I have a gun stock with a high gloss finish.

What would be the best way to make it less shiny?

Thanks

Rottenstone and oil on a felt pad (or wad of felt) and elbow grease.

When you do it avoid the temptation to do it in small areas. Make your strokes long and overlapping. It will take longer to see progress but you will not need to spend the rest of your life trying to blend the areas together.

0000 steel wool or 3M pad (black).

Good suggestion by Sitka, but there is one other option. Brownell's sells a Satin spray on finish that is really nice. A buddy who owns a gun shop showed me a couple rifles his stockmaker did with this finish and it is very nice and puts down a perfect satin finish with just a couple coats on raw wood. I'm going to order a couple cans this week and give them a try on some stocks I'm working on at the moment...

Bob

Adding finish when all that is needed is a good rundown does not seem like a good idea...

Satin finishes generally use silica to roughen the surface which weakens it. It also reduces water resistance. One should always avoid satin finishes for those reasons. It is too easy to make a test board...

Steel wool often leaves pieces of steel embedded in the finish to rust later and create freckles.

The maroon 3M pads are what you want rather than the coarser black ones. They will work just fine. Rottenstone is old school and messier, but just as effective.

Anyone ever used Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen & Conditioner?

Description:

Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen & Conditioner is the perfect complement to a Tru-Oil finished stock or any stock that that could use a pick me up. Stock Sheen & Conditioner leaves a traditional satin finish and can clean, beautify and polish your old stock. Removes surface imperfections and gives your stock a smooth, hand-rubbed finish. Also protects against weather and handling.

I have tried BC Stock Sheen and was not overly impressed with it, I use Renaissance Wax applied with a maroon 3M Scotch Brite pad and buffed off with a micro fiber cloth.

Thanks gunswizard.

Junk

The finest grade of 3M pad is the light grey colored one, is it not? At least it was the last time I bought any a few years ago and screwed up and bought two whole cases of them- I haven't had to delve into the world of 3M pads since then.

As described above, after knocking the gloss off a finish, old or new, I too use a good furniture paste wax to bring up a nice soft luster. Renn wax is darned good, but so are others, and it ain't rocket science. Just don't use automotive waxes. Go ahead and use a microfiber cloth if you feel you must, but an old soft hunk of flannel will do as well.

For "eggshell" maroon seems about right... The finer stuff will bring you to a beautiful and shiny surface.

Rottenstone was some place in the back of my little pea brain.

Linseed oil?

Soft, medium or hard felt pad?

Thanks

Linseed oil is fine, or any other, really.

Pad can be anything of felt. I used to use an old chamois shirt piece to do it and it works fine. A chalk eraser is also good and gives a better grip. And since rottenstone is almost chalk you do not even have to worry about cleaning the old chalk out!

Brownells sells a series of pre-mixed rubbing compounds for achieving whatever level of matte you want. I normally use 3F after my last coat of Tru-oil for a satin finish.

I happen to have some Triple "F" stock rubbing compound from Brownells.

The Triple F from Brownell's is a bit finer than rottenstone in use and it is really good at bringing up a deep shine. It does not produce what I call "eggshell" by itself as it is a bit too fine. "Eggshell" has been the goal for most high-end stockmakers, but it does not mean the same thing to everyone....

Ordered some Rottenstone.

Thanks

Rottenstone is usually available at better hardware and paint stores and dirt cheap. Ungraded stuff is even cheaper and sold as pool filter media.

Nope. 0000 will not leave anything embedded in the finish of something that is already glossy. Wipe it down, Sitka.

Black pad is Ultra Fine, Red is Very Fine.

Your fantasy... I have seen it with my own eyes too many times.

Nonsense.

Learn to be a better gunsmith.

I do not have the issue because I stopped using steel wool a very long time ago. I have seen it on many occasions in the work of others and have repeatedly proven the possibility of it to others by doing test boards.

I would also like to point out the particles and freckles are often only visible with a little magnification, though their presence creates a haze or loss of depth in the finish.

That's an axiomatic truth in the marine industry around here also. No marine brightwork finishers I know or worked with would employ steel wool for that reason.

Yeah, EVERYONE knows THAT. Shall keep it in mind next time I want to make a satin gun stock out of a shiny boat, ship or vessel. Geniuses!

Many miss the concept of heat generated at the tiniest level literally plasticizing the surface and grabbing tiny particles... though I know you probably learned that decades ago. And it is still true.

Prove you are right... I dare you... Make a test board and actually look at it.

No professional furniture restorer I know of would use steel wool of any grade on a finish and those guys know exactly what they are talking about. I've switched over to the 3M pads a long time ago and find them easier to use anyway...

You have issues about being right. I pity you.

i think a lot of folks have an issue with that, especially my own self.

You read incorrectly. I have issues with giving bad advice and causing good people problems when they follow the advice. Friends give me a hard time because I constantly tell them how easy it is to test my advice.

