Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Wax for walnut stocks

I agree with your assessment Sheister, I will do all the checkering 1 more time tomorrow after it dries for 24 hours and post the results.

You have no idea how grateful I am that you and others are assisting me on this important project!

Have a great evening Sir

Hi Sheister, I hope your day is going GREAT!

I have been working on the stock since last week (many hours of loving care) and just finished all of the work, except for the final sanding, and prep work for the oil.

I knew nothing of wood care before getting all of the great advice from gentlemen like you here on 24 hourcampfire. I never did any woodwork before the stock, and I have to say that because of you guys, it has turned out way better than I expected!

Would you like to see it, pre-oiling, I think it could use a little more work, your input would be appreciated!

I stripped the Checkering in some areas 4 different times until the Olive Oil staining was gone, as mentioned Jack Daniels and Olive oil do not mix well lol

Have a great evening Sir, and thanks again!

Good Evening Sheister this is it, still needs a little work IMO.

What do you think?

Another question for you Sir! I will be oiling the rifle with my fingers, how do you oil checkering? After all of my work that last thing I want to do is to over oil the checkering!

Looking good so far. Keep in mind any finish left on/in the wood will affect how the future finish looks so be careful to blend in the darker spots where finish is left after the stripping. It can get blotchy if left and finished over so keep that in mind. It wouldn't be the end of the world if you had to go back and resand an area to get to virgin wood in order to get a perfect finish, but hopefully it won't come to that. Might be good idea to remove the sling swivel studs before finishing so you can run long strokes and not have build up around the bases of the studs.

I left what I consider a good way, but probably not the only way, to do the checkering- in the other thread. Man, that's a good looking stock. Somebody loved what they were doing.

I hear you Sheister!

I am trying to avoid having to do it twice.

Tomorrow I will apply more stripper to the areas I circled, what say you?

If that takes it off it won't be necessary to remove wood by sanding. However, if it is "in the wood", stripper may not be able to pull it out. You may need to do a bit of sanding to get to virgin wood. Be careful not to reshape any areas by sanding. Only take off what you absolutely have to, or try some finish in those areas and a small adjacent area to see how it looks

I wish I could've seen it in person before the refinishing. Were the pores filled or was the finish open grained? Duplication of the original finish would've been dictated by those traits.

It would appear you're moving slowly and wisely asking for help which is to be commended for a first-timer!

And yes, I would apply the oil with fingertips. Less is more is a good rule to follow here.

Good morning gnoahhh,

The words I would use are completely Flooded and F'd Up!

As mentioned, I am the person to blame for this. I had absolutely no understanding of how to care for a high-quality stock and one night I loaded it up with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, figuring I was protecting the wood. Admittedly not one of my best decisions and do I ever regret that now, Jack Daniels and EEVO don't mix well. lol

When I get to the oiling stage, I will "Gingerly" apply the Oil, I will do two coats, giving it a minimum of three weeks to dry between coats. Going back to the Thread Heading, I bought Renaissance Wax, and am seriously considering finishing it with that to "Waterproof the oil finish"

Here are the before pics.

Hi Sheister, well I finished the final round of stripping, I actually was brave enough to take the butt plate off and while I did that a tiny chip of part of the top wood/plate connection broke off, very small, upset about it though! I think it was glued on before he screwed it on.

With that said I am happy I took it off it was very dirty behind the plaque.

Now that I am ready for oiling, and have wetted down the stock I can feel that the wood fibers are raised, it feels rough. Would you recommend very light sanding before I apply the oil, I bought some 600 grit which is pretty light, I just want to smooth it out without taking any wood off. Do you agree with that strategy?

Also how many days would you give the rifle to completely dry out, since last week it has been through quite the ordeal with all of the stripping, steaming and ironing, sanding, and getting wet, should I give it a full week to be on the safe side?

I am in no rush, thank you and have a great day!

Taking the raised grain off is a fairly simple matter. Any 320-400 grit sandpaper will take it off quickly with a very light sanding. Just don't remove any additional wood once you get a smooth surface.
If the stock is hung inside to dry it should be ready in a couple days. Doesn't hurt to be on the safe side and let it dry longer if you feel it needs it.

Would you put any glue on the back of the butt plate, before screwing it back on?

I think the best bet is to screw it back on before I oil, what say you?

It polished up pretty nice, good scratch on it most likely from the same fall that made the big scratch on the cheek rest. What can a poor boy do right lol

No, butt plates shouldn't be glued on IMO for many reasons. One of the most important is that wood moves from moisture changes and any glue you put on is likely to fail at some point anyway due to this movement. Also, you need to be able to remove the plate for future repairs if they become necessary.

I hope the EVOO was organic, cold-pressed!
🤣

Of course, I used the same oil on my girlfriend, would be a cad to use boiled Olive Oil on her 🤣

OK nix on the glue, nice call. So happy to have your insight Sheister!

Hi Sheister, a few more questions.

Picture # 1

Then I screwed in the Sling screw, it popped through through a very thin layer of wood and is now exposed, had no idea that would happen when I screwed it in, man was I pissed!

So I am thinking I will reverse it 1 rotation and fill the top of the hole with Plastic Wood, do you have a better idea? I am thinking plastic wood filler will stop the water from leaking into the screw hole.

Picture # 2,3

As mentioned I took off the Butt Plate, this was my discovery inside, quite surprised to see it was Black, I figure it is some kind of mold, messy chit for sure. I tried to get rid of it by putting some stripper on it, didn't work. What it did do was leach some black mold onto the wood at the top of the plaque. How would you tackle that?

I have taped it and thinking of stripping the wood butt again, is that what you would do?

Picture #4,5

There is a tiny piece of wood that popped off the design, I do not think I can do anything about that, except to replace the plaque and oil it to protect the wood. Any suggestions?

Thank you Sir!

Well, guys, I just finished all of the stripping, steaming, and sanding. Took me an entire week.

After a week of work and many hours, I am now ready to oil my new and improved stock. Don't think you can do much better, even if you paid a pro.

What do you guys think?

Excellent

Nice. Evidently you're a quick study!

Good job of prep. Any finish job is only as good as the prep. The finish is the easy part in most cases....

Sorry I didn't see your post earlier about the sling stud. I wouldn't worry too much about it at the moment. Once you have the finish work done, grind the tip of the stud down just enough so you have room for a bit of epoxy and install it. Then put a bit of epoxy in the hole in the barrel channel , let it dry, and sand it down level. Then finish the inside of the barrel channel to seal it from moisture intrusion.

I wouldn't worry about the butt too much actually. You have to consider that first off the butt is end grain so it will look different once it has finish on it. Also, since the butt stock is relatively elaborately checkered and carved to fit your silver plate, anything you do to the butt risks damage to the existing work. The small chip can be repaired but it will take some thought how you want to go about it. The easy way is to mix up some epoxy with brown die in it and put it on the spot after the finish is complete, let it dry, and sand very carefully to match the surrounding surfaces. Since it is such a small repair it may not show up much. Adding some walnut sawdust to the epoxy would help to hide the repair substantially. Another way to deal with it is to get a small sliver of walnut and shape it to the corner with the silver plate installed. Don't worry about it being too big, just shape the corner to fit the small area good and tight, then glue it in and clamp it in place. Once dry, sand down to match the surrounding surfaces very carefully and add some finish to match. It is actually much easier than it sounds and will be almost invisible once completed.

Thanks for the kind words gents, and thanks for the additional tips Sheister.

Well after researching the hell out of which oil to use, I have decided to go with Pure Tung Oil, and finish with the Renaissance Wax. Looking forward to showing you guys the finished rifle!

Have a great day ~