Walnut Rifle Stock Surface Preparation & Finish

[R. McCarthy]

Bob McCarthy of Hornsby RSL Rifle Club? Whatever happened to that blonde .303 No.4 that you had?

Hi bsrlee - if that question is directed at me I'm afraid you've got the wrong McCarthy...

[bsrlee]

Yep, wrong McCarthy.

[R. McCarthy]

Yep, wrong McCarthy.

As a matter of interest, I do belong to the Hornsby RSL but have no association with the rifle club and have never come across Bob McCarthy ...

[spokeshave]

Quite a while ago, i bought a walnut blank or two from a local who sourced, milled, dried and sold timber to gunsmiths and manufacturers.

Some may remember a rifle was made by a group of craftsmen for Australia's Bi-centenial. Beautiful piece it was too. I can remember having a brochure with some photo's of this rifle and being amazed at it's beautiful walnut stock and engraving. This local bloke supplied the walnut for this rifle. It was also the inspiration to replace the quite ordinary stock on a little Brno .22 with a nice new piece of walnut. I used Tru-Oil on the Brno and was happy with the results. Rubbed it with Birchwood Casey Rubbing Compound after so it had a nice satin finish and didn't look to 'plasticky' (if that makes sense).

Anyway, one of the things he told me to do when i was sanding my stock was to sand to 400, grab a sponge (squeeze it out) then wipe the timber with it. Wait for the 'whiskers' to pop up then sand again. Repeat this process with the damp sponge until the whiskers stop emerging. Then sand to 800 and finish with what ever takes your fancy.

You may have already done this (it's common practice for most) but i thought i might throw this in the mix anyway.

Some pics of your new stock would be nice, too.

Steven.

[Different]

All my stocks bar one I have stripped of their finishes and refinished with a 1 part Boiled Linseed 1 part Pure Tung Oil and one part Poly Urethane and every year or two I give them a rub with a fine nylon pad soaked in the oil and then polish with a soft cloth.

Ross

[Matt88s]

I have always heard good things about Truoil, I haven't made a stock in some time and all the ones I did I french polished or used poly. But as I said, I've heard and read Turoil being recommended over and over, it's supposed to be quite good.

As has been noted already, a great concern with rifle stocks is the need to be waterproof not necessarily because of getting wet in the rain and all, but rather to prevent the absorbing of moisture from the air due to the changing humidities we all experiance, which in turn swells or shrinks the wood leading to a constantly changing pattern. Synthetic stocks, are not only water proof, but they also eliminate this problem. Lining your channel, and applying a good finish will make your average wood stock almost as good, and will be a whole lot prettier.

An oil finish will be not only longer lasting, but easier to fix, dents with a touch of sanding, let some water soak in, then apply heat with a match or the like to pop the dent out, then reoil and go on down the road non the worse for wear, and if it wears you can just reoil the stock.

I've never heard of waxing a stock, I would think that would be most unpleasant and would quickly wear off and dull.

Just my 2c.

[Woodlee]

There is a stock maker in Victoria , IIRC his name is Geoff Slee .
Apparently he bought a number walnut trees that were being removed for a development project some where in Victoria.
A very good friend of mine had a Thomas Perks 12 gauge SxS shotgun restocked by him , the work is faultless ,the fit between wood and steel is perfect .
The piece of walnut he used for the stock and fore end was the most gorgeous piece of timber I have ever seen and the satin finish is a smooth as a babies backside.
The price for the timber and the work was very reasonable as well.

I have a Charles Boswell side by side double rifle in 500 NE that I plan to have restored some time in the future .The above mentioned stock maker will be doing the woodwork.
Then my Cogswell and Harrison 12 gauge SxS will be next for a new stock.

[Rabbitz]

Due to "life's little interruptions" I haven't made any progress in the stock in the last week or so.

It is in fact one of Geoff Slee's "semi-finished" stocks. He basically roughs out the shape and does the majority of the action in-letting.

Hopefully this week, I will pick up some TruOil and try it and some of the trad wax on some spare timber to check the finish (I don't have any of the walnut as off cuts).

The idea of sponging down between sanding seems like a good idea, which might come in handy.

I will post some before and after images (when I get some!!!!)

It's funny, over the years I've never had the patience to do this type of work, but I am enjoying this. Which means I've been look through the gunsafe and there is an old .22 "ute gun" (i.e had bounced around behind the seat of the ute on the farm for a long time) which may just get a new Slee stock...

This habit could get expensive!

Colin

[Rabbitz]

As promised some before images:

After the 400 grit paper
Attachment 79057
Attachment 79058

I then damped the wood :
Attachment 79059
Attachment 79060

And my favourite bit:
Attachment 79061

This the first time I have seen the grain 'damp' and it is better than I hoped. I will post some after images, when it is an the after state!!

Colin

[Woodlee]

That's a seriously nice looking lump of wood ,grain direction is well executed through the grip .Probably the ,most important part of design for a gunstock as its the weakest point.
Did you get any pointers from Geoff as to what finish to use?
I have seen his completed work first hand and his finishing is absolutely first rate.

Btw forgot to ask , what calibre is the rifle you are building ? One of the new high steppers or a tradition calibre.

Kev.

[Rabbitz]

I haven't spoken to Geoff about it, probably an obvious thing to do but it never occurred to me.



Might give him a ring tomorrow.



Colin

[spokeshave]

I must admit, since doing my gunstocks way back, i've always had a soft spot for walnut, it's a sensational looking timber. Unfortunately the photo's i have (somewhere buried in my wardrobe) of mine were taken on film (well before digital) so cant show you them. Dont own the guns these days, they have been replaced by fly fishing rods.

But i can still remember seeing the grain and color popping when i sponged it down. Pity its such expensive timber these days.

I seem to remember the Tru-oil bringing the grain out a bit more too. But i hadn't tried other finishes at the time so speak from limited experiences.

You've got a nice piece of wood there Colin and it looks nicely shaped. Looking forward to seeing more pics as you progress.

Steven.

[Rabbitz]

By way of an update....

I have reached a bit of a conundrum!! I have so far applied four coats of TruOil onto the stock, rubbing down with steel wool in-between.

It is starting to look the goods, so much so that I don't know whether to apply the UBeaut Traditional wax finish or to just add a couple more coats of TruOil.

Anyhoo I just couldn't wait so I slipped the action into the stock and it looks pretty shcmick, even if I do say so myself. (It is a Eddystone M-17 in .308 with a reasonably heavy barrel)

Oh well I'll do a couple more coats and then decide whether to wax or not.

Colin

[Rabbitz]

Thanks to all who had info and suggestions. I ended up sanding to 1200 grit. I then applied 7 coats of Birchwood Casey TruOil. I rubbed with fine steel between coats.

I have to say it is better that I had hoped.

Attachment 79992

Attachment 79990

Attachment 79991

Once again thanks for everyones help.

Regards
Colin

[Woodlee]

Nice work .Not my style for a rifle stock but you have done a very good job of it.
For the work that this rifle is going to perform the stock is the best design.

One thing I do with my tool handles after sanding is to wet rub the wood with a mixture of boiled linseed and turps starting at 400 and working up through the grits up to 1200 .I find this really pops the grain out and gives a truly superb smooth finish .
You might try this with the Truoil .Sorry for not mentioning before but I wasn't thinking "tool handle ".
A gun stock is a tool handle right?


Kev.