Refinishing a wood stock tips

[Powderblast]

I have a 10/22 and a Rossi lever action mod. 92 that need to have
the stock sanded down to meld better with other parts, and an oil
finish of some kind. Don't want the shiny poly type look. Never done
this before, but do have some woodworking experience. Need some
tips on what type of finish works well and tips on application, please.
The 10/22 is beat up from years of use (by my son) and the Rossi
is a brand new gun but the finish is just pitiful, therefore a winter project.

 

[DeletedMember275]

Google it; there are any number of articles online that detail how to do this. If the 10-22 has a birch stock, you'll need to find some stain specifically for this. Brownells carries several different types of stain. I like Chestnut Ridge, although it does give a rather reddish appearance; sometimes I apply a brown stain over it.

Watco Danish Oil gives a nice finish and is easy to use and touch up later. One thing that I definitely recommend, especially on birch - apply a pre-stain wood conditioner before you stain. I use Minwax brand, but there are others that do the same thing. It causes the stock to accept the stain evenly, which birch (and a lot of walnut) will not do otherwise - you get dark and light areas, and it doesn't look very good.

http://www.chestnutridge.com/images/inv/MAWAL1.asp

http://www.woodcraft.com/category/2000767/watco-penetrating-danish-oils.aspx

http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/preparation/minwax-prestain-wood-conditioner

 

[Snake45]

In my experience, birch doesn't take an oil finish very well. If your 10/22 stock is birch, you might be happier shooting it with a satin polyurethane, rubbing that with steel wool or Scotchbrite if even that is too shiny for you.

If it's walnut, however, something like Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil will give you exactly the finish you're looking for.

 

[JEFraze]

Brownells make a great water based stain kit that lets you coustom mix a color for staining your wood stock no mater what type of wood it is. Then after the stain is applied you can use something like Lieseed oil or Trueoil to seal the wood.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Never oiled one.

I've remade three 10/22's with different attitudes.

They all took a lot of work and all met expectations. Two were untouched new take off "birch" goop covered units without flaw. I stripped them to white wood and then spent some time sanding yet most of the time in my 5876456 step staining process to achieve the color and shade I wanted. Never used any "conditioner" of any kind and never experienced any uneven coverage. It's probably because I use so many steps, don't slather on the stain, don't let it sit long.

The third was possibly walnut, never decided. It was beat up bad and took LOTS of sanding (after the stripping it and the others got) and LOTS more sanding. It took some filler that I had to blend using multiple "natural" colored markers. Then took LOTS more sanding. Put it through my third idea of stain with all the steps between. Put the poly on it so smooth it (they) looked poured into a mold.

Sold the last on eBay. Buyer happy with higher than normal price on completed items for a standard carbine tapered stock. I have the other two in one way or another. They are custom.

 

[Diamondtreo]

great homebrew oil - 3 equal parts turpentine, beeswax & Boiled linseed oil. Rub it in by hand.

 

[dam7]

thegunstockdoctor.com

 

[woodsy]

Make your life easier, and your stocks more durable: Minwax Wipe-on Poly, Satin. NOTHING can be simpler, OR more durable.

 

[markn30135]

Hmmmm, which finish will be closest to the original M77? I just wish to repair one area.

 

[GunnyGene]

Instead of a stain, you might consider a dye https://generalfinishes.com/retail-products/water-based-wood-stains-dye-stains. I've used dyes on wood many times and if you are willing to learn how, and test it on some scrap of the same species and general color, you will usually get better results than with a stain. The problem with most stains is they tend to "cloud" the wood grain, which dyes will not do.

As for final finish, many of the finishes already mentioned are nearly identical in chemical formulation and fall under the heading of "wipe on varnishes", which are merely thinned varnishes, and thus require more coats. This is not a bad thing since the final results are normally better than fewer (and thicker) coats. A common formula for these is equal parts polyurethane, mineral spirits, and an oil such as tung, walnut, or linseed and is commonly referred to as "Danish" oil.

 

[woodsy]

Instead of a stain, you might consider a dye https://generalfinishes.com/retail-products/water-based-wood-stains-dye-stains. I've used dyes on wood many times and if you are willing to learn how, and test it on some scrap of the same species and general color, you will usually get better results than with a stain. The problem with most stains is they tend to "cloud" the wood grain, which dyes will not do.

As for final finish, many of the finishes already mentioned are nearly identical in chemical formulation and fall under the heading of "wipe on varnishes", which are merely thinned varnishes, and thus require more coats. This is not a bad thing since the final results are normally better than fewer (and thicker) coats. A common formula for these is equal parts polyurethane, mineral spirits, and an oil such as tung, walnut, or linseed and is commonly referred to as "Danish" oil.

One does NOT need the mineral spirits or additional oil if one simply uses the Minwax product (wipe-on poly). Plus, the protection of the polyurethane is not diminished by the addition of other ingredients, since Minwax has already done the chemistry of it being a wipe-on. Some years ago, a mag which was my "bible" reviewed ALL the available furniture finishes, and found that the wipe-on poly was far superior in protection to anything else it found on the general market (available to consumers). Ignore their unbiased testing at your peril.
The best source for wood dyes is not General Finishes, but rather Lee Valley Tools.

 

[GunnyGene]

Instead of a stain, you might consider a dye https://generalfinishes.com/retail-products/water-based-wood-stains-dye-stains. I've used dyes on wood many times and if you are willing to learn how, and test it on some scrap of the same species and general color, you will usually get better results than with a stain. The problem with most stains is they tend to "cloud" the wood grain, which dyes will not do.

As for final finish, many of the finishes already mentioned are nearly identical in chemical formulation and fall under the heading of "wipe on varnishes", which are merely thinned varnishes, and thus require more coats. This is not a bad thing since the final results are normally better than fewer (and thicker) coats. A common formula for these is equal parts polyurethane, mineral spirits, and an oil such as tung, walnut, or linseed and is commonly referred to as "Danish" oil.

One does NOT need the mineral spirits or additional oil if one simply uses the Minwax product (wipe-on poly). Plus, the protection of the polyurethane is not diminished by the addition of other ingredients, since Minwax has already done the chemistry of it being a wipe-on. Some years ago, a mag which was my "bible" reviewed ALL the available furniture finishes, and found that the wipe-on poly was far superior in protection to anything else it found on the general market (available to consumers). Ignore their unbiased testing at your peril.
The best source for wood dyes is not General Finishes, but rather Lee Valley Tools.

Lee Valley is a good source for all kinds of quality stuff. I've probably spent $4k or more with them over the years.

As for your other comments, yes there are some excellent wipe-on's available commercially. I've used most of them at one time or another, and I've also made my own finishes (including from shellac flakes for French polishing).

This is not an argument about what brand is better than some other brand or home-brew. I merely offered some comments about finishing.

 

[DGW1949]

Being's how the OP posted his question 4 years ago, I doubt that he is still awaiting responses. :lol: .
That said though, I'm perty-sure that there aint no single "right way" to refinish a gun stock, meaning that a lot of "how to do it?" is going to be directly related to what kind of wood it's made from, as well as "why" it's owner thinks that it needs refinished. Plus, one guy may be up for more work that the next guy is up for, so then there's that.

Sand it or strip it?, pre-conditioners, dyes, stains, sealers...water base, oil base, alcohol base...rub in multi-applications of this or that oil until it "looks right", or once a day for a week, followed by once a week for a month, followed once a month for a year...or skip any/all of the above and just cover the wood with some sort of "wood finish" right out of the can (or bottle)....
...They all have their place...depending.

DGW