strip a stock how and refinish
hello
i have an older high standard pump rifle that the finish of the stock is flecking (cracking finish) on. what would be the best way to strip it down and refinish as i have never done this. the stock has the trigger logo and other checkering as well. what chemical or solition to strip and also best way to put a finish back on to make look close to original. this is for a shooting gun not a collector gun. ther is a couple of small dents in the stock as well is there a way to raise the dents up and still get a respectable finish.
thanks for all your help. i only have a 20 minute drive to get to brownells if they have a good product that you might recomend or use.
thanks
i have an older high standard pump rifle that the finish of the stock is flecking (cracking finish) on. what would be the best way to strip it down and refinish as i have never done this. the stock has the trigger logo and other checkering as well. what chemical or solition to strip and also best way to put a finish back on to make look close to original. this is for a shooting gun not a collector gun. ther is a couple of small dents in the stock as well is there a way to raise the dents up and still get a respectable finish.
thanks for all your help. i only have a 20 minute drive to get to brownells if they have a good product that you might recomend or use.
thanks
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Hello frisky,
I recently had to strip an old desktop. I went to a hardware store that specialized in woodworking. They sold a product to me called SOY - GEL. It is a relatively new formula based on soy beans. It worked very well. The best part was that there was no odor and it washed off with water.
Remove the stocks and use the stripper. While the stocks are bare, steam the wood dents over a pot of boiling water. It may take a little time, but if the dents are not to deep, they will raise up.
After the wood is dry, sand it lightly with fine sandpaper. DO NOT sand the checkering, it will round it off. Wipe the wood with a damp cloth and you will see little hairs come up, sand it again LIGHTLY! Now rub it down with OOOO steel wool.
You could now use light wood filler at this time to really smooth everything out, but since it is a shooter, you may want to just skip this step.
Depending on you preference, you could buy a spray can of polyurethane and spray it on. Use high gloss for a "glass-like" finish or satin for a less glassy finish.
Most important, TAKE YOUR TIME!0 -
Hello Frisky---Just a couple of comments based on my experience repairing, and refinishing stocks. Since I don't know what type of finish is on the stocks, I'll just offer some general stmts, If you can avoid using stripper, do so. The stripper is usually a water clean-up, and can cause serious problems with the checkering, especially if it is a pressed checkering. To avoid damaging the points of the checkering, I mask the checkering off with a quality tape (3-M) Then I would sand the old finish off, with 220 grit up to 400 grit to finish. If the finish is an epoxy or some other tough stuff, you may be reduced to using stripper. Just keep it off of the checkering, and any grip caps, fore end tips etc. After drying resand with the 400 paper. I prefer to use a hot iron to raise dents, instead of an open kettle, as the steam from the kettle affects a much larger area. Borrow your wifes clothes iron, or buy her a new one, and abscond with the old one. Remove all metal from the stock before you even start the sanding process. then when the wood has most of the finish sanded off, Use a washcloth to apply water to the dented area, and let soak in a few minutes. then apply the wet cloth over the dent, and apply the iron, untill the water literally turns to steam, repeat 2-3 times if necessary. let dry, and resand. Since you are close to Brownells, you might pick up a 60 or a 90 degree checkering file to clean up the checkering if necessary.. then pick your finish of choice, (spray), or oil rubbed preferably, and apply that. I keep the checkering taped throught this process, so you don't load up the checkering with finish. I like the Gun-Sav"R product, by chem-pak SATIN ONLY !!! Their high gloss just went totally to H--l, in the recent months, and Brownells is recalling it. Good luck, and keep us posted 0 -
I always use "zip strip" chemical stripper on all my gun wood refinishing, checkering and all, with great results. I use a toothbrush on the checkering with the stripper. I have never damaged checkering this way. You may need to apply it two or even three times. I wash it off with a garden hose between applications. Then tape off the checkering before any sanding. After you have the wood smooth as glass you can un-mask the checkering. You need to use the final finish of your choice. There are so many options that all work that it comes down to personal preference.I recommend testing a few different ones on scrap wood to help you decide. 0 -
Steam the dents out with the tip of a cloths iron, and a damp cloth, if you place the whole stock over a pan of boiling water you'll raise a lot more than you want to.... 0 -
I just finished a custom winchester 52c sporter with knock out wood. I followed some good advice and used tru oil for the finish. WOW. Just follow the directions you get with the product and rub between each coat. You wont be disappointed. 0 -
frisky-maddog,
Refinishing stocks is one of the most rewarding adventures that you can have with firearms outside of reloading and shooting. Fortunately there are good sources of step-by-step information available to download and save as references.
Do not just sand off a finish from a wood stock as this will remove too much of the wood unnecessarily. Always use some type of finish remover before sanding. I use Citristrip to get the original finish off then follow that with the Citristrip Wash to clean the wood. The wash saves having to use water on the wood:
http://www.citristrip.com/
This is a good overall explanation for the process:
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/gunsmithing/RSgunsmith6/
Brownells has a 3-part series of articles about refinishing stocks. All three are linked together:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=538
The 4th one involves the actual finish:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=476
If you run into other questions, post again and we'll work on more answers.
