Re-finishing gunstock with rosewood tip

[qcable]

I am trying to refinish a walnut gunstock that has a rosewood tip about 3 inches in length. I removed the old finish with a stripper, washed the stock with water, dried, and sanded the stock with 600 grit paper. Then I used a light stain and sprayed everything with poly 24 hours later. The walnut refinished great; however, the rosewood is still tacky and will not dry, even after 7 days. I have done all the above 3 times using different stippers, stains, and poly. Can anyone help ????

[spokeshave]

A long time ago i finished a walnut gunstock that i had made with a product called TRU-OIL. I cant remember who made the product but it was from America. I didn't have a rosewood tip so cant say if it will work on this timber. It was made specifically for gunstocks and was sold through firearm retailers, not specialist timber finishing shops, so if you can find it, it may be worth a try. It gave a high gloss finish but could be rubbed with thier own rubbing compound to give a satin finish. It was easy to apply and finished super hard and durable. It was sold in small bottles.

This was atleast 15 years ago so it may not be available anymore.
Good luck and hope you find something that works.:)

[bsrlee]

Birchwood-Casey Tru-Oil, IIRC. Should still be available. I suspect something other than Poly was used to finish the original stock, and that there is 'something' in the fore-end tip that is stopping the Poly from catalysing correctly - whether it is inherant in the Rosewood or something that has been added (or spilt on) I can't say. You may have to look at a more low-tech finish such as tung oil/danish oil.

[qcable]

Thanks for the info. Maybe Tru-oil will be an answer. I'll give it a try.

[Bob38S]

Yep - Tru-Oil is made by Birchwood Casey.
Seeing that you are already in the States it should be easy to contact their lab at
Birchwood Laboratories Inc
Eden Prairie
Minnesota 55344

Hope it helps and let us know how you get on with your project.
Regards,
Bob

[qcable]

Yep - Tru-Oil is made by Birchwood Casey.
Seeing that you are already in the States it should be easy to contact their lab at
Birchwood Laboratories Inc
Eden Prairie
Minnesota 55344

Hope it helps and let us know how you get on with your project.
Regards,
Bob
Thanks very much for the suggestions. I found a solution to my problem. I first sealed the rosewood with 3 coats of shellac, rubbing each coat with 4X steel wool, then let the stock dry overnight. I then sprayed 3 coats of poly and everything came out beautiful.

[Bob38S]

Great to hear but would be even greater to see - any chance of some pix?
Regards,
Bob