Gunstock refinishing question

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Camohunter

Camohunter

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Hi,
I am a new member on THR.
I read the thread on gun stock refinishing using Minwax old Antique finish by dfarriswheel and learned a great deal.
Early on in the thread it was noted that steel wool was used between coats.
Near the end of the thread It was stated by dfarriswheel that a switch to a scotchbrite sort of pad was made because of the possibility of oil in the wool.
My question is should I stay away from steel wool completely during the refinishing process or should both be used for different reasons or at different stages of the process?

I appreciate any advice that I can get as this is my first try at refinishing a stock.
Thank you,

Camo
 
I recommend degreasing the steel wool in alcohol or Acetone.

I was once told to soak the 0000 steel wool in alcohol and sett it on fire to burn off.
This was a failure because the flame caused the steel wool to disintegrate into dust.
I haven't done a stock job in some years, but next time I'll soak in Acetone and let dry outside.
Acetone evaporates very fast, even faster then alcohol.

I found the Scotchbrite pads aren't abrasive enough for thicker coats. If you use very thin coats Scotchbrite works.
One hazard of steel wool is if any particles get trapped in the wood grain they can rust and leave stains.

The article..............

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/how-to-do-the-worlds-best-oil-finish.240961/
 
Steel wool only is a problem with water based finishes. Brake cleaner in an aerosol can is an excellent degreaser.
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies and a special thanks to dfarriswheel for starting the thread many years ago.
It contains a wealth of experience and information for someone trying to learn about refinishing a stock.
 
I don't want to sound like an expert, but I just recently refinished the furniture on a Winchester 59 shotgun that my parents gave me back many moons ago when I was a teenager. Awesome 12 gauge by the way, I bagged lots of pjeasants with it. I found that 0000 steel wool is the safest and will not abrade the wood at all. The blue Scotchbrite pads are a step up from steel wool. The regular green Scotchbrite pads is a step above the blue and a step below ultra fine sandpaper. Green pads can start removing a little of the wood surface if you rub too long in the same spot. I used the blue pads with small amounts of varnish stripper to remove the top coats and then switched to 0000 steel wool once the top varish layers were removed. Careful with acetone, it can damage the finish on a stock. Isopropyl alcohol is better for the beginner to use on wood finishes to degrease and remove the tiny bits of steel wool dust. Acetone works great cleaning and degreasing metal parts (like if you need to touch up the bluing on the barrel). So, I definitely keep some old fingernail polish remover handy. But nowadays, it's hard to find the kind of nail polish remover that has acetone as the main ingredient.
 
I can't remember if I mentioned it in the original thread, but a last step before the finish application is to "whisker" the wood by dampening a section at a time with a damp rag or sponge then flash drying it with a heat gun or stove burner (Don't scorch the wood) then using 0000 steel wood or a Scotchbrite pad to lightly rub the wood.
The heat turns the water to steam and that makes tiny splinters stand up.
The abrasive catches and cuts them off, leaving the wood very smooth.
Sand paper will NOT work, it just presses the splinters back down.
Today, I'd use Scotchbrite to prevent any chance of oil contamination.

Some wood may need two treatments of this to get all the splinters that stand up from the moist heat.

After whiskering the wood, do the moisture and heat one more time. This literally steam cleans the wood and blasts out any sand dust or other debris, and opens the grain up for the first coat of finish.
 
Velifer said:
I don't want to sound like an expert, but I just recently refinished the furniture on a Winchester 59 shotgun that my parents gave me back many moons ago when I was a teenager. Awesome 12 gauge by the way, I bagged lots of pjeasants with it. I found that 0000 steel wool is the safest and will not abrade the wood at all. The blue Scotchbrite pads are a step up from steel wool. The regular green Scotchbrite pads is a step above the blue and a step below ultra fine sandpaper. Green pads can start removing a little of the wood surface if you rub too long in the same spot. I used the blue pads with small amounts of varnish stripper to remove the top coats and then switched to 0000 steel wool once the top varish layers were removed. Careful with acetone, it can damage the finish on a stock. Isopropyl alcohol is better for the beginner to use on wood finishes to degrease and remove the tiny bits of steel wool dust. Acetone works great cleaning and degreasing metal parts (like if you need to touch up the bluing on the barrel). So, I definitely keep some old fingernail polish remover handy. But nowadays, it's hard to find the kind of nail polish remover that has acetone as the main ingredient.
Click to expand...
You can buy plain acetone at Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart in small cans. I think they are quart size and if you keep it sealed up should last a long time. Leave the top off and it will be gone in a day or two. Much cheaper buying that way instead of polish remover.
 
Walmart and Sutherlands didn't have acetone, but the local farm and ranch store did. So, I bought a can. I never even thought that a store would stock it. Figured you had to get it in a 55 gallon drum from a warehouse or something, I guess.

