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[compulsivegunbuyer]

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[Mr. Mildot]

Sand it down and oil it up then, what's stopping you?

[Pulsar]

Don't sand off the old finish, it just pushes it into the wood and makes more work for you. Use a chemical stripper like Jasco to remove the finish. Once the finish is removed you can now sand to remove any scratches or dents in the wood. Get to a fine grit and apply a coat of oil (I use tru-oil, you can get it through brownells). Let it set for a day, then it's more sanding, and more coats of oil, and more sanding, and more oil, and more sanding and more oil, pretty much keep repeating till you get the finish you want, a good high polish finish will take a couple of weeks to attain since the oil takes a while to set up. Also for you last couple coats of oil it's worth using a sprayer to apply the oil instead of rubbing it in (you have to thin out the oil with paint thinner of course).

[crob241]

wood finish

When I want to finish a walnut or wood laminate rifle stock I use a old time gunsmith formula that is labor intensive but when you are done it will be top notch.There are easier and quicker ways but if you have a Ironwood or Richards premier grade wood it will be worth it. You mix raw carnuba wax, pure linseed oil, turpentine and beeswax and mix in 3 different ratios, each thicker then the previous so that the last is hard like car wax and you end up with something that looks like a fine piece of furniture. actually they use the same thing. The only other things you need is some steel wool and a couple old socks. If you are interested I can give you the recipe and where to get the items, you end up with lots of product, or if you live in socal, the high desert area I can give you enough to do your gun. thnx

[Ironchef]

Pick one of the many ways to strip the wood: denatured alcohol and a 0000 steel wool pad, orange cleaner, sanding, acetone, whatever.

Once it's stripped, pick a grit of sand paper (use a block so as to sand evenly and to avoid taking off edges/corners) around 100 or 200 based on how bumpy the wood is. Also, using an iron/steam to get recessed dings in the wood to come out is wise before sanding.

Get it smoothed with the 100 or 200 grit paper, maybe hit it again with higher grit like 400 if you want... Then use the 0000 steel wool to get ALL wood dust off the stock. then you're ready to stain or just put on oil.

I used tung oil from Lowe's department store (few bucks I think). I had gloves on for this part and a foam brush to apply the oil...then with gloved hands, massaged the oil into the wood good and liberally. Let sit 24 hours.

After sitting 24 hours, hit the stock with the steel wool to smooth it once again and remove any dust or raised "hairs" in the wood. Apply another coat of oil, rest 24 hours, and repeat this step as many times as you want. Normally 3-6 coats of oil is more than enough, and it'll be very water resistant. Also, on the first coat of oil, if you wanna get real authentic, rub in that layer of oil with your palms..the body heat allows it to become more fine and it should penetrate the wood more. But it's hell to get out of your hands later!

My Mosin Nagant after I refinished it using the instructions above...and 3 coats of tung oil (with a cherry stain before the oil).

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/3872/img0017ac5.jpg

[ghostwong]

For refinishing the stock Do this. . . .

Pick one of the methods you like to get he fish off.

1) Steam out ding, by using water and an iron or an edge banding iron. You need to be take your time. If the wood is still there the steam will raise the grain.

2) After the dings are out use a sprayer bottle of H2O and give surface a quick spray. do not drench it just a spray it. The water will cause the grain of the wood to rise. Keep in in the sun for a few minutes 3-4 minutes. If you want to do a quick sand job 150 grit. Very fast, Should take you no more than 1-2 minutes for the stock. You are just getting the fuzz off.

3) Now for finishing - oil, tung , what ever floats your boat. Start with 220 wet dry and use a lot of oil, finish. The oil will act like a lube when you sand. You get 1) faster cutting, 2) sand paper will not clog if you have enough oil, 3) The slurry is part wood and oil finish work the slurry into the cracks of the wood. You get better than Famowood will fillier.

4) Wipe finish off and keep coming back to wipe off the finish. The wood will bleed out oil . The last thing you want to do is have it pool and dry. If it does happen you can use oil and the same grit wet dry to remove it.
and let dry. Do Step 3 again with 400 grit wet dry and if you really want to 600 wet dry.

5) Final, should be with steel wool then the Top coat finish. If you end with 400 then the first top coat should be 600, them 800, 1200, then if you want to go micro.

Good Luck

[Rust]

Follow Ghostwongs steps. Thats the way I was shown both by cabinet makers, and by my stockmaking instructors in school. I personally never felt the need to sand past 600 grit, but would do more passes at lower grits to fill in the pores with the oil/sanded wood slurry. But remember to use sanding blocks so you don't round the edges like Ironchef suggested. It's time consuming, but use them for every surface. If you have a cheek piece use a chunk of fuel line or rubber hose to match the radius of the edges. If you have corners use blocks of wood or rubber to keep the paper flat as you work them. If at all possible always work with the grain of the wood. Usually that will be from buttstock to forend.

[M. Sage]

I did a 91/30 pretty much the same way you did, except this part:

Get it smoothed with the 100 or 200 grit paper, maybe hit it again with higher grit like 400 if you want... Then use the 0000 steel wool to get ALL wood dust off the stock. then you're ready to stain or just put on oil.

After the pre-oil sand, I used a sponge and cleaned the stock with soap and water, rinsed it and let it dry really well. 0000 steel wool won't take all the wood dust off the stock, as it'll make more (since it's an abrasive).

I used regular wood stripper and tung oil from Ace hardware.

0000 steel wool and then wiped the stock down with an oil-moistened rag before the next coat. IIRC, I did 4 coats. It drank the oil up like crazy.

[Ironchef]

I would add that sanding is obviously a no-no if you're attempting to preserve those priceless cartouches and stamps. Some people just strip the stock of it's shelac, wash and dry, then add oil.

[Ceemack]

Use a chemical stripper, not sandpaper, to get the old finish off. Homer Formby's, Jasco...your local Home Depot/Lowe's will have several options. For best results, be sure to leave the stripper on for the full length of time specified in the instructions.

Sand as little as possible to preserve the original color and shape. I'm assuming this is a fairly new gun with wood in good condition (if it's got any potential collector value, don't touch it). In that case, you won't have to do much sanding anyway--you'll only need to whisker up and then knock back down any dings, and knock down any whiskering that takes place when you wash off the stripper. A little time with some 200-grit and a little more with 400-grit should be plenty. I'd suggest a tack cloth to remove all the sawdust before you apply the finish.

Oh, yeah...make sure the wood's good and dry before you sand.

As for the finish, you've actually got a couple of options. You can use a natural oil, like tung oil or boiled linseed oil (my preference - aka "BLO"). Three coats is plenty, unless you want gloss. The other option is wipe-on polymer from Minwax. The matte version looks a lot like a traditional oil finish, and is a lot less work.

If you use a natural oil, be sure to follow the instructions for taking care of the rags you use to wipe on and wipe off the oil. They can pose a fire hazard if they're not disposed of properly.