1933 SA 1903

[mrandig]

Put on the first coat of leather dye lightly. It will dry very fast. Use additional coats as required.

If the color gets too dark, it can be lighted with #0000 steel wool.

This is where I'm at as of this writing. We'll wait a while, and see what it looks like after sitting. It might already be a bit dark, but its definitely an improvement over what it looked like before.

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[browningautorifle]

I'm going to use leather dye

Yes, that works well too. You can get dark and even.

knocking down any raised grain with a Scotch-Brite pad.

That's how I whisker and stain at the same time too. Been using it for years, it's more forgiving than sanding too.

[vitalitysquared]

In the same boat - best of luck!

[mrandig]

If you look closely at the last (Refinishing #3) post, the forend looks almost green. There is no adjustment of your screen necessary. It's not caused by weird light effects. This is caused by various pigments in the dye sitting on the surface rather than soaking into it.

I'm sure there's people on here that can explain the chemistry here better than I can, but a thin coat of BLO prior to applying the dye will help. In my "green" case, a little bit of BLO applied after dye worked also. The dye just seems to works better when it has something to bind to, and help it soak into the surface.

Don't be alarmed if some of the dye rubs off; it's not that it didn't dry, it's just some of the dye didn't soak into the wood.

Here's the original "green" pic, and a pic as of tonight. I did a "mud rub" earlier today (BLO and 220 grit sandpaper), so we'll hit the entire thing with #0000 steel wool tomorrow morning, and hopefully we'll be done.

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[mrandig]

In the same boat - best of luck!

Thanks! I'm hoping that by documenting this step-by-step, somebody else won't have to go through the same process of trial and error. That, and maybe picking up a few hints or tricks from the group as I go. I'm not trying to show off my limited skills, just create the reference source I wish I had.

[mrandig]

The cold weather is here, so I'm going to have to put an end to any finishing projects. As long as the temperature is near or at freezing, it's just too cold to get anything to dry in my barely-heated garage.

Here's the completed forend, dyed and now with a final coat of BLO. It's darker than before, but a pretty good match. The light grains have been darkened to match the color of the stock, the dark grains are just, well, dark. Not sure if it's because it's walnut sapwood, heartwood, etc., but this forend just naturally has a lot of stripes, so it's never going to be totally uniform in color.

I also lightly feathered in some stain on the few inches of the stock, so the transition of color would be a little more gradual.

it can be kind of hard to tell in this light, so I'm adding two new pics. It's a little shiny at the moment, as I just put on the final coat of BLO.

Reassembly starts tomorrow!

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[mrandig]

Let's get this rifle back together.

First, we must disassemble the front sight, so we can get the upper band on. There's a teeny screw that holds the front sight base in place. In my case, I didn't even have to tap it, it just came out with a little pressure.

I should replace the sight blade while I'm at it, but feeling tired today and it seems like a hassle. We'll leave the Marbles gold tip one on for now.

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[mrandig]

Everything gets cleaned at this point. For the hardware, I'm just using Mineral Spirits to clean off any dirt, cosmoline, etc. I've made the mistake of using more aggressive chemicals in the past, and I'd rather not take chances with the finish.

The barreled action gets gets Hoppes #9. A toothbrush comes in handy here.

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[mrandig]

The barreled action and trigger guard go into the stock next. Big screw goes in the rear, short screw in the front. I keep everything kind of loose for the moment, and will tighten later. This way, if something doesn't fit right, I can adjust.

Looks about right. I'm having to share the kitchen counter with my wife, as the garage is too cold, just in case you're wondering.

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[mrandig]

Now for the handguard, followed by the lower and upper bands.

Since the forend was spliced to the stock, the channel for the band spring was a little finnicky. A small screwdriver was used to clean up the groove, and then I used a clamp to keep pressure on the spring while I screwed down the lower band.

Installing the upper band required some cussing. Also, it required a block of wood and a rubber mallet. These are my go-to tools when in crisis. Finally, once the band is in place, be prepared for the screw not to line up. It goes in the right of the band, through the forend, then peaks out on the opposite side. I drifted it with a similar size allen wrench until everything was lined up correctly. Installing the stacking swivel is the easy part.

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