I've decided to refinish a stock. The stock is birch, and from a push feed model 70.
I already had one go at it---not happy with the results. Now the stock has a combination of walnut stain, Formby�s Tung oil, and a ton of tru-oil on top. If I decide to sand, what grit should I use? If sanding is not a good idea, can you suggest a chemical stripper?

Thanks, and I want to say I really appreciate how open you are in sharing your experience on this forum. You have already helped me tremendously.

rimshot
You are starting out in a pretty big hole... while the yellow birch typically used for the model 70 stocks is fairly high quality wood to start, it is possible you have a soft example or a different species which is tough stuff to deal with.
I am making a couple assumptions to arrive at that, namely you appear to want a dark stock and an oil finish. I am guessing the color did not please because it turned a muddy color, likely with green tones that look real bad in good light? It is not an uncommon and thing why most folks would suggest that you test any finish on an inconspicuous piece... like the barrel channel....

Test for hardness by pushing a thumbnail into a raw spot in the wood. A big mark would make you want to question saving the stock...

Any chemical stripper should work fine, but the water-flushed ones are probably best avoided. Zip-strip is one I have used as well as the Formby's "refinisher" which is just solvents and would have gotten you where you wanted to be before the additions. I would try the Zip-Strip first now.

After you get the finish off as much as possible and the stain starts being difficult, get a set of Daly's Wood Bleach. It is a two-part system that uses fairly strong Hydrogen Peroxide as one part and sodium hydroxide (lye) as the other. They can be used mixed, one and then the other or either alone.

In general, both pre-mixed has worked best for me. DO not try to flood the wood, just brush some on with the cheap synthetic brushes you can buy at most hardware stores. I usually rinse with a very dilute solution of vinegar and water after, but it probably is not really needed.

Attacking the stain with the Zip-Strip and then the bleach and repeating each will probably be required. The bleach will have little effect on the finish, it is the paint stripper that will do most of the work, aided by you...

Do not sand anything until you get the finish and color out and let the stock dry very thoroughly... If you get this far, lightly sand with 400 grit or finer paper before applying a sealer coat of oil, before putting on the new (and tested) coloring agent. By sealing first, the wood absorption will be reduced and make you apply the color in light lifts, rather than a single thick layer.

If I have misguessed where you are, or what you are trying to do, please let me know and I will see what I can do...
art

You described the situation perfectly. I wanted the stock to be dark, and I wanted an oil finish (my first attempt was made before I joined the campfire and learned of your epoxy method.)

I am now rethinking my decision to put any more time into this stock. I'm not sure, but I think I may just keep it as is. It can be my very own "ol-ugly."

Since I changed my mind on the stock, I decided it is time to move onto something else. I am currently finishing some martial art practice knives made from some beautiful, very old, very highly figured claro walnut.

thanks
rimshot

I hope you do not intend to actually use a claro sword to hit something... it is not in the same league for tough that hickory or elm would be and pretty splinters are still only splinters... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> The figure only compounds that, unless it is curly (aka fiddleback) which is tougher than straight grain usually.

good luck
art

Yeah, I thought about that. The wood has splintered a bit while I work it.
These are small hand knives, more like daggers. We use them primarily for open hand defense training and there is no impact involved. Some of the Filipino drills we do utilize a dagger in the weak hand along with an escrima stick in the strong hand. In that situation, the dagger may make some light wood-to-wood contact. Maybe we will just hang em' on the wall and look at em'!