Best way to refinish a gun stock

[vestlenning]

Alkanet oil on beech:

[FRANKIE]

Alkanet oil on beech:

Great looking finish you got going there fella.. Does the Alkanet oil you’ve used have dye in it or did you apply some before?

[Leyland77]

Looks very nice Vestlenning,i had someone do my stock recently and it came out similar to yours

[vestlenning]

Great looking finish you got going there fella.. Does the Alkanet oil you’ve used have dye in it or did you apply some before?

Homemade Alkanet; no dye, just Alkanna Tinctoria and boiled linseed oil.

[FRANKIE]

Homemade Alkanet; no dye, just Alkanna Tinctoria and boiled linseed oil.

Might do a few experiments, cheers.

[AndrewE]

You can’t say “no dye , just Alkanet oil” Alkanet is a dye in its own right, it’s what Indian cooking uses to add the colour to Rogan Josh.

[vestlenning]

You can’t say “no dye , just Alkanet oil” Alkanet is a dye in its own right, it’s what Indian cooking uses to add the colour to Rogan Josh.

Absolutely, should have said no *extra* dye ...

[greasemonkey]

this is how i do it,get a jamjar,add a heaped tablespoon of shredded alkanet root ,fill the jar with boiled linseed oil.leave for 6 months agitating now and then.when the stock is prepared tip an eggcup full into another jar adding half a teaspoon full of terebine thinners.the thinners make the oil dry much faster.apply as normal.this is one of my vintage shot gun stocks i have refinished.

[look no hands]

Might do a few experiments, cheers.

It's also known as red root oil, you can get it from the bay of evil.

[ToniD]

It depends on the current finish.

If it’s oil then strip it with meths and scotchbrite pads ( fine grade will do the job ), use a nylon brush on the chequering and then clean out with a tooth pick.

Let it dry for 24hrs, then steam any dings and if the gun is used there will be dings. Let it dry before sanding with scotchbrite pads, medium down to extra fine and then wash off with spirit.

If not staining then the first coat should be 50/50 of chosen oil and spirit, for me this is always Alkanet oil. Leave it 24hrs and then fill the grain using the alkanet oil and 1000grit wet n dry paper, dont wipe off the slurry just leave it 24hrs before buffing it off with lint free cloth. Check it over and see if any grain needs further filling, if not then you can start the months long process of building a very nice oil finish.

Thin coat of oil, wait an hour and buff off with lint free cloth, do this every other day for fortnight and them once a week for a couple of months. If you prefer a more satin finish then the last piece is to use xxxfine pumice powder to take the sheen back a little. She’ll be silky smooth if done well.

Tru-oil is hideous varnish that is only fit for bar tops in the local boozer, just my opinion…

Alkanet oil on beech:

Oh that does look good, ordered the root from the horrendous auction site.
I've previously used raw Linseed Oil on a mark one Vulcan, it takes a little longer but works.