Best.0 -
...Since this is new to you, find some woodworkers/re-finishing sites and READ & LEARN...to at least get the basic do's/dont's.
...Lots of quality strippers out there, too many to mention, pick one and follow the instructions.
...mrbruce and others mentioned using an iron and damp cloth, good advice and it works...but don't expect miracles. Also, if you have a hardwood stock of some type, most likely the "color" that it has now was an applied veri-thane type color/finish (stain/lacquer mix that's sprayed on and NOT wiped off like a conventional oil stain, then a clear coat(s) added)...and when stripped, will not "take" a regular type of stain; hardwood does not stain well.
...If stripped and the stock has little or no grain (indication of hardwood), it will probably be blondish in color...and no matter how you attempt to stain it, it will pretty much remain blonde as the hardwood will not accept new stain and merely wipes off.
IF your finish is peeling anywhere now, the color you see where it's peeling, probably lighter(?), is the color you will end up with; and you can bet that it's a plain jane hardwood stock.
...DON'T use any steel wool, 0000 or otherwise, the wool will hang on the slightest of burrs and most anything else on the stock, and you will end up with little wool-e-boogers stuck in places all over the stock.
In place of steel wool you can pick up SBP's at about any grocery store or hardware store. SBP stands for Scotch Brite Pad, the kind you use at the kitchen sink for dishes; just buy the ones with NO soap. SBP's also come in varying degrees of "coarseness, just "feel" of them and get some coarse/medium and fine...they won't be marked this way, you will need to just handle them to tell...the "finest" will work as good or better than 000 wool w/o the wool-e-booger problem. Finish w/a 400-600 grit wet sandpaper, avaiable at lots of places, Auto parts or Body Shop paint supply.
...Lots of durable finishes too, far too many to list/explain. Oil finish. Take about 30-40% Mineral spirits to about 60-70% BLO, Boiled Lindseed Oil, mix well...and hand rub in with as many coats as you like, allowing to dry between...hardwood again, wont accept much oil either.
...Easy clear finish, from Low Lustre to Hi Gloss...and does not scratch as easily as a clear lacquer finish is Polyurethane. GOOD quality spray cans, not the cheap crap. Prep, hang with coat hanger, spray on a few light coats, allow to dry fully; best NOT to use if raining or humid. Sand with some 600 grt paper after a few good covering coats and apply a couple more covering coats.
...One of my favorites that is a little hard, is to take Marine Spar Varnish and thin a tad, then hand rub in the Varnish...not too easy but a little parctice of a few coats and you can get the "feel" of it. There is no need to sand between coats as the thicker Spar Varnish will fill in and you end up with a babies butt smooth stock that you can just about soak in a tub of water with no ill effects; tougher than nails against scratches too.
...Be SURE to apply LOTS of finish to the barrel channel to make sure this area does not absorb moisture, same for under the butt plate.
...If nothing else, and the stock is not walnut or other nice wood and IS hardwood, you will have the bare "basics" down once your thru w/this project, luck...[;)]
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thanks
thanks for your help i am new to cleaning finish off of the stock but not new to putting a finish on a stock as i took and made a stock out of nice piece of cherry i had. just laid it out rough cut and started taking away what is not needed. took alot of time inletting for the action and trigger area. it was on a stevens junior that was my uncles that i rescued out of the trash. i had to make a new firing pin and a cocking handle as well. the stock was tapped with electrical tape because it was broken. i made the stock double the thicjkness and extended the length of the stock on the original lines to make it handle a little better for me but not long enough that my kid cant use it. the action and barrel had a poor finish on it but not pitted so i was working with a freind of mine that had some of brownells new bluing that he was going to try so i used my firearm for this. reallly dark almost black bluing. i also manufactured my own kitchen cabinets out of oak. i was in construction for 9 years as well. so used a lot of finish on trim. but just wanted to find a safe procedure for stock cleaning as i enjoyed making my own stock but dont want to make a habit of it because now my kid takes up my free time. i think i spent 30 to 40 hours on the stock because i wanted it just right.
thanks guys for the help0 -
I have done acouple stocks and the one thing i can tell you is to get some type of stripper before sanding. saves alot of time and hassel. 0 -
Couple of items I didn't see above. Be very careful of rounding the sharp edges such as where the wood meets the butt cap. Use of a sanding block helps. Better may be to leave the butt cap on while sanding.
Checkering, protection of it is important as others say. If you have to get into the checkering with a toothbrush or chemical finish remover or get it wet, after I get the checkering as clean and sharp as possible, I stabilize it. For that I make a little clear epoxy glue, mixing in alcohol to make it thin like varnish. With a stiff bristle brush* I rub it into the checkering and let it soak in a couple minutes, then clean the brush and brush out as much as possible and clean around the checkering area with alcohol to remove any excess. Let it set up until the epoxy cures. You then have an epoxy finish on and soaked into your checkering.
I have done this many times when replacing knocked out diamonds from checkering as in 1911 grips, correcting errors and/or stabilizing spongy wood while checkering.
Anything you do for the first time, it is a good idea to experiment beforehand on something other than your important job.
*Brush: I use one of the little metal handle acid brushes with the bristles cut off to about 3/8".0
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