then wax both pieces well i have used car wax polish with great results.
Ixnay on the car wax, please. It contains silicone that will play hob with any future re-finishing no matter how much you try to scrub it off. Best to stick with good quality furniture paste waxes for gun stock use.
My last #1 project, a 1A-B re-barreled from .270 to .250-3000 with a Douglas barrel, led me down a rabbit hole. I didn't care for the goofy long and thick 1B fore arm on the short 1A barrel so I cut 5" off, slimmed it considerably, and put a 1 3/4" long ebony tip on. (Overall forearm length now equals the factory 1A stock.) I gave it a glassy finish with Epifanes glossy spar varnish (10 coats blocked out with 320x between coats), then rubbed that out to a dull matte effect, and finally waxed with Butcher's Wax to restore a pleasant subdued luster. It came out appearing to be a superbly executed "oil" finish but with actual decent protection provided by varnish. That, of course, made the factory butt stock look like a poor cousin so off came the original finish, tedious masking of the wrist checkering because it was in beautiful condition (and I didn't wish to have to re-checker it from scratch), and varnish protocols to match the new forearm. Light touchup of the checkering, and the same wax as on the fore arm and now it's a thing of beauty and a joy forever, haha!