Just picked up an FN 98 Mauser by Husqvarna. Really pleased with quality of rifle. My only gripe is the beechwood stock could stand a refinish. Not looking to sand or reshape, just have old finish removed and new applied. Nothing fancy, just uniform stain.

Does anyone here offer that service or recommend anyone? Not looking for showpiece.

Sounds like a good DIY project. Plenty of instructions and suggestions on the internet, even videos, so why not do it yourself?

Formby's Furniture Restorer is the right stuff for this kind of job... very quick and easy. All it does is soften the old finish and allow you to move it around until uniform color is achieved. You do NOT want to remove the old finish on a job with your expectations.

After cleaning it up let it dry for a week or so before adding a few coats of oil finish on top...

There is a guy on Rimfire Central who has some good looking refinishes. I plan to use his method on a couple of projects soon.


http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=331108

I like the ProStock finish. You can get a nice "in the wood" finish with it and it does create a moisture barrier.

That is a horrible finish and creates a whole series of nightmares...

Well, here it is. Stumped and open to chastising - If it were mine, I'd paint it faux synthetic! What'da'ya'll think?

Has that stock been stripped yet? If it has, it needs to be gone over again. If it hasn't, you need to go over it with a good stripper, including using a toothbrush or similar on the checkering until it is down to bare wood. It really isn't a bad looking piece of wood and should refinish pretty well with the right products.
Once the stripping is done it will be easier to see what would be the best product to finish it- depending on what you want to accomplish and what type of finish look you are after.
Personally, I like Tru Oil for most refinishing jobs, but a good spray lacquer would also work fine. If the wood is light, you may need to get some brush on/sprayable lacquer so you can add some color to it before spraying it on like the factories do. Try it on an obscure spot or a scrap piece of similar wood first to get the color right before putting it on the stock permanently.
I don't like staining the wood prior to finishing as it sometimes will give blotchy and uneven results then you are out of luck to repair it as you'll never get the stain back out of the wood.

Bob

I don't see anything wrong with it and I think the worst of all possible stock finishes is paint on wood. Get it stripped and then play with darkening it. I prefer water based stains and frankly have found the Birchwood Casey stain to work just fine. After that I'd rub in several coats of a good hybrid oil finish such as Prostock or Linspeed. I've never been a fan of aerosol finishes, but to each his own.

I have used both Pro Custom Oil and Linspeed, my preference is Linspeed. Brownell's sells a water stain kit that consists of 5-6 small jars of dry pigment. They give several recipes for different color of stain, the dry pigments are measured with a reloading scale and mixed with water. If you don't like any of their recipes you can experiment till your heart's content, if you get it too dark it can be lightened by wiping with water. I refinished a Winchester 1892 several years ago, the stocks were gumwood and I used Minwax wiping poly which had the stain in it. The job turned out real nice, lately I have been using Timberluxe finish, they also sell a stain which can be applied over an existing finish. It penetrates the finish without needing to strip, I have used this to darken a stock that was real blond. It did a good job of making the wood look more walnutlike. Check out the Timberluxe website, there is a video that walks you thru the entire process of using their produccts. I have used the timberluxe finish as well as the stain and feel it is a good product that produces nice results without a lot of work.

Bob
Guessing your experiences with Beech are limited...

Moving the old finish around with the Formby's will give you a lot less trouble and a quicker finish, per the OP's original request.

Getting the dark out of the checkering alone would take more time than the whole job I suggested.
art

Son of a beech!

So Art, with the Formby's, would some of the darkness come out from the checkering too? Then it would all sorta mix around and become uniform?

Yeah Art, completely missed that line in the OP's post. You're right, better to sand the checkering off than try to get the stain out. Kinda thought you'd be showing up sooner or later....

Bob

I realize I'm going beyond the OPs request, but would recutting the checkering clean out the old finish? I cringe at the thought of sanding it down, but the diamonds do look fairly fattened. Sometimes investing a little time and money in a rifle is worth doing, especially if it's a keeper.

Looks to my amateur eye that someone used a lot of bone black at some point. If that's the case, its HARD to sand out! It really takes the edge off sandpaper.....please don't ask me how I know this...LOL!

Chris

Yes, much of the black would come out to be redistributed. Better, you would be able to "spot stain" areas that are not dark enough and then end up with a fairly uniform finish without a lot of trouble.

Taking the whole thing down to beech white would be a nightmare without a good or easy end in sight.

no need to sand the checkering off, though it will probably remain a shade darker than the rest unless the rest is stained a bit heavy, but the options remain open.

