2-3 weeks to complete a high quality finish, from start to,... finish.
It takes a stock from this (notice how you can see the pores in the grain)
To this (no pores in the grain)
Once the old finish is removed I'd further sand it smooth with 320 grit emery cloth. Sand with the grain at all times and collect this sanding dust, it will come in handy later. Dont collect the first rough sanding dust though.
Finish it off with a final sanding of 400 grit until all sanding marks are gone. Also at this time any checkering can either be recut with needle files or taped off with masking tape.
Now you can finish with any number of finishes including boiled linseed oil, Tung oil, tru oil... whatever. I'd use tung oil so i'll give tips on that. I find it gives the nicest finish, to my eyes anyway. Though the steps would be the same with BLO.
Mix tung oil (i use circa 1850 brand) and mineral spirits 50/50 and give the stock a heavy soaking in this, after 1/2 hour wipe it down and let it dry for no less than 2 days.
Next step is very important if you want a high quality finish. Lightly sand the stock again with 400 grit. Now, take out your saved sanding dust and add enough tung oil to make it a wet paste. Using a clean cloth you lightly smear the paste all over the stock perpendicular to the grain to fill in the grain pores. Keep smearing until you have the stock covered but with little apparent residue left on the surface. let dry 2 days.
Next, you sand off the stock again, very lightly with 400 grit again. For best results, you repeat the above process 2-6 times to ensure you have totally filled in all the grain. Once you are happy with the smoothness of the surface you can apply the finishing coat.
I again use tung oil mixed with a couple drops of japan dryer which will help to make a very tough finish and it will dry quicker. Apply the mix with the tips of your fingers, rubbing it the length of the stock with quite a bit of pressure so that it becomes quite warm. Keep looking at it from different angles to make sure you dont have any areas with more or less varnish.
I like to let it dry at least 24 hours per coat for this process, and i apply about 6 coats. Every 2nd coat i use oil soaked 800 grit to smooth out the finish, and i dont sand the last coat.
Once done, i use a coat of johnsons paste wax to seal the finish. It takes me on average about 2-3 weeks to complete a high quality finish, from start to,... finish.
It takes a stock from this (notice how you can see the pores in the grain)
To this (no pores in the grain)
I refinished a Mauser pellet rifle once with the stippled grips and after the first rough sand of the stock I just removed the gunk from the grips with a chemical stripper and a fine nylon brush. Be careful not to sand the stippled grips. Once it was dry I painted the grips with black paint from an airbrush, and sealed the paint with a spray on clear coat. When the whole thing dried I then taped the grips with two layers of masking tape and proceeded to finish the rest of the stock as usual. Turned out very nice.
