Refinishing Rose wood grips

[righttoown]

I have some rose wood grips off of my 50th anniversary Ruger single six that I would like to get repaired and refinished. Anybody know anyone that does that type of work? I can send pictures of them to show the crack from the inside of one of them to see if they can fix it and refinish them.

 

[woodsy]

I am a retired furniture maker (among other occupations) and I must warn you that rosewood is a difficult wood to both repair (i.e. glue) and refinish, because of the tropical oils in its makeup. A cyanoacrylate (also known as crazy glue) may work, if the crack is thoroughly cleaned. For refinishing, thorough cleaning before finishing with a polyurethane penetrating finish may be best. Good luck.

 

[Enigma]

The one time that I finished a set of rosewood grips, the first application did not cure, and was very splotchy. I stripped it off, wiped the grips down with acetone, and then reapplied the finish. It cured this time, so I rubbed it out and applied a second and third coat, then called it good.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Are these grips somehow impervious to being refinished with Tru-Oil? This stuff is basically linseed oil with a little drying agent added.

I've had excellent results with T-O on Ruger walnut panels.

 

[48flyer]

The 50th anniversary Single Six came with cocobolo wood grips, not rosewood.
I'm no woodworker, so no real advice from me, other than that.
Good luck

 

[Bob Wright]

If they are indeed cocobolo, they need no finish. Just sand with the finest sandpaper, #600 grit or so, and buff with a soft cloth. A coat of wax will bring up a little luster.

If they are Ruger's rosewood, a.k.a altamont, discard and buy elsewhere. They're laminates.

Bob Wright

 

[98Redline]

If you are sanding cocobolo, be careful and wear a mask. Cocobolo dust is a well known eye and respiratory irritant.

 

[woodsy]

If you are sanding cocobolo, be careful and wear a mask. Cocobolo dust is a well known eye and respiratory irritant.

So is rosewood, and all tropical hardwoods (that's why they resist insect attack so well). Cocobolo has the same physical properties as rosewood, for all practical purposes. As Bob Wright said, an applied finish is not really necessary.

 

[mohavesam]

Remember Ruger lists "rosewood" to describe one of several reddish-orange types of wood, not all hardwoods.

As a commercial offering, rosewood as-sold can be Indonesian, Pakistani, East Indian, Madagascar, Nicaraguan, Malaysian, etc. A few second of websearch reveals they are all sub-species of Dalbergia, and are a reddish fragrant soft wood. The primary sub-species was declared endangered worldwide since '92, and trade in that wood is prohibited.

Since then laminates of cheaper "rosewoods" have been used in the USA. Color is not uniform and can range from reddish to almost black to red-purple.

Anyway rosewood is not a single type of wood... I have not experimented with anything other than Tru-Oil. I am not a grip-maker.

 

[CraigC]

The grips in question are cocobolo, which is a type of rosewood. The info posted above regarding their toxic dust and needing no finish is accurate.

The laminates are almost universally birch, with different colors applied to make them look like walnut or rosewood.

 

[SteelBlue]

Some of the laminates look better than others. I actually like the look of the OEM Ruger laminates I have on my Bearcats and Redhawk.

 

[Enigma]

Are these grips somehow impervious to being refinished with Tru-Oil? This stuff is basically linseed oil with a little drying agent added.

I've had excellent results with T-O on Ruger walnut panels.

I was using Tru-Oil.

 

[Pete]

I have refinished grips before that were an oily wood like you describe.Tru-oil will not dry on some of these woods and this was true in my case.What I did was clean and dry the grips with a light solvent,let the wood dry completely,spray a coat or two of Bullseye Shellac letting that dry completely and then finish with tru-oil over the shellac.I have some Indian rosewood that just would not finish with tru-oil and when sealed in this manner and finished they did great.

 

[pvtschultz]

I have refinished grips before that were an oily wood like you describe.Tru-oil will not dry on some of these woods and this was true in my case.What I did was clean and dry the grips with a light solvent,let the wood dry completely,spray a coat or two of Bullseye Shellac letting that dry completely and then finish with tru-oil over the shellac.I have some Indian rosewood that just would not finish with tru-oil and when sealed in this manner and finished they did great.

My experience has been the same as Pete's. Give the grips a coat of Shellac, let dry and then card with steel wool. Repeat one time. Tru-Oil will cure on top of the Shellac.

 

[GunnyGene]

I have refinished grips before that were an oily wood like you describe.Tru-oil will not dry on some of these woods and this was true in my case.What I did was clean and dry the grips with a light solvent,let the wood dry completely,spray a coat or two of Bullseye Shellac letting that dry completely and then finish with tru-oil over the shellac.I have some Indian rosewood that just would not finish with tru-oil and when sealed in this manner and finished they did great.

My experience has been the same as Pete's. Give the grips a coat of Shellac, let dry and then card with steel wool. Repeat one time. Tru-Oil will cure on top of the Shellac.

A note on shellac for sealing: Use de-waxed shellac. Ideally you should use blond or superblond raw shellac you mix with with de-natured alchohol in a 1 lb cut. The Zinsser product will likely give a slight orangey tint to the wood.

This:

Ideally you should use blond or superblond raw shellac flakes you mix with with de-natured alchohol in a 1 lb cut.

But most folks don't want to spend the money for a lb of flakes. See this: http://www.shellacfinishes.com/

 

[Pete]

Yes! I knew I forgot to say de-waxed shellac.Zinsser also makes a spray de-waxed shellac.

 

[GunnyGene]

Yes! I knew I forgot to say de-waxed shellac.Zinsser also makes a spray de-waxed shellac.

The other thing with the Zinsser Seal Coat is that it is a 2lb cut, so it should be cut with DNA to get a 1lb cut. Reason is that a 1 lb cut will penetrate into the pores better than the 2lb cut, but will require at least 2 coats and light sanding with 400 grit between coats to get a smooth surface for the following oil based finish. Ignoring this sanding step will result in any imperfections or "bumpyness" from the dried shellac being transferred to the final finish. And never ever use steel wool - tiny pieces will break off and embed in the wood and eventually produce visible rusty spots.