Stock refinishing

pyscodog

Active member
Needs some suggestions please. I bought a little Sako and the stock was fair, not beat to crap, but not perfect. I was afraid to do much to it and hurt the value. After a couple of friends looked at it, we all came to the conclusion it had been refinished already so no harm no foul. I got it stripped today and the old finish was way to easy to get off for a factory finish. Now I need to steam some dents and smooth it up.

My question, what kind of finish. I really don't want gloss but I don't want an bland oil finish either. TruOil is OK but it can get glossy pretty quick. The stock is pretty bland, not any figure that jumps out at you. I'm not even sure what kind of wood it is but pretty sure its not walnut. Thought about tung oil but what I watched on youtube, some say what you get in stores isn't even pure tung oil. I just want a nice looking finish for an old hunting rifle. Show me some pictures, give me some suggestions. I might even stain the wood as its pretty blondish.
 
I used Danish oil on my last stock and that is why I can't sell it to fund my new coyote rifle. Therefore I cannot recommend that. The gunsmith I work around used tung oil. But I have not seen him do but one blonde stock. Anybody know what boiled linseed oil ends up looking?
 
Tru Oil and 0000 steel wool. It will not be shiny.
This one has about 15 coats of Tru Oil and each coat was buffed with 0000 steel wool.
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K22, I like that. Wish the wood on mine was a little darker and had some figure to it. Mines pretty plain for a Sako stock. I looked at a Deluxe stock for sale and they wanted $1600. That's twice what I paid for my rifle. That isn't going to happen.

I did a Remington stock with boiled linseed and it looks pretty good. You have to shine it up every once in a while. I usually just wipe it down with a silicone rag. Keeps it looking pretty nice for an older rifle.
 
Kimber priced me a replacement stock for an 84M Varmint at $500, well, $490 to be exact. This is the rifle I had to open the barrel channel up on and the glued on recoil pad has started to melt/break down on the top edge. I’m going to use the TruOil and steel wool method to seal up where I sanded if I can find it locally. Plan B is boiled linseed oil since it’s available at the hardware stores.
 
I'm not sure what I will use. I got the major dings repaired and some sanding done. The only stain I have are a Sedonia red and some dark walnut. I don't want a red stock and the walnut is way to dark for what I was wanting. Guess its a trip to the store. As far as the finish, I have TruOil on the shelf. I may just use it.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogI'm not sure what I will use. I got the major dings repaired and some sanding done. The only stain I have are a Sedonia red and some dark walnut. I don't want a red stock and the walnut is way to dark for what I was wanting. Guess its a trip to the store. As far as the finish, I have TruOil on the shelf. I may just use it.

You may not want to stain it. Take a damp rag and wipe it across a spot on the stock to see what the grain does first before putting a stain on it. That is what it will look like with Tru Oil.

My stock was built from scratch for a Kimber 84M. Tru Oil is all we use from the $500 stocks to the $3500 stocks.
But you need to do it the way you think will make you happy.
 
Originally Posted By: AdamTKimber priced me a replacement stock for an 84M Varmint at $500, well, $490 to be exact. This is the rifle I had to open the barrel channel up on and the glued on recoil pad has started to melt/break down on the top edge. I’m going to use the TruOil and steel wool method to seal up where I sanded if I can find it locally. Plan B is boiled linseed oil since it’s available at the hardware stores.

Kimber is saying no more Costa Rica stocks which is where their walnut stock were made. You probably should have bought it at that price.
No more Montana's either.
 
I wet my stock down like K22 suggested. Still looks like a pine 2x4 from the lumber yard. I don't know what I'm gonna do with it yet. Surely there is a stain that will darken it up without making it to dark. I just need to go look.
 
There’s a tint of stain Home Depot sales in a yellow can called Gunstock, cant recall the brand, it’s not MinWax maybe Verathane I think. I bought it before to use on some other wood projects and it had a slight orange hint to it when used on pine boards. I ended up not using it.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogI wet my stock down like K22 suggested. Still looks like a pine 2x4 from the lumber yard. I don't know what I'm gonna do with it yet. Surely there is a stain that will darken it up without making it to dark. I just need to go look.

That may be the best look you are going to get with that particular piece of wood.
Here's the original Kimber stock and it looked similar to a 2x4.LOL But when I applied more tru oil to it, it began to have a rich walnut look to it...........but I still built a different stock for it. LOL

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Here's what the wood looked like when I started to inlet.

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My boss makes fun of my apron.
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But I love it.
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I decided to just go with TruOli, no stain. It darken a little bit, not much but a little. I just applied the 2:1 mix and did a light sanding while wet. I plan on doing this a couple of times before applying straight TruOil. I'm not sure just how many coats of TruOil I will do until I get started. Thanks for all the tips and advice.
 
Sako used a lot of pecan for their stocks. If it is light colored, then that is probably what you have. The only way to darken pecan is to stain, then oil. I like the natural color of pecan and would just use the oil and help hold the value.
 
I would keep putting tru oil on then buffing each coat with 0000 steel wool. I would do this until under a bright light I could no longer see the wood pores. After each coat and before buffing leave it sit until it is perfectly dry. The time frame will be close to a month, maybe more.
 
Total process. But when I think about, our finishing room is regulated and the moisture will determine the drying time. I guess I would plan on several months unless it is really dry.
 
Prepping my stock was by far the easiest. The old finish came right off with the stripper I used. I had a couple of dents that steamed out good enough for me. One is still slightly visible but without a lot of sanding I doubt I could ever get totally rid of it. Its on the bottom of the stock and not that visible and you can't feel it. I know its been only a few days working on the stock but I'm working on it pretty much on and off all day into the evening. My first two coats of TruOil were applied pretty heavy then sanded dry using 400 grit wet or dry paper. I was using this to fill in the pores and as a sealer. I applied my first coat of oil a few days ago and let it set until the next day. Then lightly buffed with 0000 steel wool. The next coat, I did the same. Today, I switched to 1000 grit wet or dry and lightly sanded the stock with wet 1000 grit. Let it dry, wiped it down really good, then applied another very thin coat of oil. When I say thin coat, its a very thin coat. I pour the TruOil into the bottle cap about half full. When I'm done, I pour whats left back into the bottle. You use VERY little TruOil. A little goes a long way. The hardest part is keeping up with where you have applied the oil. Going on this thin, its easy to miss a spot. Now, I use a bright light and before I finish, I use the light to see if there are places I have missed. Its a fun project and if I can do it anyone can. Not sure how many coats I'm going to apply but I bought a new bottle yesterday so I have plenty of TruOil. And I hate to say it but the glossy finish is looking pretty good. I may go glossy.
 
Quote:Its a fun project and if I can do it anyone can. Not sure how many coats I'm going to apply but I bought a new bottle yesterday so I have plenty of TruOil. And I hate to say it but the glossy finish is looking pretty good. I may go glossy.

Nice thing about a good oil finish is you can change it or touch it up at any time. Use it shiny for a while and you can rough it up a bit w/0000steel wool and knock the shine if you wish.

I shaped this stock from a Bishop blank (in 1952 IIRC) under the mentor-ship of a gunsmith/friend using Lin-Speed (which I thought had been discontinued, but found it HERE. Been a long time, but from memory, I believe that Lin-Speed has a bit less varnish in it than Tru-Oil and dries a bit slower, which I prefer...it blends better, IMO and I will be ordering a bottle now.

His formula for a good oil finish was one coat/day for a week, one coat/month for a year and once/year for life.
Can't tell you how many coats on this one but has held up pretty well for 70 years:

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Regards,
hm
 
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