Recutting the checkering would reduce the black a great deal, but likely would not eliminate the black... it is also a lot of work and I am not convinced a beech stock is worth the time...

Chris
I can guarantee without hesitation there is no bone black involved in that finish... just old finish and wax with some dirt.
art

I don't know, but in this instance I would be tempted to re-cut the checkering and leave the rest of it alone and see what it looks like. Or else just leave the whole thing alone and shoot the heck out of it...

Definately would not sand the checkering off. Recut and see if that doesn't improve the appearance, if the stain/finish still bothers you then use Formby's Furniture refinisher to do what woodworkers call a "solvent refinish". No sanding or stripping, the original patina is retained, the finish is disolved and redistributed usually resulting in an improved appearance. Google "solvent refinish" for instructions how to go about this simple process, I have used it to remedy several different problems.

Half a million strong. "Give me an F..."

Go ahead and go through the process of hunting a bunch of questionable sources or notice that he with agrees my idea... this ain't my first rodeo...

You need to be more tolerant of the ideas of others and less of a domineering know it all. Checking out solvent refinish would provide an explanation of the process and additional instructions other than those on the Formby's Refinisher. How to determine whether the finish lends itself to the process etc., etc.. There are other sources than you, many of them just as expert as yourself. A little learning is a good thing, you ought to try it sometime, even though "it isn't your first rodeo."

why not take this as an opportunity to clean up the metalwork a bit and add a custom stock that uses some really nice walnut.

It would not bother me for whole stock to be dark like checkering. What's more important to me is a more uniform stain.

Huh...

Should have been more direct, I guess.

Your two posts on this thread alone are so divergent and short on actual advice that your value to the thread is questionable and would lead one with a clue to wonder when your clue might show up.

Your first post included a suggestion the OP use a water-based stain on a refinish job... you obviously have not done that before. Linking up places to go look for information instead of actually posting things that are true and might show that you have been there suggests you spend a lot of time answering questions by google.

Sending people out to research and suggesting they test various things also show you are guessing rather than knowing. It has been the pattern for you from the beginning, sorry.

Thanks Art.

Carry on Sir you know it all, the wellhead from which all knowledge flows. I won't waste my time jousting with you.

As previously said, I use water based stains and frankly would not go back to anything else. I find them great for blending light areas into dark ones and, if you don't like what you did, very easy to remove and start all over again. Of course the stained wood still needs a final finish to seal it from moisture. I don't do this for a living but I do like to keep things simple. As such I would strip the stock,repoint the checkering, stain with Birchwood Casey walnut until you get a desired shade and consistency, and then top it off with several coats of ProStock Gunstock finish. But that's just me.

There are lots of problems with water-based stains on wood to be refinished. Getting ALL of the finish out is required. That is mighty tough for most to understand and do. I spend a lot of time trouble-shooting issues and that is a very common one.

On new wood they are outstanding for all the reasons you mention, and more.

Art,

I defer to your experience and knowledge! It just looked like a beech/birch stock that I tried to "add" some figure to by using bone black and used FAR too much and it was a NIGHTMARE to sand out....in fact, I never did get as much out as I wanted to....just ran out of patience and probably sandpaper!

Chris

Chris
Yes, boneblack can be a lot of fun...
art

I have been interested in trying this outfit. www.finegunstockrefinishing.com

They've done two stocks for me, I have been satisfied with their work. Good communication and turn-around time. Feel free to PM me for additional details.

I have to say that my use of water based stains has been restricted to new stocks. I never figured they would be that difficult to use with a refinish. All my refinishes have stuck to stripping and recoating with one finish or another. I used to be a fan of G96 Linspeed, but found ProStock suited my taste better. Linspeed can build on the surface faster than I care and I prefer the "in the wood" look for rifle finishes. ProStock does that better for me.

Before tossing the Linspeed under the bus try it with a fresh bottle. Your comment suggests you had old oil that had started to polymerize in the bottle.

The other suggestion would be to change the basic application method from the single drop at a time to applying it heavy and wiping absolutely dry after 10 to 15 minutes. Oil used to be very expensive and hard to get. It was all going bad so rubbing in a drop at a time was what worked.

Thanks, but I've used Linspeed both new and old and prefer the other stuff. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying Linspeed is bad. But again, I find ProStock better suited to my needs. Although I do find Linspeed available in more outlets than ProStock. So that's a bit frustrating.

Try paint stripper and use an old toothbrush for the checkering. No sanding or steel wool. Than take three to four months for a boiled linseed oil hand rubbed finish applying every three days.

