[Joe_Jeep]

so, about a year ago, I bought a Monte carlo stock, and forend, used,
to replace the synthetic stock on my 44 mag handi.
I bought cheap used stuff, I forget where I got them, I think ebay maybe?
apparently the butt stock is birch, but the forend is a laminate?

I gave them to my best friend.
he is the finish guy in a wood mill,
he does great wood work.
he also does it free, or often for a nice bottle of rye

today, he finally got around to sanding, and re finishing it. he has artistic licence,
and can do what ever he wants color, and finish wise.
the last stock, he did a rose red, and it was beautiful!

this one he started by dying the wood green. its my favorite color. he said it looked horrible, and he was sanding it off, lol. that was the last I heard from him about it. he then decided to try a walnut stain, over the green, as an experiment.
he started to do that, and said it looked bad, then he sanded it all off.
its a mohawk kona stain, covered in conversion varnish now.
he said its dark enough, pictures dont do it justice, but its beautiful in person.
its also dark enough, u don't notice the stock and forend don't really match.

it should be back in my possession Saturday.
it will go on my 44 mag or 357 max, not sure yet.

 

[Lt. Dave]

Very nice work your friend does!

I would like to know what stain and finish he uses. The matte finish is hard to find. Does he seal the wood before staining? Use water or oil based stain? Mix any stain in with the finish?

 

[Joe_Jeep]

Very nice work your friend does!

I would like to know what stain and finish he uses. The matte finish is hard to find. Does he seal the wood before staining? Use water or oil based stain? Mix any stain in with the finish?

he has a full automotive down draft temp controlled booth. he can mix almost anything.
my stuff he often experiments with.
the wood is sanded to 320 grit,
i don't think he seals it b4 stain.
we have not on other projects I helped with.
i will ask exactly what he used on it for ya.
most are sealed, after staining with a satin polyurethane
I aint even seen it yet.
he said the pics suck, and im gonna love it! it should look great with the brass trigger guard and forend spacer

 

[Lt. Dave]

He's got it down. Those palletwood stocks are difficult to stain.

 

[336ER]

That looks great 👍

I've always liked a satin polyurethane as the top coat whether a clear finish or over a stain.

 

[Joe_Jeep]

well all his product is from Mohawk.
it is petroleum based, and flammable when wet. this one is a bit different than what we have done b4. It is a high solids, post catalyzed, conversion varnish, over Mohawks Kona stain.

all our other projects were simple stain covered by satin polyurethane.

 

[Joe_Jeep]

the thickness and hardness make it rated for flooring use. lol

 

[Headrush]

Looks good he does good work i just did my first stock with tru-oil and I like the way it turned out

 

[Joe_Jeep]

face it, its not hard to improve on the factory finish. any refinish is better than factory.
pallet wood can look decent, with a bit of work. tru-oil is a good product, my dad used it for decades. u don't need off the wall expensive products.

NOW GET SANDING!

 

[Headrush]

face it, its not hard to improve on the factory finish. any refinish is better than factory.
pallet wood can look decent, with a bit of work. tru-oil is a good product, my dad used it for decades. u don't need off the wall expensive products.

NOW GET SANDING!

I've refinished several stocks in the past but this was the first one with tru-oil

 

[336ER]

I'm not about to argue with anyone who is happy with a refinish they did. I'll just say that I started refinishing furniture and guns (even toy guns) well over 50yrs ago.

If you want to spend the time to put 3, 5, 8 coats of tru oil, I'm cool with that. But, with the same good prep you can put a "better" satin finish on in 2-4 days.

Like I said, I'm not dissing anyone, but unless you actually try a satin poly finish you won't really know.

 

[Headrush]

I'm not about to argue with anyone who is happy with a refinish they did. I'll just say that I started refinishing furniture and guns (even toy guns) well over 50yrs ago.

If you want to spend the time to put 3, 5, 8 coats of tru oil, I'm cool with that. But, with the same good prep you can put a "better" satin finish on on 2-4 days.