Nobody uses boiled linseed oil on wood stocks anymore? That was what my Dad always did, so I reckon the acorn don't fall too far from the tree.
 
Velifer said:
Walmart and Sutherlands didn't have acetone, but the local farm and ranch store did. So, I bought a can. I never even thought that a store would stock it. Figured you had to get it in a 55 gallon drum from a warehouse or something, I guess.

Nobody uses boiled linseed oil on wood stocks anymore? That was what my Dad always did, so I reckon the acorn don't fall too far from the tree.
Click to expand...
I still use blo
 
Velifer said:
Walmart and Sutherlands didn't have acetone, but the local farm and ranch store did. So, I bought a can. I never even thought that a store would stock it. Figured you had to get it in a 55 gallon drum from a warehouse or something, I guess.

Nobody uses boiled linseed oil on wood stocks anymore? That was what my Dad always did, so I reckon the acorn don't fall too far from the tree.
Click to expand...

BLO is versatile stuff. I melt beeswax and paraffin in BLO and use it to wax canavas and leather. It's cheaper than Goretex...
 
I use BLO with beeswax to wax my boot and shoelaces. This is something everyone should do to boot and shoe laces. Laces never wear out and they never come untied. Oh yeah. I also use it for woodworking. Not so much gun work though.

If you buybRustoleum in a non-spray can format, it calls for acetone as a thinner for spray gun applications. So it is out there for those reasons.
 
I finished a stock with Linseed oil many years ago. It turned out great, but the smell of the Linseed oil as so strong that I couldn't bring it in the house for several weeks. Might have put it on to thick, but I don't think so. It just stinks.
One of the easiest and cheapest ways to refinish a stock is TruOil by Birchwood Casey. Its available at Walmart. Its cheap but does a great job. You can make it just about as glossy as you desire by using steel wool between coats. Just stop when the gloss is what you want.
 
Velifer said:
Nobody uses boiled linseed oil on wood stocks anymore?
Click to expand...

I'm refinishing my M96 Swede now as a winter project. It had a "chip" in the underside of the forend that I wanted to fix, and I cleaned the stock while I had it apart.

I'm not adverse to new things, but the original finish on the Swedish beech stocks was some fashion of linseed oil and I wanted to keep it as original as I could. Actually, I started to mix up some raw linseed, but my turpentine was rusty (?), so I used some BLO that I had instead. I'm glad that I did, since it is already fairly dry from being put on this afternoon. I did another Swede beech stock a couple of years ago with RLO and it took forever to dry. Beech is pretty dense and oils don't soak in much, I guess.

If I ever finish a non-antique stock, I'll definitely give the Minwax a try.
 
I don't use steel wool on any wood gun stock. What I prefer is a citrus stripper to remove as much old finish as possible. Then, rubber gloves, Bounty paper towels, and lots of acetone to get any remaining old finish out of the pores and the natural grain.
When I encounter black areas, as along where the butt plate meets the back of the stock, I then switch to using "whiting" in a paste made with acetone brushed into the blackened area, and then a heat gun to draw the blackened oil out of the wood capillaries. The "whiting paste" will capture the oil by absorption, and then brushed off the wood surface so more can be applied if needed, and I will get most all of it removed with that process.
Too often I've seen slivers of steel wool caught by a raised wood grain whisker under the finish of some stocks where the steel wool was used, so I don't go that route. Boiled Linseed Oil doesn't protect the wood surface from dents during use like a good "in the wood hardening finish" will provide. I use Permalyn stock finish hand rub into the wood until all pores and grain is flush with the top surface:

EefSKe9m.jpg
 
Last edited:
There are much better products now than steel wool for all phases of wood finishing. I do not stock it in the wood shop any more.

if you still drill your holes with a hand auger then you might want to finish with flint paper and steel wool.
 
Most of the steel wool these days is brittle China crap. It breaks up and imbeads in everything. Look for the 3M finishing pads. There are different grits. IIRC white and light grey are the finest equivilent to 3 or 4/00 sw. Great products.
 
If your needing fine use brown paper bags, wadded up. I had a cabinet maker show me this trick. Works very well. As it gets softer the finer finish you get. It's great if your spraying a lacquer finish and have some whiskers that need smoothed out. Will add the finish must be completely dry before using it, otherwise you will have a big mess.
 
Velifer said:
Walmart and Sutherlands didn't have acetone, but the local farm and ranch store did. So, I bought a can. I never even thought that a store would stock it. Figured you had to get it in a 55 gallon drum from a warehouse or something, I guess.

Nobody uses boiled linseed oil on wood stocks anymore? That was what my Dad always did, so I reckon the acorn don't fall too far from the tree.
Click to expand...
BLO is about all I use. Sometimes I use Tung Oil.
 
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