Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Any special considerations for finishing a Laminate stock?

Folks,
I am new to the Forum... I have tried to find the information needed via WWW and saw several hits from this forum. So here I am...

I entered this at the tail end of an older post and decided, after the fact, that was not a good idea.

The issues:
I just bought my son a Rosewood Laminate stock from Richards micro fit. I was looking for some recommendations regarding finishing the stock... I have a couple of questions:
1) Are there special concerns I need to take into consideration since it's a laminate stock?
I read some updates that recommended Tru Oil and SPAR varnish... would that be the same process for the laminate?
2) The rosewood stock has a pink hue to it... When I called Richards back regarding the pink color, the said it was from the dust, the recommended I take a damp rag and wipe a section down. The pictures on tier site for the rosewood laminate were pretty nice, when my son saw the Pink tone... he was not so impressed.

Any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance...

About 4 years ago I had to fit and finish a Richard's laminate stock that had a rosewood grip cap and forearm tip. I sanded down to 400 grit (200 - 220 grit will work just fine too) and rubbed the stock with a damp cloth, just enough to wet the wood without soaking it. This will raise the grain, when the stock has dried, use a used piece of 200 grit paper and knock down the raised grain. I repeat this procedure two more times. Then give it a final wipe down with a clean damp cloth to remove all the dust.

I filled the pores and sealed the stock using the clear stock filler:

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...wood-finishes/stock-filler-prod7605.aspx

When applying the filler, don't cake it on just apply sparingly. When it starts to dry, I rub off the excess using a plastic grocery bag as it forces the filler into the pores and only wipes away the excess.

I let the stock dry for 48 hours and applied 4 coats of spar urethane - quart can from Home Depot.

The stock finished very nicely and the Rosewood turned from pinkish to a darker red. Good luck.

When finishing rosewood, wipe it down with alcohol before applying the finish. Reason...oil in rosewood may effect
the finish.

I prefer a polyurethane finish on laminates.

BT99,
Would the Alcohol affect the glues used on the laminate? That was my concern...

Not BT99, but no, alcohol will not affect the adhesives.

John

Good job hog hunting. Going through the process of raising the grain several times is a necessary step. Some woods finish in a couple cycles, some more. I keep raising the grain until it stops. I tried a grain filler once recommended on a woodworkers site, it was terrible, at least on a stock. I ended up just applying many coats of vanish and sanding off, just to fill the grain. Next time I'll get what you linked to. I have used spar varnish on several stockes with good results.

I did a stock for a fellow out of obechee(sp?) once. Very open grained wood, filling that grain was painful.