I agree with all the above except caution that BLO will give you no water proofing. On the upside you can top coat a BLO finish with a good hybrid for a final sealing with a classic look.

The only time I use straight linseed or tung oil is when finishing an as-issued U.S. military stock, when OEM correctness is the goal. The only reason the gov't arsenals and commercial gun factories used that stuff in that manner was because it was cheap and quick- not because it was the very best finish possible. At the very least mix it about 50/50 with spar varnish and apply like Art said. You'll still get that warm oil finish look with a somewhat better moisture barrier. Then, when finished, wax the bejapers out of it for what will be as good as it can get without utilizing a good barrier-type finish.

BLO is never a good choice on a sporting rifle. It will never cure properly and there are hundreds of better choices. I would not use BLO in Spar Varnish due to questionable curing and the curing inhibitors added to BLO are only part of the issue.

I've been using 50/50 oil(pure tung oil)/spar varnish for years on non-gun and non-boat projects, and on a few gun stocks when a customer or circumstances require an oil finish. I never noticed a curing issue. Have I been extremely lucky, or what?

I use cherry for about 75% of the projects I build for the college where I work. (Archaic lab apparatuses, museum quality repros of wood/glass/brass 17th-19th century scientific experiments that we use in our curriculum)- and typically I apply this mix, let sit for a quarter hour and wipe dry, let dry overnight, polish with 600x, repeat once or twice, wax with Butcher's Wax. Obviously no exposure to weather, and kept in a controlled humidity environment.

BLO, tung oil, and any permutations thereof I keep off of my personal stocks that I know will stand a chance of weather exposure. I'm still a firm believer in the utility of barrier finishes for that purpose.

You are correct about the lack of waterproofing with oil. Bare wood absorbs water vapor slower than oil-based finishes.

BLO under oil finishes can cause problems years down the road. Leave it in hot sunlight for an hour and you can suddenly find yourself with a very sticky mess.

BLO is never good for any sporting stock.

I guess I haven't been the game long enough to experience compatability problems with BLO/tung and hybrids. Thanks for the info.

BLO is the bottom grade of the linseed oil used for finish. The best is food grade and that starts the grading a bit lower for finishes and linoleum manufacturing.

The myth that tung is better oil is because too many people are allergic to it to use it for food. So the best tung is used for all the other oil feedstock.

BLO is literally the bottom of the barrel. Stabilizers are added to slow curing and they cause issues.

Basic is - as basic does. Seeking something wayyy short of a full rework Rusty75 let me experiment with his stock. Nothing much seemed to have any effect on lightening, redistributing, removing or otherwise beautifying the dark blotchyness as seen in the before pics. Stock was stripped already and I'm guessing someone had applied a dark stain? Well, after a few dead-ends, I eventually gave up on lightening it and went to dying it, here and there, by - wait for it - wiping on burnt umber airbrush paint! Then after several layers of Tru-Oil, some buffing and wax he says it's good enough - so it's good enough. Rusty75 was great to work with and I learned a couple handfulls of things along the way. We wanted to followup with appreciation for the inputs on this thread and show it off at roughly two three feet.

Some wood is just a beech to work on?

Props to mtnboomer for a quality job at a very reasonable price. Doesn't even look like the same stock in person.

Yep!

So are there any other options for trying to bleach out a darkened stock, especially in the checkering? I know this probably goes against all woodworking rules but what about actually using a diluted chlorine bleach solution? And I've got another question about finishing. Does anyone use Minwax Helmsman?

I can't speak to the chlorine bleach- never tried it because I had heard that it attacks the nitrocellulose of the wood. Someone more knowledgeable needs to answer that.

As for Minwax Helmsman spar urethane, I've been using it a lot lately but my all time favorite remains Epifanes spar varnish.

You are mostly right... but it is just cellulose it attacks. Nitrocellulose is made by mixing nitric acid into cellulose for stuff like gunpowder.

The best wood bleach I have found is Daly's Two Part Wood Bleach.

http://www.dalyswoodfinishes.com/st...duct_info&cPath=5&products_id=22

It is not good at getting through finish so it must be applied on bare wood, but it will take all of the color out if you ask it to.

Helmsman is not bad finish and better than most spar varnishes, but I also prefer Epifanes when I can find it.

Ha ha, I stand corrected. Must've been an "explosive" brain fart! (Groan...)

The Daly's 2 part stuff is hydrogen peroxide in one bottle and lye mixed with silicate in the other. It does an admirable job of whitening skulls, too.