Stock Finishing "From Scratch"?

[toivo]

I just picked up an M39 stock and handguard to stash away for the future. They are in "raw" form--unused, no finish, no holes drilled, etc. My plan was to give them a few coats of the 1/3 mix (BLO, beeswax, turpentine) before storing them. Has anybody used this stuff on the bare wood? Is it an adequate finish all by itself?

[Troy]

this is the procedure that a member that goes by the handle StockDoc posted quite a while back. this is starting from a stock that needs all the old finish removed, hope this helps you.

Gun Stock Refinishing

Ok here it is. First I get a hold of E-Z-GO hand cleaner or GO-JO which is waterless and gritless. Most probably any will do. I rub it on stock in sink of course and then let it set for about 15-30 minutes depending on amount of dirt and if markings are on stock. Now I take and rub on a hand full more then take a tooth brush and rub it but not real hard near edges and cartouches. I rinse with warm water again careful around markings incase there weak.Use the tooth brush to brush off hand cleaner while rinsing.
If the stocks is heavy oil and no cartouches {or cartouched be gentle}use Bix Stripper int eh red and white can its not so harsh. Follow instructions on can. Also you can try Trisodium Phosphate and make a paste out of it then tooth brush it on. Wait 10 minutes and rub some water on with the tooth brush to make sure it doesn't dry on stock. Now wait about 5-10 minutes and rinse you will see the dirt still but after it dries you will be amazed. You can repeat this method until happy but again be careful if there are Cartouches.If the stock is terrible I use a cement plastic mixing tub with TSP {Trisodium Phosphate} and hot water. I soak them for a day if needed. I scrub them periodically to remove the grime the TSP brought out at that point. Let water cool down don't worry about getting new hot water in the tub even though hot water is best. Now when satisfied rinse them off and hang dry for a day or more. The stock will look dark when you take it out but when it dries you will fall over.
Now you can steam if wanted I use a bucket of water ,a rag and a iron with steam cycle. I soak the rag and lay it on stock dents then iron it until steam stops or water is out of rag. I fold the rag sometimes to hold more water and the steam last longer. This is a hit or miss thing it may take days of this to see results. Most times it just lightens them up.
Now sand lightly with 100 or 120 but lightly to not put big scratches in the stock when happy with this Then take 220 and lightly sand the whole stock in direction of grain and periodically use 0000steel wool to smooth it out and see scratches that need to be 220 out. When happy with this steel wool the whole stock until smooth . {

NOTE} Some stocks especially IHC and Winchester are known to have heavy sand marks in the wood hand guard especially. This under no circumstances should be removed and only steel wooled lightly. Heck it make you're job easier. The collectors value is allot higher on a unsanded marked up fat stock over a smooth skinny one trust me. Keep in mind the very early Winchester stocks were hand carved because the lathe was not finished for them so they inletted them and carved the final. I have one of these and it is a exceptional piece with a No-Trap butt without the hinge cut out.

Now you stain to you're color preference Remembering in WWII they only oiled the stocks not stained so you're choice on stain now. Leave it natural if you want true history. I use Chestnut Ridge on Walnut and on Birch Chestnut Ridge and then FIEBING'S Dark Brown leather die some times to get a muddy red color. I Also use brown then FIEBING'S Mahogany on Birch to get reddish/Brown kinda Black Cherry look. Chestnut ridge and others can be put on to darken and also put on after oil is dry and on while refinishing. You should let stains dry 24 hours and 24 hours before you add another color. Peaceful not to use the bottle to dip as other color on stock will contaminate the color you are using to top coat. Example if I put Mahogany on then use rag to shake bottle of Chestnut Ridge on rag to top coat for a match the Mahogany will get in to the Chestnut Ridge and slowly ruin the color. Try and get a little cup or something to pour stain into then take it from there for stock.
Now the next day If Stain lifted grain you need to lightly steel wool it down. I brush or small piece of rag on a coat of Boiled Linseed Oil {use gloves then hand cleaner off the oil later}and wait 20-30 minutes then take a old t-shirt and rub the oil off making sure there is no excess anywhere. I rub it to death to buff it kinda. I repeat this every 24 hours till 5-7 coats are glossy and even with no dull spots. WARNING hang the rags out and never let them sit balled up on the bench they will self combust and you will burn you're house down. It almost happened to me and I was very lucky. I finished for the night and went up to my office with a stock to get some photos off for a client. About a hour later I was fighting with myself to take the stock back to the shop or leave it until morning in the office. Finally I took it back and set it in a rack outside of the shop and noticed a stock with a repair pin shining and decided to touch it with a dark brown stain pen. I walked in the shop turn on lights and fell warmth then noticed a vapor in the air like steam on hot pavement. I was confused what was going on and then smelled something weird. I looked down to my right on the bench and heard a small woosh and low pop sound and the rags ignited in a light colored flame. I picked them up and ran to other room and tossed them in the wash tub and rinsed them. If I hadn't gone down there my home would have been lost. You can also wet them and toss them out in the yard till morning but keep them away from house. They make a special can for this purpose if you decide to do this allot.
Now I take 0000steel wool and lightly dull surface with it. Then I take Minwax Furniture Polish for dark colors {light one will stick in grain and look like white paint if you leave it to long}and put two coats of this on and I am done.

[SwedeSteve]

Chestnut Ridge Supply Gun Parts This is a perfect stain. Can't get it up here anymore, and thats a shame.