Like I said, I'm not dissing anyone, but unless you actually try a satin poly finish you won't really know.

I've used poly with good results too I just wanted to try tru-oil because I had never used it before and you are right it takes several coats

 

[txtrout75218]

Joe,

The stock looks great!


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[Lt. Dave]

I've refinished alot of different woods. Antique furniture, trim, Even gymnasium floors. Polyurethane has a high solids, thick buildup that is perfect for foot traffic on floors. I try to stay away from polyurethane for gun stocks as I want to avoid a heavy, thick buildup. I like Tru-Oil but don't like the high gloss finish on a gun stock like is typical on say most Brownings for example.

With Tru-Oil you can take a little shine off with the Birchwood Casey Sheen Conditioner. It is like a fine rubbing compound. After the last coat dries for a week you rub it with the conditioner using a soft cloth to make the finish more of a satin finish.

Any low luster, thin oil that penetrates has been my preference. That's all it is, preference. I like to see the wood grain not completely sealed over by the finish. Here is an example from an antique shotgun where I replaced the broken buttstock with new wood but made it look like the original.

 

[Joe_Jeep]

my guns often end up out in wet weather.
I love a hand rubbed oil finish,
but I lean towards a harder finish,
to seal the wood, from water intrusion.
thats just what dad taught me, so I listen.

my friend Dale could just as easily do an oil finish.

im sure with newer finishes, it probably matters alot less. technology in coatings has changed alot, from when I sanded stocks for 5$ each for dad.

bottom line is, Dale makes my stocks look amazing, for a bottle of Rye, that I usually help him drink. so I aint complaining, lol

when ever dad had a browning come in for a refinish, he gave it to me to sand, and paid me double! their poly finish was tough as nails, but looked amazing!

 

[Lt. Dave]

I will try some satin poly on the next palletwood stock I refinish. I might thin it a little to keep the buildup from getting to thick.

The stain application has always been my bigest problem though. Most oil based stains look blotchy on this softer wood. Water based stains seem to look more uniform. I would like to try the Mohawk oil based stain that your freind Dale used. I found this on the web:

Mohawk

 

[txtrout75218]

Hi Dave,

Another option is using a die vs using a stain on the birch/beech wood. I've used analyn dies with DNA or acetone as the carrying agent on these birch/beech stocks to some success. Transtint is what I normally use. You can get it from Rockler or other wood working stores. While a little bottle is expensive, it goes for a long time.

Here is an attempt at duplicating a Remington Red on a couple of older 158 birch/beech stocks. In addition to the analyn die I used a tented satin poly over it for convenience and to bring out more color/depth.

 

[txtrout75218]

Here is one with an attempt at a more golden hue with a different color die.

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[Lt. Dave]

Troutman,

It looks like you reshaped the pistol grip on those stocks?

I found this info on aniline dyes, may be worth trying:

Aniline Dyes

Aniline dyes offer another approach for your finishing. Whether in wood tones or bright hues, these transparent dyes impart rich color without obscuring the grain.

www.woodmagazine.com

 

[txtrout75218]

Hi LT,

Both stocks are as made by H&R. The golden brown is from a 1980s Topper 88 20 gauge and the pistol grip was from an older parts Topper 158 12 gauge.

The golden brown stock has a rubbed oil finish based on 1/3 spar, 1/3 linseed oil and 1/3 thinner.

Another oil product that I'm trying is this antique oil finish from minwax. It seems to seal well, but doesn't fill the pores unless you use a bunch of coats. You can touch up at any time, so it doesn't have that issue like poly does. I know of a couple of "pros" that are using it on stocks now.

As for the dies, it's very toxic, so wear nitrile gloves when using it. I've not looked into it, but I wonder if leather dies use the same base. I also use DNA and acetone for I think I get a deeper level of die into the stock. The acetone normally doesn't raise the grain.

I reshaped this shotgun stock into a straight stock with a reduced diameter wrist for a little carbine for my daughter.

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