Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing making grain character "pop"?

I have a few walnut, maple, and cherry stocks with very pretty feather and/or ribbon curl grain that I want to refinish to make the grain character "pop" . They all have years-old finishes at this point, either boiled linseed over varnish, or linseed with paste wax, or tung oil with wax.

I intend to sand them back to bare wood, maybe with a final mineral spirits wet-sand to eliminate any risk of wax residue. I want to do what I can to bring out the grain character, then apply several coats of spar varnish for the hard clear coat finish.

Here is one set that was new wood with several coats of linseed, no wax. Both pieces were ugly muddy brown like the forearm. I sanded down the butt stock with 200g and 400g to what looked like dry bare wood and wiped on one coat of fresh (clean) linseed. The grain is beginning to "pop" on the butt stock.

What are your experienced pros doing to make the grain character pop on new wood and refinishing old wood.

those you Savage's? Pretty stuff

Not a pro but stay away from sanding! 95% chance of over- sanding and then having a poor wood to metal fit. Use a chemical stripper - Strypeez, Home Formby's, Zip Strip, or similiar. Perhaps someone with more expertise could recommend some type of rejuvenator to remove the builtup wax, grease, dirt, and oil(lubricating type) that is dulling the finish. That is some beautiful wood and pretty darn good looking workmanship!

The old time London gunsmiths wood use Lye to get the hand grease off of bare wood. Acetone will do the trick and 20% vinegar or even regular 8% might do it too for de-waxing.

Linseed Oil is one of the best for bringing out the grain. The Health food store kind has all the fats and waxes in it still and it dries so slowly I think it soaks in better.

On Walnut I like the look of Alkanet Root oil. This adds a red tint but it's subtle if done correctly but it brings out the grain very well. It is unique and you can come close to the look with spirit dyes but not quite the same. With Alkanet you don't loose any grain which even the spirit stains can do.

Over the spar varnish I will use a slacum oil. This is just a mix of oil, turpentine and varnish with up to an ounce of bees wax and carnuba wax. The wax makes the finish softer initially but gives it better rubbing characteristics for a soft low luster finish after rotten stone treatment.

Maple is a whole nother subject and books have been written on how to enhance the grain or to reproduce old Pennsylvania rifles looks on it.

Thanks Tejano, that's all new information for me. I might try to get some alkanet root powder to play with.

Thw old Model 70s had an alkenet-tinted finish and for some reason some people want to make every stock the same color. I have never understood that. For one thing it turns it all into something easily confused with claro. Claro is lovely wood and all, but it is far from the best stock wood. To each his own...

The top three worst things you can do to limit depth and contrast:
1) Start with an open-pored blank of "young" wood. There are reasons stockmakers will not use freshly-dried wood and stability is just one of them.
2) Sand the finish in with oil to fill the pores.
3) Use a finish with "stuff"in it that kills luster. Examples would be heavy bodied stains or semi-gloss or matte finishes.

Good wood will have a lot of depth and in good light it will literally glow. When selecting blanks a drop of water in good light will tell you an awful lot about what the finish can look like. The difference is striking and can easily increase the value of the blank by multiples of the basic value. Wood from closer to the middle of an old tree will tend to have more clarity and depth and the finer-pored the wood the more difference it makes. The most expensive blanks will never be open-pored.

Oils used as a base coat are not usually as clear and therefore do not add depth to the finish under most cases. Adding solvents to finish to "help it penetrate" adds little to nothing to penetration depth. It often clouds or muddies the finish because the solvents work their way out through the drying (curing) finish and cloud it. Sometimes the cloudiness takes years to become clear.

Truly clear finishes like CA glues and some lacquers will develop the truest color with virtually no yellowing. They will also deliver the greatest real depth and "pop" the finish. Sometimes the wood with a little more contrast will pop, whether by stain or a more amber finish. Again, to each his own.

As always, there is no substitute for making test boards.

Sitka deer how about watching those vids (you will probably cringe) and give a good critique of the product, technique, and man, i.e. skilled craftsman, hack, amway salesman, etc.

http://www.timberluxe.com/wood-finish

Wood with figure has hard and soft spots. Soft will take stains. Stain should go in deep and not mask the surface. Some want to make wood all the same plane color. Store bought junk. Stain made to look like walnut when it is pine. Dead wood.

The gift that keeps on giving.

Wood with figure does NOT have hard and soft spots. Figure almost always makes any wood denser and therefore harder. It does often put lots of grain end-on to the surface and direction of the grain determines how fast a given wood will absorb stain.

Here, hold my beer while I watch this...

Pretty pathetic joke...

Worse if you know how to read an MSDS for finish.

Sanding slurry into the wood NEVER improves the finish. It might not show readily in fine-pored wood, but it does not improve the finish. (Please prove I am wrong by making a couple sample boards!)

Sanding out dings with a soft sponge without any effort to raise them by steaming???!!! And then "Power sanding" the stock?!?!?!

In the end as the stock is being rotated under the light you can plainly see flats and hollows and dips in the surface. Bubba be proud to own that level of work...

But he did get the color right... shaking my head...

The joys of the internet! A professional looking production of pure shade tree. I couldn't believe he just busts out the 100 grit and goes to town on some very deep dents! I could not see how it was not going to be un-level.

So Sitka deer, what are your opinions as to the product itself? I will try to find the MSDS for myself as well.

There is an MSDS on their site, link is at the bottom of the page right close to the videos link.

The stuff itself is essentially junk and easy to match with ordinary finish from your local Lowes or Home Despot. They thin it a great deal and add nothing of real value.

It would be useful in high heat applications, like wood-turning because it would both dry and cure quickly in a polishing situation. I would bet they tried someone's home elixir for quick results woodturning and ran with it.

Oh yeah, I forgot about his comments on matching sanding marks! Classic stuff...