Stock refinishing, help, and opinions please

TargetGuy

TargetGuy

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 99.3%
134   1   1
Hey all, so I've made some changes to my 10/22 stock with thoughts of doing a camo spray job using leaves and such. However, I only had enough time to start the sanding yesterday, when I woke up this morning, I slapped it on the rifle and I kinda like it. And I know my opinion is what counts most, but I need help with the finishing of it.

What I did was cut the tip of the stock off where that hideous and accuracy robbing barrel band sits. I have a 16" SR 22 barrel with a heavier taper so I sanded down the channel as well. Sanded it and gently rounded the edges, and then starting taking the finish off with 220 grit. It's super smooth and I'm happy with the way it feels , my question is. Can I just leave it 220 grit smooth and hit it with a matte clear coat over the bare wood? I would of course use our super strength ISO we use at work to degrease and de dust.

Here's a couple pics as it sits. I plan to take off a bit more of the color on the right side of the stock to match the left side.




So guys, thoughts on if I can spray it as is? And also what's your opinion on the looks of it?

I will add.... I don't like shiny gun stocks. I don't wanna oil it or whatever, I hate shiny. Lol
 
Well, you're right...you only have to please yourself. But, sandpaper isn't the way to remove a finish of course. Well...it's one way to do it. :) Having done a pile of stocks...and...hating a shiny finish too...here is what I'd do if I were you;

1. Remove the stock from the barreled action, and remove all bits and pcs. from it. (any metal/plastic)
2. Use a stripper to remove the finish. Something like Circa 1850. Dead-simple, fast. May take a few applications. Follow the instructions. (PM me for specifics if you like, but it's very easy)
3. Do any (or complete any) stock modifications at this point, then sand as smooth as you wish. 220 minimum, I usually go a little finer. Nothing finer than 400 though.
4. Top-coat~I've used a few products, but most recently...I tried a wipe-on polyurethane-like product made by "MOHAWK" called "Pour-N-Wipe". Did a 1951 Remington shotgun stock with it and the results were fantastic. No spraying req. (as the name suggests). I did about 4 coats over 4 days...then let it fully dry/cure for about 3 days.

The problem with just blasting finish on while the original finish remains...or some of it..is that you don't know what the original finish is. If you hit a urethane like finish with say...a lacquer top-coat..you can get a nasty reaction, and a terrible result that would need to be redone.

Good luck, and have fun.
 
You don't need to have a shiny finish with oil. If I want an oil finish to look flat I just use 000 Steel Wool to rub it down after the last coat has dried. I just finished this one the other day and as you can see, quite matte. That's 4 coats of Tru-Oil with 000 rubdowns between each coat.

 
Yes of course all mods were already done, yesterday. Without the action and butt plate attached.

I think I'm just going to do a tiny bit more sanding on the one side of it, blow it off clean it up, and rattle can satin clear it.

Worse comes to worse I strip it all off and start over. Will update with pics when completed. Hopefully tonight. Works kinda slow :)
 
It looks freaking PIEBALD! ! ! ! You've removed part but not all of the finish. I hate to say it but if you think this looks good then you really need to raise your standards. It's freakin' hideous! ! ! ! You really need to finish what you started.

I'm guessing that you have not done much of this sort of thing. So likely you're sort of fearful of carrying on. But you've taken the first step and you need to finish the journey.

Finish sanding off the old finish for starters. You need to remove the rest of that brown tinted varnish that they used originally. And it's OK to use 120 grit paper to make the job faster and easier. Once you're down to clear wood THEN go back to the 220 and working the paper back and forth lengthwise only sand down the sort of rough 120 grit finish to a nice smooth 220 grit finish. Use a desk lamp in a dimly lit room with the light running along the surface to look for the shadows of any scratches left by the 120 paper and sand them out with the 220.

THEN switch to some 320 grit paper and really polish it up nicely. You think it's smooth now? You'll love it after a good rub down with 320 or 340.

The stock wood is a white birch or beech. Lots of folks have had some pretty nice results from just finishing these with an oil finish. It warms up the colour of the wood and gives the grain a really clear and sharp look. And with only a couple or three coats rubbed on and then buffed off and allowed to cure you get a nice low luster sheen that looks like it's just the wood itself.

You can test the colour before you start with the oil finish. Get some low odor paint thinner or mineral spirits and wet the wood with it. How it looks while it is wet is what it will look like and stay like with an oil finish. If you don't like it then let the solvent dry away overnight and it'll be back to bare dry wood. You can then change your plan at that point and stain it if you want something else. Or you can go ahead with the camo or some other option.

The trick to this low shine but clear look is to oil the wood fairly liberally. Not dripping and running but certainly wet. Rub the oil on with a little patch of medium or 000 steel wool so it cuts off any fuzzy raised grain from the previous coat. Allow to soak in for about a minute then wipe it down with a few paper towels to rub away the excess. This rubbing it down to remove all but what soaked into the wood is the key to a really nice looking "woody" sort of oil finish with little or no shine to it.

To get a lower sheen I'd suggest you use three coats of Danish Oil finish. It soaks in well and it's intended to leave a "no finish" look to the wood. Put it on with the steel wool and rub it down as described. The result will be a fairly water resistant finish that allmost looks like it isn't a finish but which warms the colour of the wood and really makes any grain features the wood has pop out with much more clarity.
 
Bcrider... That's your opinion and I have mine. It's different, and I like it.

I'm not fearful of carrying on and I already did carry on. It's been sprayed with 2 coats of matte clear coat already. I'll post pics tonight when I have it mounted back on the rifle.

Thanks for the advice, I will keep it on record for my next refinish.
 
It's a $300 gun do what you want. If it doesn't turn out strip sand repeat. While I enjoy shine on some guns I prefer satin on others. I use min wax wipe on poly. It's awesome and easy. Leaves very little sheen in bright sunlight but protects well. I just did a savage in tru oil. In bright sun it may blind some. Looks damn good though. The grain looks 3d. To each their own
 
Well here it is. About 3 coats of krylon matte clear. It's a gritty. Very subtle but it's there, gonna give it a light sanding with some steel wool or sos pad or something just to take off the gritty, which I believe to be caused by dust as I painted it at work, not the cleanest of places. Lol then I'll give it one more clear coat maybe 2.








Some might find it shocking, but I am very happy with the way it turned out. Looks like old barn wood, or distressed, or whatever you wanna relate it to. But I've never seen a stock like it, which is what I had in mind going through this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom