Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing laminate stock refinish

not sure which forum to put his under. i have a boyds nutmeg i would like to make it darker in color. was thinking about sanding it down then coats of true oil letting dry in between coats.
has anyone does this just curious what the best process is and what the results have been.

Don’t have a Boyd’s laminate, but do have one from Remington (1991) and a Ruger No.1V and can say that whatever clear sealer they put on them things is extremely stout. I will be interested in reply’s but think you are going to be sanding for a long long time.

Impossible to guess which finish it is for certain, but it has to adhere to the resin used to laminate the plies. It could be sprayed conversion lacquer which is typical on commercial laminate stocks... It is miserable to work on as Swifty pointed out. Work:reward ratio sucks...

Removing it for darkening is not worth the effort IMO&E.

If you just have to do it, stripping will go right down into the resin in the plies and make a real mess. Sanding it off will require skill in keeping the fields and such true... about 80-90% of the work involved in making a new stock. And that will involve files, not actual sandpaper until way late in the project.

I've got a laminate stock(not a Boytds) on my Krag that I wanted to make darker some years ago. It would not take any stain that I tried.
I sprayed it with MinWax Poly Shades. Got the dark color. It 's a surface finish with some sort of coloring agent. Reminds me of the somewhat colored finish that Ruger sprayed on their stocks.

I would worry about the finish adhering to the original finish. The same thing that prevented you from getting any stain to stick should be keeping the top coat from sticking.

Shellac will stick to both but is not as tough as the hard finish below and would be more prone to failing than normal, and may watermark...

I will agree you with regarding the possibility of the finish not adhering but in this case it's been on for several years. Hunted with and shot numerous times with no indications of flaking or scraping off..
I know I sanded it before any application and typically wipe with acetone then denatured alcohol. It has been a while.

I have done a few refinishing jobs on laminate stocks. Mostly after reshaping and such.
It is tough to remove the old finish but you should completely remove it for best results. Usually I refinished with tru-oil and it works pretty well.
Once you have the old finish removed and the stock sanded smooth, use a stain to darken and then let dry completely before the tru-oil.
Les

With a bare laminate stock I got some spirit stain to absorb lightly and then added color to the finish. A cabinet scraper is a good way to start on the finish removal. If the finish is in good shape it can be scuff sanded and then over sprayed with a tinted clear lacquer. As some one pointed out it may not be worth the effort as the changes will be limited.

I just got done finishing a Boyd’s nutmeg with tru oil, I can send you some pics of you PM me. Turned out well. To get a darker color I believe the best way would be to color the tru oil otherwise it is tough to wet sand and fill pores on stained laminate.

Johnsclist, pm sent.