eight433
Member
First attempt at stock refinishing, but not new to wood working by any means. It didn't turn out exactly like I wanted, although I did it all with supplies I had available at home. I only have a couple hours invested into it, and I'm sure it could have used a few more coats of oil, but seems to have "quit" taking oil so I did not push it.
I simply sanded the old "orange" finish off and sprayed it down with brake kleen, let it dry, then hit it with a maple stain which was not as red as I had remembered it being. I then hit it with a coat of tung oil, which is when I realized it would not be nearly as dark as I wanted it, so I immediately followed it with "Old English" furniture polish. That looked much better, so I followed it by another 3 coats as they respectively dried to the touch. I let it sit over night. I tested another coat, but it would not "take" any more. I switched to some high quality furniture oil and rubbed it into the finish per directions. It started to seal up nice, so after a couple of coats I switched to furniture polish (which seems to me like oil mixed with liquid wax, but what do I know...) I wiped it clean with a dry cloth, then applied a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax. I let it sit for a few hours, and polished it up to a nice luster, thought I would not call it much of a "shine" (which is fine with me, I was looking for a "warmer" finish anyways"
I'll see what it looks like as it ages, although I will likely spray it with brake kleen and try again in the future some time, possibly over the summer.
Hope you like lots of pictures, cause I got a bunch! I even got a buddy of mine to pose with some cheap garbage I bought at a gun show last year.
Keep in mind that I did not sand ALL the original finish out of the grain, as I wanted the gun to retain it's history and character.
"original" rearsenaled finish
Patch job
New finish!
You can really see how much different it looks the way the light hits the grain
I simply sanded the old "orange" finish off and sprayed it down with brake kleen, let it dry, then hit it with a maple stain which was not as red as I had remembered it being. I then hit it with a coat of tung oil, which is when I realized it would not be nearly as dark as I wanted it, so I immediately followed it with "Old English" furniture polish. That looked much better, so I followed it by another 3 coats as they respectively dried to the touch. I let it sit over night. I tested another coat, but it would not "take" any more. I switched to some high quality furniture oil and rubbed it into the finish per directions. It started to seal up nice, so after a couple of coats I switched to furniture polish (which seems to me like oil mixed with liquid wax, but what do I know...) I wiped it clean with a dry cloth, then applied a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax. I let it sit for a few hours, and polished it up to a nice luster, thought I would not call it much of a "shine" (which is fine with me, I was looking for a "warmer" finish anyways"
I'll see what it looks like as it ages, although I will likely spray it with brake kleen and try again in the future some time, possibly over the summer.
Hope you like lots of pictures, cause I got a bunch! I even got a buddy of mine to pose with some cheap garbage I bought at a gun show last year.
Keep in mind that I did not sand ALL the original finish out of the grain, as I wanted the gun to retain it's history and character.
"original" rearsenaled finish
Patch job
New finish!
You can really see how much different it looks the way the light hits the grain
