Refinishing a Rifle Stock

[cox3497]

Hey guys,

I've got a Weatherby Mark V .243 Stainless that I recently bought, and I'm not too impressed with the synthetic stock. I'm looking at possible wood replacement options, and I've run across a Walnut stock that has cracks all throughout the surface of the finish. Other than this, however, it is like new. If I bought this, I would have to refinish it. How hard is it to refinish a walnut stock that already has the checkering and such on it. Thanks for any insight.

cox3497

 

[Roudy]

refinish?

Guess I don't look at refinishing a rifle stock as work, but a 'labor of love'. I really enjoy bringing out the beauty of the wood. Here's how I would go about it:

1. Use a commercial paint stripper to remove the bulk of the old finish. If it has any checkering on it make sure to use a toothbrush to get the old finish out of the grooves.

2. Sand the stock with progressively finer sand paper until you get down to 220 grip then hit it with fine steel wool. If you have checkering be careful to not remove much, if any, material that is checkered.

3. Now is the time to steam out any dents in the wood. To steam out a dent use a wet cloth and your wife iron (if you are brave). Place the wet cloth over the dent to let the water soak into the wood fibers then apply the iron on the cloth. You want the water in the wood fibers to turn to steam and push the wood back to it's original position. Repeat the process until the dent is gone. This needs to be done while there is no finish on the stock so the water gets down in the wood.

4. Using a wet cloth wipe down the entire stock and let it dry. This will bring up very small fibers that you can then remove with steel wool. You can repeat this process a couple times if you want.

5. Apply the finish that that you want. Personally I like hand rubbed linseed oil....lot of work but if you have pretty wood it really brings out the depth of the wood pattern. Birchwood Casey has a good finish, but I'm sure there are other brands equally as good. I even hand rub the Birchwood Casey material. The number of coats is dependent on what you desire, just make sure you cover all of the wood to seal out (mostly) the moisture.

Hope you enjoy yourself!

PS: If you are not brave you can buy a cheap iron at Wally World or better yet a garage sale.

 

[enfield]

I've used this same process on 3 stocks (except I used low gloss tung oil) and it worked like a charm. Beautiful smooth stock with a hard, low gloss finish. To do the low gloss, you rub the stock down with 0000 steel wool after each coat of oil, including the last one. I typically put 10 coats of oil on the wood.

 

[lycanthrope]

Have you looked here?

http://www.rifle-stocks.com/

 

[jeepmor]

I follow much the same procedure mentioned, however, I skip using steel wool until there is some finish on the wood.

I have a 22 with a mahogany stock, so it has lots of open grains that get the little bits of steel wool in them. The tighter grain woods should not be an issue, but it's something to think about is all.

I like the handrubbed finish myself such as tung oil due to it being very easy to make a great finish, but it takes patience.

I refinished a stock for a friend that wanted a glossy, water tight finish on it. I live in the PNW, spelled, rainy hunting seasons. I used a spray can Varathane gloss. I put one or two thin, thin coats in the bedding area to seal it well, taking care not to add any dimension to the bed as best I could.

I then protected this area with some masking tape and proceeded to finish the stock with 3-4 coats of finish, using steel wool in between coats. They turned out very well and my friend was absolutely elated at the results. He was so happy he had another stock in my hands that week to refinish for a relative of his for christmas. Again, got rave reviews from the customer.

The one trick I found to clean out the checkering without removing too much of it, if any, was to use a utility knife razor blade to scrape out the finish in the checkering shortly after the finish remover was used. It was slow and painstaking, but it provided superior results. On that note, if you want to refinish a checkered stock, you may not have many staining options because it is pretty difficult, if not impossible, to get the stain color out of these checkers because they soak up some much stain in original finishing process.

I have quite a woodworking background and refinishing stocks is probably one of the most rewarding projects I've ever done because you get to see a beat up old stock turn back into a total gem, quite satisfying and worth the time and effort to do it right. Which leads me to an old shop saying to operate by. "If you don't have time to do it right the first time, when will you have time to fix it?"

jeepmor

 

[GRB]

I have refinished a couple of stocks. Once I got off the old finish, I sanded each lightly, then went to work - a lot of rubbing work - with boiled linseed oil. Sure comes out nice looking.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

If the only thing wrong with the wood is small surface cracks, you can just lubricate the sandpaper with linseed oil. The wood dust will mix with the oil and fill small cracks. This is not a fix for structural cracks.

Regards.

 

[Coltdriver]

Here is a pic of my old model 70. Instead of trying to strip the checkering I just taped it off.

I used a handheld orbital sander to take the old finish off of the wood. Then finish sanded it with progressively finer paper until I was up to about a 220 grit. Then went over it a few more times till I got to a 400 grit.

