Stripping darkened varnish off of a 50-70

[Louis of PA]

Three years ago, my oldest brother gave me the stock of an 03-A3. The varnish and dirt on it made it as dark as midnight. It looked pretty hopeless.

A few swipes with a cloth soaked in denatured alcohol and the old dark crud melted away like snowflakes, revealing one of the most handsome, smooth grained walnut stocks I've ever seen.

Later I applied some gunny paste and left it at that.

I'm considering doing the same with my grandfather's 50-70. Can you tell me what sort of color values are likely to appear? Dark, Medium, Light walnut? Apart from the alcohol, I don't plan to refinish it; I just want to get rid of the brown black look, so that you can tell that it's wood.

Thanks for any comments you can provide.
Louis of PA

[Patrick Chadwick]

Nothng to do with 50-70s or even a gun, just a fact that wood generally darkens on the surface with exposure to light. So on a 100+year old piece, provided you really do just remove the crud layer, you should expect a dark walnut finish.

Patrick

[JimF in CT]

"Life is like a box of chocolates" says a certain liberal!
That's part of the fun. Carry on with the alcohol and see what you've got! --Jim

[musketshooter]

Only a small number of Model 1866 TD stocks were varnished. All the rest are oil finished. Wipe it down with tri-sodium phosphate instead of alcohol.

[13Echo]

I've cleaned a couple of Trapdoors, an 1884 and an 1868. I used the method described on the Trapdoor collector's site; half and half mixture of turpentine and boiled linseed oil. Put a little on a rag and gently rub a small area of the stock and wipe off. If it is really foul add just a bit of 0000 rotten pumice or rotten stone. This will remove the crud, and replace oil in an old, dry stock without removing the patina. You don't want to strip the stock to bare wood.

Jerry Liles