[nathangdad]

You might want to consider Boiled Linseed Oil as this is a time tested wood product. It will
waterproof the stock, keep it looking natural, and if you get a scratch just treat the scratch with more boiled linseed oil. Also, boiled linseed oil will leave a wonderfully smooth finish if you treat, lightly smooth with fine steel wool, treat, repeat the process until your wood is smooth as glass.

[troy2000]

Pay serious attention to stocdoc's warning on not balling up linseed-soaked rags and leaving them. I've seen it happen too, although I was doing cabinetry instead of stocks. Matter of fact, I had one hanging outside on the crossbar of a clothesline pole one day, and it caught fire even though it was flat. I always seal any kind of oil finish soaked rag in a glass jar with a tight lid, whether it be tung oil, linseed oil or whatever. I do the same with shellac and lacquer, too.

On a historical note, Jack London (author of Call of the Wild) had his brand-new house burned down right before he was ready to move in, because a workman left a linseed-soaked rag laying around one night.

[toivo]

Originally Posted by troy2000

I always seal any kind of oil finish soaked rag in a glass jar with a tight lid, whether it be tung oil, linseed oil or whatever.

Would it work to put the rag in a Ziploc Baggie? That should keep the oxygen out.

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by toivo

Would it work to put the rag in a Ziploc Baggie? That should keep the oxygen out.

Probably. But I'd feel better with a glass jar and a metal lid.

[marion57]

As everyone can see everyone has there own method of refinishing stocks but there is one thing all will agree on and its what Troy said !!
Keep soaked and used rags in air tight container and I wouldnt use a baggy !!Never was able to get one of those darn thing s to seal good

[Geo M44]

For the cleaner/stripper you might want to try Dawn Power Disolver (comes in a blue spray bottle). Apply, let set for 20 minues, use a scrub brush while rinsing, and let dry for 2-3 days. I have used it very successfully on both of my M44's (one is cartouche' rich) and my SKS. Removes the deep cosmolene as well, but leaves markings in-tact.

Light sand with 240. I use a pecan stain to bring out the grain and natural color, and then finish with two coats of semi-gloss poly using 000 steel wool after the first coat, and 0000 on the finish coat.

Birch can be beautiful...

It's worth the effort.

[toivo]

Thanks everybody for the advice. This stock has no finish at all, so I don't think there's any need for stripper. I was thinking of just a light sanding to smooth out the "fuzz" and the 1/3 mix because that's supposed to be close to the original "Finnish finish." It does contain boiled linseed oil.

[Ricochet]

There's discussion in the stock finishing forum over at ParallaxBill's Curio & Relic and Military Surplus Firearms Forums - Message Board - Yuku about the original Finnish finish containing pine tar.

[Paper]

Originally Posted by Troy

I brush or small piece of rag on a coat of Boiled Linseed Oil

Ok.. Here's today's question.. I picked up BLO and Mineral Spirits (and a new quart paint can). My question is, I'd like to thin down the BLO a touch and I'm after a mixture suggestion that others have tried..

I'm thinking 3/4 BLO and 1/4 Mineral Spirits..

Thoughts?

[SwedeSteve]

Great stuff here! Thanks Troy!

[Ricochet]

Paper, it'll work fine to thin BLO that way. Proportions are noncritical. What you need to remember is that after you rub in BLO, you RUB IT OFF! If you leave a thick coat, it'll make a gooey sticky mess that never dries. Many applications, rubbing it in and rubbing it off, are what you have to do. Takes lots of patience and persistence.

[Paper]

Sounds good. I've put up to 15 coats of TruOil on a stock, and I have a nice warm wood stove in the living room for stock drying..

I've got an old Stevens 20 gauge bolt action to start on for practice, and we'll see if I like the outcome..

Thanks again!

[troy2000]

While we're at it: I'm a firm believer in car wax as a final protective coat over just about anything. When I was a contractor, I even used it over outdoor copper or brass light fixtures, if the people wanted them to stay shiny (of course, if they wanted a nice green patina instead, I stripped the cheap lacquer from them).

When I did indoor cabinetry and woodwork, I used to finish up with a coat of Johnson's Wax to protect the finish, even if it was just paint. Eventually I switched over to carnauba car wax; I figured if that stuff could protect a car outside in extreme environments, it should work fine on wood. And it does...so naturally, when I started doing a stock here and there, I extended the practice to them. It seems to work just fine.

[just_a_car]

Neat idea there Troy2000. I'll have to try that when I refinish my stocks.

[lefty o]

a good carnuba based car wax is an excellent sealer after your done oiling your gunstock.

[Ricochet]

I'd suggest a furniture wax. A car wax with the white self-polishing stuff in it is likely to leave a streaky mess that's hard to get rid of.

[Cyrano]

If you must use a wax on a stock (not something I do and would not recommend), I suggest bowling alley wax. I've used it on antique furniture with excellent results.

Get yourself some cheesecloth and put a little of it in the cheesecloth, folded inside like you would a pocket handkerchief. Start rubbing it on the wood and let the heat from friction and your hand melt the wax. Keep on rubbing until the wax is used up. Repeat as necessary. When you have waxed all the wood, take a clean soft cloth and rub the wood down thoroughly until you get the glow you want.

Be prepared to spend some time on this. It takes a long time to rub wax into wood, and longer to polish it after you have done so.