Stock finishing help!!!

[ChrisO]

Going to refinish a Garand stock strictly a shooter, I'm new to refinishing a stock now my dad isn't but he just doesn't have enough time to really help me out so a tutorial would help quite a bit. I'm also not sure on what exact tone I want this refinished in, Part of me wants a light color and the other parts wants a low sheen look like a m40. The park job on it is gray so I'm thinking the lighter color would look better, This rifle is also a hunting rifle.

[ChrisO]

I was just thinking , Can I refinish the stock lighter than it was? Or will that not work?

[Milsurp Collector]

Ask 100 Garand owners about the best way to refinish a stock and you'll get 110 answers. It's hard to tell you about lightening the color without pictures of what you have, what kind of wood it is (walnut, birch, beech), and what the current finish looks like.

Here is one place to start http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles...ng_article.htm

I use only the same finishes originally used by the military: 100% pure tung oil and raw (not boiled) linseed oil because I want my stocks to look as authentic as possible, and they aren't exposed to harsh conditions. However, since you said the rifle is a shooter and hunting rifle, moisture protection takes precedence over authenticity. In that case a wiping varnish or oil/varnish mix would probably be the best way to go. Many of these products are readily available at hardware stores, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc.

Common brands of finish that are wiping varnish:
Formby's Tung Oil Finish
Zar Wipe-on Tung Oil
Val-Oil
Hope's Tung Oil Varnish
Gillespie Tung Oil
Waterlox
General Finishes' Sealacell
General Finishes' Arm R Seal
Daly's ProFin
Jasco Tung Oil

Common brands of finish that are oil/varnish blends:
Watco Danish Oil
Deft Danish Oil
Behlen Danish Oil
Maloof Finish
Behr Scandinavian Tung Oil Finish
Minwax Tung Oil Finish
Minwax Antique Oil Finish
Velvit Oil
Behlen Salad Bowl Finish
Behlen Teak Oil
Watco Teak Oil

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/finish2.html

[ChrisO]

Best pic I have of it right now
It's pretty dark seems to be stained a bit from cosmoline. It's pretty dark I doubt I can go light with it but either way I just want a nice looking finish that holds up good to weather.

[ChrisO]

I'm also not sure on what kind of wood it is either...

[Milsurp Collector]

Hard to tell from that picture. Some better pictures taken in natural sunlight would help.

One thing you can do is use lacquer thinner to clean the stock and remove the old finish. If that doesn't do it try Klean Kutter Refinisher. It is designed for use on antiques and fine furniture.



Almost inevitably someone will suggest putting the stock in a dishwasher. The dishwasher fans are enthusiastic about it to the point of religious fervor. I really can't recommend it. If there are hairline cracks in the wood it will open them up.




While the dishwasher fans love it I think there are other methods that work well with no risk of damaging the wood.

[kurac]

For getting the old finish off, I have found that using a utility knife blade works well, hold it perpendicular to the stock and use it as a scraping tool. Next you will want to sand it down with 100 or 150 grit sandpaper. Once you get all the marks out of it, then you can try 220 grit paper

I put this match rifle together a few years ago and used Tung oil as the sealer and a paste wax as the final finish

[coop44]

+1 on the scraping, I use the side edge of a wood chisel and dull the "blade" end, clamp the stock in a padded vise. finish up by using (lightly) 220 grit paper, and the sink with 0000 steel wool and dawn dishwashing soap. Let it dry and wipe it down with dry fresh steel wool. Actual labor time is about an hour. From there the finish is up to you.

BTW it take some practice to get the knack of it, in the pistol grip area scrape with the grain, in fact any where scrape with the grain

[SDJim]

Here is a link to some pure Tung Oil http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html

For coloring you can use Chestnut Ridge (with a hint of red) http://www.chestnutridge.com/images/inv/MAWAL1.jpg, cut it with just a hint of walnut to darken it a little if desired. Or Fiebing's Med Brown Leather Dye http://www.fiebing.com/Dyes.aspx

For cleaning, it runs the gamut of just wiping the stock down with mineral spirits to get the surface dirt out to using Easy Off Oven Cleaner or the dishwasher method (the key is not to let the dishwasher go into the dry cycle) or something a little bit easier like cleaning the stock with TSP.

The issue with using either pure tung oil or linseed oil is it takes a while to dry between coats. But once it does, it makes a beautiful finish.

[kurac]

I avoid using any kind of chemicals for cleaning the wood. I am concerned about chemicals changing the color of the wood or interfering with the finish drying.

I did try the dishwasher method on a couple of stocks from Doug's stockpile and it worked well. Saved many hours of scraping and sanding. I wouldn't do it to a collectible stock though.

[KrazyKevy]

I'm also not sure on what kind of wood it is either...

It might be tough to lighten up that wood...I believe most Garand stocks are DARK Walnut.

I just recently refinished one of my stocks. And I am in agreement to Milsurp Collector...I use nothing but what was originally used(100% pure tung oil or 100% RAW Linseed Oil) simply because I wanted the classic original look. I used RLO on my recent refinish. The problem with RLO is the drying time(1 week to 3months) and it will make the stock significantly darker(but that is what I wanted). I dont care about the drying time, I dont shoot this one that often anyways.

Im not a believer in Oven Cleaner to strip wood. I use Klean Stripe(Red Can) to stripe the finish down to the bare wood. This stuff is super strong(you must wear gloves and googles and dont let it sit on your skin) and it saves time. It takes absolutely everything off and does not harm the wood. I sand with 120 to get the rough stuff out...then move to 220. You really dont have to go any higher then 320...any thing super smooth and you will have a hard time getting oil to seep in to the wood.

New stock unfinished. Light walnut.


After one coat of RLO.

As you can see, RLO makes the stock significantly darker. I stood this up next to my Garand stock with the old original finish, and it is near spot on in terms of color(but no patina).

[TRICKSTER]

This stuff works great for military stocks.

http://www.fairtrimmers.com/

[OpenSightsOnly]

For wax, I have used this - http://www.thegunstockdoctor.com/index.html

Works pretty good plus it makes the stock smell good too!

[Sailormilan2]

To lighten the stock, if it is walnut, first clean the oil out of it, using your preferred method. My personal favorites are:
#1. The dishwasher method. Cleans the oil out of the stock, and steams any dents out.
#2. CitriSTripper furniture cleaner. Paint on, let sit, clean off with hot water.

Once all the oil is out of the stock, Crystaline Oxalic acid wood bleach(available at Lowes and Home Depot) . Regular bleach may work, but I know Oxalic wood bleach will work. Dissolve in hot water, brush on, let sit till appropriate lighteness is reached, then rinse off with water. Let dry.

The wood bleach will often finish cleaning the stock, as well as lighten it at least one shade. It high lights the grain too. I have stocks that I cleaned, and once put new boiled linseed oil on, the immediately turned dark again. I found that bleaching stops that.

In the Garand photo, the 1st, 3rd, and 5th stocks from the left were done in the this fashion. All 3 were extememly dark CMP stocks.
In the Carbine photo, the 1st, 3rd and 4th stocks were done the same way.

[brianm767]

Lots of great sock care,repair and refinish info here, any thing you want to know, just ask "candyman", search and find some oh his handy work, he's amazing.

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewforum.php?f=83&sid=19f28f533b834aa290618474ba940213