Stock refinishing question?

adanacdjm

adanacdjm

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I've read in various posts here and else where that some folks use a 50/50 mixture of BLO and mineral spirits or 50/50 tung oil and mineral spirits for their first few coats when refinishing stocks . Is that the norm? Also wanted to know if you could substitute pure turpentine for the mineral spirits? Are they the same thing or is one better than the other when used in a 50/50 mix as described above?

also wondered if the same application process could be used if you've applied an oil based stain such as a miniwax stain ?
Thanks?",
Dave
 
Hi. Varsol is the Canadian brand name for mineral spirits. (Use the word Varsol on a U.S. forum and they won't know what you're talking about.) Mineral spirits are petroleum based.
Turpentine is distilled pine sap. Don't see any reason not to use turpentine but I've never used it. (It has medicinal uses too, not just as paint thinner. Haven't done those either. snicker.) It might give you a lightly different colour finish. Don't know for sure.
Pure Tung oil is used without mixing it with anything. Doesn't hurt anything if you do though. I've never mixed BLO either and it works just fine. The difference depends on what it's use. Tung oil gives a hard, waterproof, shiney, finish that usually only needs one application(that being several thin coats, using a clean lint free cloth with every coat, and 24 hours drying time between coats. About 5 coats seems to give good protection to wood.). Any stain(Minwax will do nicely) must go on before the Tung oil as the oil keeps everything else out to about 1/4" deep.
BLO gives a flat finish and requires reapplication as required. It does keep much of anything out. It was cheap and easy to get when it was used more commonly. Comes from flax plants. Same plant used to make linen.
Anyway, these days BLO is a it more expensive than turpentine. $13.99 vs $9.99 per litre. It's way less expensive than Tung oil. Tung oil is running close to $20. Personally, I use Tung oil because if gives better protection.
 
Get pure linseed oil. Heat it up in a mason jar in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. You want the ultimate in stock penetration, that will give it to you without any mixing of turpentine.
 
Hi there - great advice - another question - I have a Mosin Nagant 1891/30 stock stripped down - still need to iron out a few spots. I was contemplating bleaching this one but it's pretty long that about the only thing I have to bleach it in is our bathroom tub. Not sure how that will go over with the wife - any ideas on what I should look for as a container to use to bleach the Mosin stock?
Thanks
Dave

here's a pic of where I'm at in the process-



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Here is my K31 next to the Mosin - both waiting for some steam to get the last stain out and some of the dents -

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You really need to tidy up your shop. snicker.
Go buy a metal garbage can. We don't need to read about a guy being killed by his wife because he smelled up the crapper with bleach. Sets a precedence about guys being expected to clean said crappers too. snicker.
 
Bleach is pretty tough on wood, but it would remove any bathtub ring. If you are looking to remove any leftover oils/dark spots in the stock it might be worth trying a few applications of lacquer thinner applied with a fine synthetic pad.
 
I have used tung oil mixed with citrus solvent 50/50 for a base. Then use pure tung oil after that. Use as many coats as you feel until it looks good. Tung oil goes on thin and sparingly and needs a bit longer to cure than linseed oil. I have found that blo will build up more than soak into the wood which may cause tight fitting of action.
 
TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) mixed with distilled water applied with an old tooth brush gently will remove most stains from stripped wood, but I can't say I've noticed that it "bleaches" the wood a lighter shade.

Be sure to wear gloves when playing with this stuff, and allow ample time for the wood to dry in a slow controlled manner before going with whatever finish you are applying.
 
Oh yeah - a metal garbage can - that's the ticket - I'll have to nip out to ct and get one - thanks.
once I've finished bleaching I'll post up some more pics. By the way I agree my work space is culttered but it's ok it's mostly my hunting decoys and stuff. LOL
 
adanacdjm said:
Hi there - great advice - another question - I have a Mosin Nagant 1891/30 stock stripped down - still need to iron out a few spots. I was contemplating bleaching this one but it's pretty long that about the only thing I have to bleach it in is our bathroom tub. Not sure how that will go over with the wife - any ideas on what I should look for as a container to use to bleach the Mosin stock?
Thanks
Dave

here's a pic of where I'm at in the process-
Click to expand...
Ive used the laundry tub for soaking some stocks, you have to turn the long ones around after leaving them overnight.
 
haretrigger said:
TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) mixed with distilled water applied with an old tooth brush gently will remove most stains from stripped wood, but I can't say I've noticed that it "bleaches" the wood a lighter shade.

Be sure to wear gloves when playing with this stuff, and allow ample time for the wood to dry in a slow controlled manner before going with whatever finish you are applying.
Click to expand...

The powdered laundry soap such as Tide or Sunlight works well on stocks to get the old oils out. They contain a fair amount of TSP in them too.
 
I have a laundry sink - miss my old laundry tub. I have started looking around, searching kijiji for an old cement like big two basin laundry tub to set up in my garage/shop. Something that can be stained up and look the part. Still looking.
 
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Here is the Mosin Nagant stock on the right and the K31 stock on the left after bleaching them, rinsed with vinegar and again with clean water and now hung to dry for about 5-6 days
 
These stocks have hung to dry for about 5 days - looking pretty good. There's a few spots where their us still some stains . I may attempt another pass with the iron and wet rag . I plan to do a wet sanding on both with 600 grit. I'm staining the Mosin with minwax mahogany red, the K31 I'm going to use a dark walnut stain, Then it's a couple of double coats of BLO on the Mosin and I'm using tung oil on the K31.
Will the tung oil along without staining bring out a darker looking finishing? Im pretty sure that the wood is walnut. Or have I gone past that point by bleaching these stocks?
original K31 - tiger stripping but it needed some work..

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Here the Mosin original ...
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Here they are all dried ready to start smoothing out....

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more questions?

A quick question that I probably already know the answer to but I am hopeful there may be another way to deal with my stock refinishing project currently underway. I've stripped down a Mosin Nagant 91/30 and a K31. Both of these are keepers but their condition when I purchased them were rough . The Mosin was bare wood on the front end with all the original shellac removed. The K31 was grimy and dirty with some good sized dents that I wanted to clean up.

My issue - I stripped, ironed, lightly sanded and bleached both stocks. Then I decided I would use a minwax mahogany red stain on the Mosin and a dark walnut minwax stain on the K31. I forgot to apply the minwax pre conditioner prior to first stain coat, although I don't think that's a deal breaker. I did stain a small spot on the inside of the barrel groves to see how it would look. It seemed okay so I then proceeded to apply two coats of stain allowing to dry between coats. Once the stain dried I'm not sure I like the colors. The Mosin needs to have more red in it and I used dark walnut on the walnut K31 but it's still lighter then I'd hoped for.

Current condition:



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So is there a quick fix to remove the stain? Or do I have to do the whole strip, iron/steam out the stain to get the stocks back to a good starting point?

Alternatively I could add a coat of minwax American gunstock stain which I've found brings some red to the finish and possibly find a darker walnut stain to darken up the K31.
Again thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.
Kind regards,
Dave
 
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