Refinishing wood stock?

mr00jimbo

mr00jimbo

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On my Marlin 1894, the walnut stock got some damage due to water leaking onto it. I guess whatever I used to dry it off with was too coarse and vigorous (tried to dry it off as much as possible by hand with cloths) as I stripped some of the finish off of it.
Is it possible to repair the finish on a little part of the stock or does it now need to be completely stripped off and refinished?


You can see how it's stripped near the end of the butt stock where the water got to it. It's fully dried now but the finish is messed there.
GXsMUcc.jpg
 
It is hard to believe that you would damage the stock by wiping the water off with cloth but anything is possible I guess. It almost looks like some water may have gotten between the butt pad and the stock and soaked into the end grain. It may have "worked" on the finish over a longer period of time...
It will be next to impossible to do a nice job refinishing the damaged area only. The gun appears to be in a really good condition, I would just completely refinish the stock to make it look good.
The link from Ronnie is a good one, suggest you check it out.
K
 
Kody said:
It is hard to believe that you would damage the stock by wiping the water off with cloth but anything is possible I guess. It almost looks like some water may have gotten between the butt pad and the stock and soaked into the end grain. It may have "worked" on the finish over a longer period of time...
It will be next to impossible to do a nice job refinishing the damaged area only. The gun appears to be in a really good condition, I would just completely refinish the stock to make it look good.
The link from Ronnie is a good one, suggest you check it out.
K
Click to expand...

Well, I opened up the safe and it was like that for God knows how long. I had a silica pack in the safe that leaked (!) and the water from that got onto the stock. I tried to let it dry off itself but also tried rubbing it with shop cloths to try and get as much water out as possible.

Gun's in wonderful shape other'n that one thing. One of my favourites.
 
Silica gel doesn't leak. It must have been that other sort of pack which turns to soup as it soaks up the water. And those containers that turn to soup as they suck up the moisture have a caustic product. If you have a carpet on the bottom of your safe then replace the carpet. You don't want that stuff in there.

The gun looks like it might have an oil finish on it. I'm going by the dull luster in the picture you provided. The picture simply isn't clear enough to see any of the details you are talking about. But again anyway... Look at the damaged area. Does the finish seem to be a layer on top of the wood that you can pick away like a film? If so then it has a varnish or other finish on it. And matching it will be fairly tough. On the other hand if it does not seem like it is a film like layer laid on top of the wood then it's likely an oiled finish. And if that is the case you're good. Clean the stock with mineral spirits to remove any stains and accumulated grunge. After that is wiped off and dries apply a small amount of boiled linseed oil rubbed in well. The BLO takes quite a few days to cure between coats. The smell changes notably once it has kicked off. Don't bother to re-coat until it does. The fresh oil will simply wash away the semi cured oil. And a little goes a LONG way with BLO. Don't apply it thickly at all.

If it is a varnish like film then you can try to patch it but it will always show unless you go to great lengths to build up the repair then wet sand it down and polish the patch back in to the rest of the finish. I hate to say it but if it's a varnish then you might be better off to strip the whole stock and do it over with boiled linseed oil. There's lots of videos on You Tube about using boiled linseed.

And if you go with the oiled finish option do NOT scoff at the warnings about any rags or paper towels with BLO on them. I've personally had the stuff burst into flames when too tightly packed away in a bag for disposal.
 
I agree with BC Rider about linseed oil. I've never "repaired" an oil finish though, just stripped and refinished. I have a linseed oil finish job that's over 25 years old and it's hard as rock. If you strip, make sure you get all the old stain off and out of any dents or scratches. It will look "refinished" over top of the old missed stain patches. Sand out or steam out as many dents as possible without getting dimensional changes.
I refinished a damaged(buttstock splintered off from butt forward in a wedge shape) stock on an old pre'64, '94 32 win for a friend. I lucked out with the epoxy repair as it was almost undetectable then proceeded to refinish with truoil. The gloss finish looked really inappropriate. After about 5 coats and after I scuffed it with steel wool for the umpteenth time and could find no information on satin finshes, I just burnished the hell out of it with burlap and there is was... my satin finish. To my nonexpert eye (and my friend's) it looked period correct. Don't skimp on the prep. Restain and fill as many pores as possible with filler. Don't use the filler/sealer crap from the kit. Use the muddy stuff (from the older kits maybe??) and burnish across the grain after with burlap. You may have to do it a few times to fill the pores and minor scratches.