You seem to enjoy being wrong and misleading people. I would feel badly if you accused me of that. Unfortunately for you it is obvious I am correct.

Well, at least you’re humble!

Humility, just one of my many virtues!

Exceeded only by my reasons for being humble!

I think what we have here is yet another 'Fire troll. Ignorant of much, and too myopic to know it.

You saying that from your couch, refrigerator or your toilet?

There you go! Keep it classy!

There YOU go...still mad at his mommy for his failed abortion.

I didn't read through the pissing contest so you may already have answered this but but could you post a photo of the stock? Do you know what type of finish is on it now?

Really? You cannot be bothered to read the first few responses, but you can still pretend to have a clue?

It depends on what finish and how it was applied. I used Tru Oil with the instructions and if rubbed out the last coat can be cut through to the next layer and is UGLY, can't be fixed. Rottenstone and linseed oil with felt pads. I finally figured it out by using a touch up spray gun. Thin Tru oil to spray and coat the stock after the grain is filled. Let get tacky and spray again and again until you have many coats. let the finish never dry all the way so each coat will meld into the last. Now you have one thick coat. Let the stock dry for weeks until the finish loses smell.
A stock with an epoxy finish can be rubbed too.
I have never had a problem with steel wool to fill grain or reduce shine. 3M pads are full of abrasives that leave dust. The finest will cut stainless to a shine. It will remove gun blue right fast.

Actually I did read through all of your pathetically stupid replies along with the insults you hurl at anyone smarter than yourself but I decided to be a gentlemen and not belittle you for being a fuggin ass hole and just start at the beginning.

Thanks for the laugh.

Sitka, Gotta say you're taking that troll blather rather well.

Anyone with a clue, as I am sure you understand, knows there is no difference in knocking the sheen off any finish. Some just take longer... Knowing that, his request to see a picture shows he was attempting to grandstand. I truly found it funny... he is too pathetic to deserve ignore, and he does show incredible idiocy with humorous twists on a regular basis.This was one of those...

This forum is a never ending source of entertainment. Very few places on the internet are so devoted as this to enshrining old wive's tales, half truths, and bad ideas.

Ain't that the truth!

What counts is how hard a finish gets and some junk like spar varnish will gum. Can't be sanded for a few years and it never lasts that long on my door sill. It is why boats are put in dry dock and re-finished every year. Plain linseed oil never dries and it is used in paints so moisture can go in and out. Boiled linseed oil is not boiled, it has a hardener in it. Tru oil has the best hardeners and gets real hard.
Long ago there was another linseed based finish called Linspeed but it never dried and would gum with steel wool. It went away soon.
Real tung oil is much better.
Oil paints used on a house lets in moisture and if the walls do not have ventilation behind, the paint peels and needs scraped every year. Joe used oil paints on his house and porches. The wood rotted away, shutters rotted and fell apart. We had to jack up the roof and replace post bottoms. He gets less then a year of good looking.
If you want a laugh, he has an old house that the foundation leaks water on the little basement floor to a sump pump. He cut grooves to channel water to the hole. The floor is pea gravel or river stones. The pump quit so I helped him install a new one. The sump is a 5 gallon plastic bucket that was full of stones to bind the impeller of the pump. Life of the new pump is measured in weeks with the Mickey Mouse setup.
Some of the finish posted for stocks is another Mickey Mouse solution. A stock finish should withstand working, rain, snow and every condition you have from heat to cold. Tru Oil meets it all.

Whereinhell do you come up with this stuff?? From top to bottom of that post it is riddled with falsehoods. I have better things to do with my life than spend an hour refuting it step by step. Word to the wise: ignore the drivel and seek help elsewhere.

+1- the more of that nonsense I read, the more I found myself shaking my head and muttering unintelligible cuss words....

https://www.google.com/search?q=linspeed+oil+finish&oq=linspeed&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l3.8198j1j4&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#trex=m_t:lcl_akp,rc_f:nav,rc_ludocids:3898773135131515156,rc_q:GB%2520Products%2520LLC%2520(makers%2520of%2520Lin-Speed%2520Finish%2520Oil),ru_q:GB%2520Products%2520LLC%2520(makers%2520of%2520Lin-Speed%2520Finish%2520Oil)

"The reports of my demise..." says GB Products, maker of Lin-Speed.

If you hadn't posted this kind of nonsense before this would be funny. There is virtually nothing correct in your whole post.

Try this instead of the previous link...

https://m.facebook.com/LinSpeedOil/

By "seek help elsewhere" i assume you are talking to brfshooter...

No no, anywhere but there!

You know, everybody has a right to their opinions, and certainly the same right extends to doing what one wants. No skin off my nose, but to encourage dumb protocols on an open forum is reckless, IMO.

