Glenfield 60 Refinishing, because I felt left out...

[courtgreene]

I've seen several threads in which people refinish rifles and take pictures, and I felt left out, so, here goes.
First, I don't do well with pics... I know how to upload attachments but not how to put pictures among text. This pic shows how the thing looked before. http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=156672&d=1326248296
I'd never stripped finish off before, as I'd rather sand, but because there's a little squirrel in the grip that wasn't an option. I hope to never use stripper again... it inevitably splashes, and burns one's arms. So pic 1, the stripped stock, was hard earned. The first coat was my first time working with oil as opposed to stain, and I wasn't sure I liked the way it was looking (pic 2). But then, as I pressed on and did another pass with the oil, I discovered I liked the way it was starting to look. I intended to put coat after coat in there until it was reddish like the original, but when I saw the second coat of oil (pic 3) I decided I liked it. So I put her back together (pic 4) and decided I prefer this to the original and may never stain again. overall, I'm glad I did it, it doesn't LOOK like it is 40 years old anymore. Never shot like it, so my m60 gets a new lease on life.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

looks good.

i've got a squirrel stock glenfield 60 project torn all apart that i really need to get back to. what kind of stripper and oil did you use? did you remove any dents from the stock? mine has a few small dents that i've read can be removed or at least made less significant with steaming methods. i've never refinished a stock before, so that was part of my reason for getting the old thing. that and i just thought the squirrel was cool.

 

[moewadle]

About stripping

I have not done much stripping and refinishing...I think I am not cut out for it. But I have stripped two or three rifle stocks on mostly inexpensive Marlins. I use rubber gloves and have no problem with skin burns. I pour the stripping liquid in a paint pan (like you dip a paint roller in) and then hold the stock above perpendicular and put it down in the liquid and, using an old clean rag I start rubbing the stripper on it. Then, per directions, I let the stripper work some and continue the process. I even have found that using an old table knive, the back side of the blade, to help remove some of the finish after it is softened by the stripper.

Here is something I think was a cool idea by me...I know I am bragging so I apologize but I got the idea from all the black guns that are out there now. I stripped the inexpensive wood stock of a Marlin Model 70 .22 and painted it black. It was not a very good job but the idea I think was good. It is attractive and I think, more attractive than the cheap looking finish that came from the factory. And even inexpensive Marlins are good guns...it is just that the stocks were not very attractive.

So, there is a bit of a springboard for you for another project. Enjoy your refinishing.

 

[courtgreene]

@neuservrrat I thought I was going to have to raise the wood with an iron and sand out nicks, but you'd be surprised what rubbing the oil in well will do. It turned out that the actual wood was not scratched up nearly as bad once the old finish was off. I used some sort of 15 minute stripping gel from walmart because lowes was closed by the time I decided to do this (1am the night before, I don't sleep well so nocturnal projects are the norm). I used course steel wool for the actual removal, and a tooth brush for the squirrel so as not to mess it up. I used birchwood cassey (sp?) tru oil for the new finish. It was fun.
@Moewadle Your method would have been much better for avoiding the burns i got on my arms. I used a paint brush, and while I did have gloves on, there were times when the paint brush sort of flung stripping gel onto my arms below the glove and above my sleeve. wearing a long sleeve tee shirt would have helped.