I think most of these oil finishes are pretty good if you prep properly.

Good luck
 
Tung oil has worked well for me , 4 to 5 coats , 48 hours between coats and a fine (0000) steel wool and wipe down before next coat. Don't work the application of the oil too much , I found a sterile gauze pad works best in one direction ...and yes soak everything in water after you use them and put the garbage bag outside away from anything and everything...
 
I would just try rubbing on so oil and see what it looks like, if you don't like it , than strip and refinish, If it was me, I would not sand it, unless it was really banged up, but it looks O.k. from the picture
 
For a range box I firstly used one thinner coat of Minwax Helmsman urethane. I thought it was a bit too satin'ish.
So I gave it a good coat of Tung Oil Protective Finish. Sanded it lightly (400) after 24 hours then another thin coat of thin Tung Oil once more.
Gave it a nice pop.
 
Drip marks come with any finish that is applied too thick. I am not a fan of spar varnish in particular as I find it difficult and slow to apply smoothly.

HTH
 
I followed all recommended directions to avoid drip marks.
- thin coating each time
- only coat a single level surface at a time
- 24 hours between each coat
- sand with 400 grit and wipe off the sanding dust with clean soft cotton rag


And I still experience some amount of drip marks because if I use less varnish I end up with a 'dry spot's that sticks out from the rest of the uniform finish.
 
Many coatings don't thin without giving dry spots. Spar varnish doesn't thin. Thinner can be added and the varnish looks thinner, but the substance doesn't bond together, so you get spots of varnish and spots of thinner. Another thing that'll do it is variance in the wood grain ie some parts suck up more finish than the other. Means you need to use more and keep cutting back to the surface until it stops spotting.

24 hrs is a guideline. Best results are warm with lower humidity. Home Hardware spar varnish stays tacky for a very long time.
 
Dogfish858 said:
Many coatings don't thin without giving dry spots. Spar varnish doesn't thin. Thinner can be added and the varnish looks thinner, but the substance doesn't bond together, so you get spots of varnish and spots of thinner. Another thing that'll do it is variance in the wood grain ie some parts suck up more finish than the other. Means you need to use more and keep cutting back to the surface until it stops spotting.

24 hrs is a guideline. Best results are warm with lower humidity. Home Hardware spar varnish stays tacky for a very long time.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your informed answer. Presently I have on this wood project a thin coat of spar helmsman and then two coats of Tung oil Protective Finish over top this

I am wondering if it's worth my while to give it a top coat of Helmsman??

One last question please
What are the real differences Minwax Helmsman (spar urethane in small letters) and Minwax Spar Varnish ??

Much like Tung oil finish is not really pure Tung oil.

Seems a bit confusing to the uninformed.
Again thanks for your knowledge because it explains some unusual inconsistencies I cannot myself understand.
 
Sorry is the issue inconsistent coverage or finish runs?

Varnishes are generally defined by resins vs oil content. Spar has a lot of resin.
 
I prefer linseed oil based finishes for nearly everything and a wax coat on top. I have hunted in torrential rain with a linseed finish and had no issues. Linseed oil does not keep all moisture out of the stock. But on the flip side, it lets it out again, and the inevitable dings and divots are easily repaired. Many technically waterproof finishes are waterproof until the skin of finish damages, then water gets in and they spall. Linseed becomes part of the stock.

Of the two you mentioned, well cured spar varnish.
 
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