Refinish an old gun stock
I have an old gun with wonderful wood. It looks like it was varnished. I wonder what you might recommend to restore this finish? Should I just sand and put on a coat of poly? Should I strip it with a chemical? Should I avoid the checkering or is there a chem stripper I could use with a toothbrush?
0
-
What kind of gun is it? Please don't ruin a valuable antique by refinishing it. If it is just a run of the mill rifle, I usually use Acetone with very fine steel wool to remove the old finsh,a toothbrush will work on the checkering, steam out the dents, and refinish with the finish of your choice. I prefer BLO (boiled linseed oil) but there are plenty of good commercial finishes. Just follow the directions. 0 -
If your wood does have a traditional varnish finish, then I suggest using what is commonly called a finish restorer. This product will soften and dissolve varnish. You use it with either steel wool or a fine scotchbrite pad. Dip the steel wool in it and just rub down the wood, preferrably with the wood's grain. Depending on how long you work the old finish will determine how much of the original finish will remain on the wood. Useful stuff when you want to restore an antique piece of furniture when you don't want to completely strip it down to wood and put a new finish on it. It will clean up/brighten a varnish finish that has darkened with age, allowing you to see the grain/figure in your wood.
Should be able to find a Formby's Refinishing/Restorer kit at Lowes or Home Depot, maybe Wal Mart, but not sure.0 -
I thinks its varnish because it looks thick and old. Is that a good guess? 0 -
Probably, but what kind of gun is it? You could quickly ruin any value if it's something collectable.
Tom0 -
Its a spanish co that was in business for about ten years. They are not in the list of top 20 spanish gun makers. I don't think its collectible. 0 -
Sand it and finish it with tung oil. 0 -
Sanding does not work well with checkering. 0 -
I have been using a product called Zip Strip and found that it does a good job with out causing damage to the checkering. I have had good luck with Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil Gun Stock Finish. The instructions that come with this product are very good and easy to follow. 0 -
+1 on what Walley said, I've been using the same products foe years, with great results.
W.D.0 -
I just discovered the the forend was varnished but the stock was don in poly. Will zip strip remove poly? 0 -
I have never used Zip Strip on poly so I don?_Tt know if it will work or not. I checked the can and it indicates that it will. All I can say is to give it a try and if it doesn?_Tt work I am sure that there are similar products on the market that will. 0 -
My experience is that zip strip is good for removing the old varnish.Works on the checkering too. Steam to lift dents and use the minimum sanding necessary to remove scratches and marks. The biggest mistake made by inexperienced refinishers, is to over sand edges resulting in a telltale poor fit of metal to wood especially around the butt plate (or recoil pad spacers).Dont sand the sharp edges smooth! If re-varnishing, give special consideration to gloss, as the higher the sheen, the more you will see every imperfection. Matte finishes are much less conspicuous and look better anyway. Tru-oil or linspeed are good looking oil finishes with less impact protection, but far easier to repair than varnish. Some may disagree, but this has been my experience. Good luck. 0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
12 comments