Back to the OP on some finishes the Rotten stone alone was too glossy for my taste. On these finishes it is good to start with pumice especially if there is orange peel or surface irregularities. Followed by the rotten stone. If it becomes too glossy go back to the pumice. Wax over the pumice finish is a nice matte usually but may be duller than you want.

RE: Linspeed and most finishes that have oil in them. If they have sat on the stores shelf for years they are just not going to work. This is even more true if they have been opened and then stored.

Funny thing is he wrote this 10-13-18.



But he cannot stay away or have sense enough to do a little research before he takes off. Reminds me of the advice delivered here...

Another simple topic gone off the rails, transformed into a pizzing contest and insult hurling opportunity by those known for such.

And you are here.

Neither pizzing nor hurling insults. And you?

Laughing at idiots. But I suppose you support the clueless?

Sir, please don't put words in my mouth, nothing I have said on this forum would indicate that.. And why may I ask do you feel it is somehow your duty to joust with them? You must have a very boring life if all you have time for is this nonsense.

And.........Ignore!

Some guys can't seem to find the ignore button and can't pass up the opportunity to stir up chit. Just sayin.

The problem with the internet is everyone gets a voice and some should know better than guessing. Leaving bad advice unchallenged leaves it open for people to get led down some ridiculous paths. You will find this hard to believe, but some folks still use the same techniques to apply oil to stocks that were obsoleted a century ago!

I know, hard to believe, huh?

So that's your mission in life, to challenge bad advice? That'll keep you so busy you won't have time for more constructive endeavors, and PS guess what the folks giving bad advice will keep on doing so. Your mission is pretty much futile and a colossal waste of your time. Fools are going to be fools, there's no changing that. I am amused at some of the rediculous info diseminated here on the 'Fire, but hey it's a free world and it is the internet.

You guys ever think of selling this soap opera as a new reality show?

At times this place is like a three ring circus without a ringmaster, that would probably make a pretty decent soap opera/reality show.

I see it as taking five or ten minutes out of a day to be somewhat entertained and (hopefully) put the brakes on some foolishness that can lead a newbie down the wrong rabbit hole. Those who know me know that I speak with a keyboard exactly like I speak in real life- I speak my mind, call a spade a spade, and don't sugarcoat stuff because it might offend someone. Some people, like gunwizard here, seem hellbent on molding forums in their likeness- and therein is where the entertainment factor really lies. (Now how much ya wanna bet I'll get yet another scathing PM from the guy? )

You're fulla chit, don't hold your breath waiting for a PM you've been on ingnore since your last comments. You need to look in the mirror if you want to see a molder of forums.

And so it goes. Sigh.

Just trying to satisfy your need to be amused.

Well, you certainly do that!!

My aim is to please, even the hard to please.

You seem to be a Liberal in your spending of ether ink with your blah blah blah...with all your word spewage...you rarely actually SAY ANYTHING...worthwhile.

Bwahahahaha! What a maroon.

Is that what you call a guy who speaks the truth? Truer words were never spoken.

Is that what you call a guy who speaks the truth? Truer words were never spoken, you're a windbag seeking attention.

So you are supporting SheriffJoe and his comments? Have you ever read his posts?

Sitka...the Jerry Nadler of the campfire.

Let 'em go, Art. Those two are just dust blowin' in the wind. One's a troll par excellence, and the other one has blinders on.

That's just it neither of you can let things go, you always have to have the last word. Never said I supported any of SherrifJoe's other posts, just the one regarding gnoahhh which is spot on.

Funny (and not the ya ha type) that the most wrongest do exactly what they accuse.

Reread that, and referring to the whizzer and the deputy.

Uh huh...I may be stupid, but you fat, arthritic guys from AK and the even fatter Lib from MD are deliberately stupid.

Nailed it again there SJ, see neither of them has a comeback for that.

And only obviously... Funny thing in this very thread one of them stated the other was in error... imagine that... and refused to support anything other than one post that is too sadly wrong to be funny...

So now you are in support of trolling by idiots, got it.

But against supporting the ones with the right answer. Got it...

Two-faced much?

You were wrong about the types of abrasive pads which equates to NOT knowing what you are talking about regarding the subject.

Hopefully, you are not a handloader...Heaven help you!

Keep hoping... maybe you will arrive at a clue one day...

Not likely and you seem to have avoided all possible clue collisions so far, but anything could happen, I suppose.

Whatever you say there SD cause everyone knows you're the fountainhead of all knowledge and you're always right.

Gotta go.
Daughters are fighting.
It's like reverb.
My eyes are hearing the same crap my ears are seeing!

Don't sweat them, fellas. It's like looking out the window and seeing an ANTIFA demonstration- clueless people with narrow mindsets, who you know are going to trip over themselves and start a riot before it's over.

You tell 'em there mister windbag know it all.