This is good spar varnish which builds quickly, is absolutely weather proof and looks pretty nice. Sanded between coats with very fine sand paper.

 

[Powderman]

Here is a pic of my old model 70. Instead of trying to strip the checkering I just taped it off.

I used a handheld orbital sander to take the old finish off of the wood. Then finish sanded it with progressively finer paper until I was up to about a 220 grit. Then went over it a few more times till I got to a 400 grit.

This is good spar varnish which builds quickly, is absolutely weather proof and looks pretty nice. Sanded between coats with very fine sand paper.

Now that's a nice finish!

How do you apply spar varnish? Any tips? Also, when knocking back the finish between coats, what grit (I know you said fine, but how fine? 400? 600? Finer? Or, will 0000 steel wool work as well?) would you use? And, how much do you sand the coat between applications?

 

[lycanthrope]

Powderman, this may answer some questions.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=166960&highlight=tru+oil

 

[Coltdriver]

If you want an heirloom class finish use tung oil. I used the spar varnish because its tougher and its definitely known to be waterproof!

How do you apply spar varnish?

I just used a reasonable quality brush.

Any tips?

All of the work is done before you put the first coat of anything on. You will spend 90 percent of your time in the prep stage. Applying the finish only takes the time required to put it on, let it dry (I always go a full 24 hours between coats) and sand it.

Also, when knocking back the finish between coats, what grit (I know you said fine, but how fine? 400? 600?

I had finish sanded the stock with 400 grit paper. I used an air compressor to clean it off as the very fine sawdust will clog the pores. After the first coat I used a 400 grit and just scuffed it.

On the second coat I used steel wool, 0000, and just scuffed it. The spar varnish builds very quickly. This stock only has three coats of spar varnish on it.

Finer? Or, will 0000 steel wool work as well?) would you use? And, how much do you sand the coat between applications?

When I do tung oil I put on a coat, wipe it off, sand, clean and repeat. After about four coats, sometimes six, you can start using steel wool between coats but you still wipe off the tung oil after applying it. After about 10 coats you let it stay on "wet" and use steel wool to scuff it.

With spar varnish I put it on wet and let it dry that way.

 

[cox3497]

Wow guys! Had quite a hectic weekend, and so wasn't able to view the thread, but after just reading it I wanted to offer my sincerest thanks. Those step by step instructions and pointers from all of you will be invaluable when I try to undertake this effort. Thanks again for all the responses. I appreciate all the help!

cox3497

 

[cox3497]

Lycanthrope,

Thanks for the heads up on that link. I have indeed looked there, the only problem seems to be that they have to "tool-up" to do Weatherby stocks, and I'm not sure I'd want that added wait. I'll have to think some more about it though. Thanks again.

cox3497

 

[cox3497]

One more question for you guys. How do you carry out the sanding phase of the refinishing. I've heard some people say you should put your sandpaper on a block to avoid unevenly sanding the surface (with just the paper and your hand, I suppose). What are your thoughts on this? What is your preferred method for sanding the stock? Thanks again!

cox3497

 

[enfield]

I always use a block, and I never use a power sander.

 

[rhino_36]

From my modest experience (3 rifle stocks), be careful if you use a stain. The stain may build up in the cracks, and show up as dark lines in your finished product. I haven't figured out how to remedy this :banghead: Any advice?

 

[lycanthrope]

I don't use a block to sand for the most part. I gently follow the flow of the stock or reshape as needed. I use a block when I want very sharp lines.

Power sanders are like Dremels. The dark side can be enticing, but it can be destructive very, very quickly. Use your hand.

 

[Roudy]

sanding block?

I usually don't use a sanding block or power sander on my stocks. There are very few straight flats on a rifle stock. I use long straight line strokes, no circular motions. I guess if you are trying to remove a lot of wood a block might be helpful, but finish sanding with the best tools in the world....they're at the end of your arms.

Good luck

 

[Khornet]

Little pieces of felt

can be had from Brownells to use as 'blocks' for sanding. Alternatively I cut my paper into 1" wide strips and fold it up into a 1" square, opening to expose a fresh surface as needed.

If you wet-sand, that is apply finish in small areas and sand through it while wet, you will produce a paste of sawdust and finish. When you've done the whole stock, wipe on some more finish with your fingertips to moisten all the paste, then spread it evenly about. Wait a bit, then gently wipe it all back off, not trying to wipe dry but just leaving a film. This will fill the pores with the paste so you don't need fillers, which can quickly dull checkering tools.

Checkering tools can't be beat for cleaning up checkering, BTW.

If you're a fisherman, you will have replacement felt for the soles of your waders, from which you can cut little blocks.