ScrapeAndRub

Anyone know of a good site with a (how-to) on stripping and refinishing wood stock? I don't mind paying someone but would rather enjoy the experience myself.

elgallo114

surplusrifle.com

Great site for surplus military rifles. The stock refinishing section can apply to any wood stock. I've done it myself, works great. Basically entails using easy off oven cleaner to strip the wood. You can use other wood strippers, but I found easy off to work the best also. This is the only part that requires being very careful. Easy off can burn your skin, so take care.

jones123

I found these on yahoo. The second one seems better.

http://home.earthlink.net/~greene2003/finish.html


http://hunting.about.com/od/guns/a/aastockrefinish.htm

ScrapeAndRub

well I did the EasyOff last night. Applied thick and let stand 20min. No results at all. Re-applied heavy and let sit 3 hours, I can see some slight results in the clear coat starting to crackle up. I soaked in white vinegar to neutralize and washed with soap and water. I'll do a sand on it sunday once its nice and dry.....

Nanook85

When I refinished my .22 a few years ago, I just sanded it down to the wood and applied enough coats of Birchwood Casey linseed oil to get it as dark as I wanted. Pretty simple to do.

Soilarch

I use plain old furniture stripper. Messy as all get out...but works very well. Then sand a little. There are alot of insider tips out there for sure. Since I like lighter colored stock I usually use several layers of some stuff called "wipe-on Poly" then a coat or two of Tru-oil. I have a 22 bolt I did this to and she turned beatifully. (Who knew Remington used to put lightly figured wood on a 22!!!???)


Best tip I can give you is to NOT, DO NOT get in a hurry. Give at least 150% of the recommended trying time between coats. If not you can get 'gummy' are dull areas that you either have to live with or start over from scratch! (I did this with an old Remington 11/A-5 that I picked up in a pawn shop for a song)

TUK101

I usually just sand, sand, and sand some more. I have never even tried any stipper of any sort. You will go through a lot of sandpaper at first getting through the clear coat, but once through that it goes easy and you just need to be careful not to sand too thin on spots, especially near the forestock. As far as staining goes, thats all up to you as well and there are lots of tricks that you will need to figure out, especially if you are going to want to chance the color from light to dark since you might have to use something to nutrilize the dark color you gun might have been. I used my electric hand sander for the bigger areas and that helps a bunch, but like I said, be careful around the thin parts. Good luck and have fun with it. Its always cool to do a good job and take pride in a job well done.

Pawildman

A good finish stripping paste will do wonders to get that old finish off. A razor blade will help remove it. Scrape with the grain. If you are dealing with a stock that has aplastic forend or grip cap, be careful about getting stripper on them. After the old finish has been removed, wipe the stock totally dry with some old rags. Let it dry. Sand lightly with 200-220 grit paper. Be careful not to remove wood at areas where stock and metal meet, such as tangs, floorplates, etc. Take the sanded stock to your bathroom, and get the shower going real hot. Give the stock a good dousing, dry it off, and let it dry. This will raise feather edges of the wood which will be sanded off. You now should be using about 320 grit, and only removing the rough or raised wood tips. Repeat this process until no more feathers are raised. Give the wood a good cleaning to remove imbedded dust. If you wish to stain the stock, now is the time to do so. Let it totally dry, and proceed with the finish of your choice. I personally like several coats of a good polyurethane, lightly sanded between each coat, then a final coat, VERY lightly steel wooled, with several coats of a good paste car wax. Gives a nice, lusterous satin finish. Just the way I do it.

ScrapeAndRub

the gun is actually a 1969 romanian .22 training rifle. Accurate as all hell.... Looks like a ruger...
In the pic below its the gun on top.... This pic is b4 refinishing...

Solitary Man

If I'm not mistaken I used Citristrip to strip my last stock. Used it as directed and had no problems. I then sanded and applied 2 or 3 coats of clear polyurethane followed by 2 coats of satin polyurethane, sanding between coats. Worked out real well.