Excellent piece on stock finishing

[1988rapid7]

what an excellent thread, going to refinish my stock for sure, picked up a few marks over the years and looking grubby, this has gave me the confidence to give it a go, fantastic!

[Tallyho]

when finished and the action is back in your baby, buff it with a soft rag and then apply turtle wax, carnuba wax or a good non abrasive paste wax to the entire gun and buff it to a gleaming finish! bingo, several weeks after you started the rewards are paid off!

I have a silicon cloth to wipe my guns down and keep them looking nice after use, but a long time shooter and all round good bloke recently advised me not to use it or put silicon polish on the bluing as it makes it impossible to re-blue well if you have the need. Anyone agree or dispute this? I don't have any experience of re-bluing.

[Jack_Jones]

Excellent info. I am in the middle of doing a stock and this helps. Thanks

[Mr_Ed]

Like many on here, i've used the Williams kits to very good effect on Beech Stocks, but it is very time consuming and requires more than a little perseverence. I think this is one of the reasons that most manufacturers that use Beech as a stock making wood tend to apply a tinted varnish.
Instant results and it doesnt cost a lot.

Steve Ed

[konga]

Excellent link atb

[poppy]

i managed a good result using william's stock oil kit (on this forum, known simply as william)
here's my first attempt with his excellent kit (original mod45)



and a pic before i replaced the buttpad, trigger and other stuff (and before i made the panels for the stock cut outs


john


btw, it's a beech stock

looks excellent

[poppy]

Are there any good wood nourishers from the DIY's for walnut as my TDR stock is looking a bit 'dry', it may sound strange but it does look dry or dehydrated i guess, anyway its time to 'feel the love' and give it some attention.

Any advice on products that can nourish this wood would be great and if there are any applying tricks, ie. sanding first or apply direct. as I'm a complete novice with wood

Thanks
Paul

visit your local college and ask the woodwork department for advice, its something different and they will love it.

[Jaarus]

i managed a good result using william's stock oil kit (on this forum, known simply as william)
here's my first attempt with his excellent kit (original mod45)



and a pic before i replaced the buttpad, trigger and other stuff (and before i made the panels for the stock cut outs


john


btw, it's a beech stock

That looks just awesome!

[cushat]

looks excellent

Yep, really nice finish on that. Great thread - tempting me to do some work on mine!

[Bean]

Hi Guys,

I'm a new be on here so please go easy!!

This is my two pence worth, I have been making Joinery for 25 years and have my own joinery outfit so I should have a few tips on finishing your stocks and staining, I will apologies for making points someone else already has:

Beech as a timber is very porous, we use it for biscuits and dominos etc for as the glue soaks in very well and also swells with moisture giving a good joint.

The downside on this is it will take a stain in very quickly and could become patchy if the wrong type of stain used or not worked with quickly enough.

Sanding down with finer grades will effect the amount of stain any wood will take in, the rougher the finish the darker the stain or more prominent. Also patchy if the same grade of paper has not been used all around the areas to be treated.We have finished tables down to 1000 grit in Walnut
Water based stains will be easier to use like the newer coloron stains, but in my opinion these stains are more like watered down opaque colours which sit on top of the wood and filter out the natural beauty of the timber.
Spirit based in my opinion are much more visually pleasing compared to water based but can be difficult to apply. A popular brand we use are FIDDES who do various colours and different bases to their stains. NGR (non grain raising) are pretty good but can leave a patchy finish if wood too porus, or not worked quickly enough.
Naphia stains seem to be our preferred choice due to the fact they are easy to apply without being too patchy. These really enhance the beauty of the timber and can come in a number of different tints, these tints can also be mixed together to make your own tint but be careful to write down any formulations carefully or mix enough stain for one job!!!

Another thing worth mentioning is please do a test piece before doing your stock which should include you chosen TOP COAT to check it doesn't react or pull the stain underneath.
Again spirit based seems to enhance rather than the bland water based.
My preferred choice on any Hardwood is Tung Oil finished with many coats thinned with gradual degrees of spirit. (50% thinned first coat, 35% second and so on).

Good luck and please where gloves

Bean

[Bean]

Also if you do use Linseed Oil please bear in mind in never cures and will remain tacky, boiled linseed oil does!
Personally I think there are much better oils out there!

[JamesWhat]

Great stuff guys, looking to refurb the stock on my HW77 and this has given me loads of tips!

[FRANKIE01782]

I use Lord Sheraton Pure Beeswax Balsam polish which is available from your Asda, Tesco, etc supermarkets for less than a fiver, this is perfect for all of my guns and gives a good shine.
Smells nice as well
I was told by a friend who had an old BSA in walnut that the only thing he ever used to keep
it pristine was walnut oil from the supermarket (under £2) and the bottle seems to last forever.

[Preditorvirgin]

any one got any tips on staining a beach stock before oiling ?

money is tight and i would rather spend the money on the action and improve the stock myself

PS: i want the new gun now not the 6 week lead time the manufacturers have quoted

Staining beech stocks is alwys tricky. A crucial point to remember is to totally remove the existing polyurathane finish first. I find scraping to be the most productive way of getting most of it off, followed by a light sanding with 240 grade aluminium oxide paper. CCL Gunstock Stain is the one I use most, diluted 2 parts water to one part stain. Mop on the stain mix to give an even coverage. Let the stock dry thoroughly then gently flat the wood back with 320 grit paper until you have a silky finish. Repeat the coating with the stain, dry and sand with 0000 grade steel wool. Repeat the staing process if you want it darker, alternatively just damp the stock down again then dry and burnish with the wire wool. To finish I use CCL grain sealer - 2 coats then burninsh and finish with your choice of oil.

Good luck - al it takes is patience

[jameswrx]

Interesting thread. I did more than 15 years with lots of experience finishing wood on high end products.

I recently bought an FX T12 that I bought via a picture on gun trader. I hate red colour wood finishes and saw this 'walnut' gun which was pleasant to my eye, very yellow and nice dark grain striping. It turned up and what I received was a horrible red, plain wood. I rang the gun shop and they said it's the same gun! Luckily for me I kept a copy of their pictures and emailed them. They then suddenly realised it was a picture of an old stock gun and had long gone.

Left with the option of sending it back or keeping it and refinishing, I didn't have a lot of choice really. My mate said send it back but it'd cost me £40 to get (postage and my RFD's fee) so sending it back and buying another would have been £15 to send back and another £40 for the next gun.

So now I've started refinishing my stock! It's a time consuming process removing the old finish. It took many hours of stripping with nitromors and that got me down to the red stained wood. I've just about finished sanding one side and it already looks 100 times nicer.

I'm actually going to spray my stock using my spray gun. I have light fast black which I'm going to pick out the grain with and then I'm going to do some shading too.