1933 SA 1903

[mrandig]

Final BLO on the stock, final BLO on the handguard. I think it's time to call these done for now, as they've getting to the point where they're starting to weep overnight. Couldn't have come out any better.

Back to the Forend piece. I did a mud-rub yesterday (wet sand with oil), buffed this morning with #0000 steel wool, and rubbed in a follow-up coat of BLO, but I'm not getting a good match to the other wood. It looked bearable originally but, ever since being cleaned, it now looks like it's been through a war (it likely has). Pretty gun, but with a rough, streaky, mismatched forend.

Here's where I'm at in terms of the proceeding:
1. Continue with more oil on just the forend, hopefully darkening the forend enough to match, and hide any issues; or
2. Dye the forend to darken the wood, to match better and hide any issues; or
3. "Nuke" the forend section back to bare wood, and start again. Might help get some of the streaking out, and I can also steam out some of the minor dents.

Each of the three options has its pluses and minuses. What does the group think?

My camera / phone is dead at the moment, but I'll add some pics shortly.

[mrandig]

Pics as promised. Maybe I'm just sensitive to the mismatch, but it seems very apparent to me. It just doesn't look close to the same wood. Those long streaks in the wood are making me wonder if this forend got a rough sanding job at some point.

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Off topic, but note how awesome the handguard looks.

Any thoughts on the forend?

[mrandig]

And we're going nuclear on the forend...

Pic below is the forend soaked in oven cleaner. It's covered in saran wrap so it doesn't dry. In about an hour, there won't be any oil, grease, dirt left on the forend, whatsoever. None. Nada. Nothing.

The stock is covered in aluminium foil and then wrapped in tape. If I'm careful, I can avoid getting any cleaner on the stock section, which would mean refinishing the entire thing. I really hope I'm careful.

After all this is done, I'll rinse with some Dawn dish soap and #00 steel wool in the bathtub and wipe with the wife's good towels. Dawn works for cleaning birds after an oil spill, so it's safe for rifle stocks and forends also.

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Once this has all been cleaned, it needs to dry really, really slow (ask me how I know). Because it's so clean, the wood will also become very dry without any oils, and will crack if it gets too hot. The thin forend tip is a concern. After that, I'll try to use the wife's only clothes iron, to steam out some of the dents where the grain isn't broken. After that, then it's three more coats of BLO.

Overall, this sets me back a couple days for completion, but I still have parts in the mail.

[ssgross]

Oh No! From your pre-oven-cleaner pic, getting a closer color match would have been pretty easy. I would have suggested mineral spirits clear the BLO you applied, then dilute some Birchwood Casey walnut stain with water, and rub the forend to even out the color. Let it dry. If too light in color, do it again. If too dark, go over with plain water. When it matches to your liking, use the BLO. I have matched a few handgaurds like this.

[mrandig]

I should've done this at the start. Once it's dry, we'll figure out a plan to get everything matched.

Note the dark band right at the splice. I intentionally didn't want to clean too hard at the repair.

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[mrandig]

Oh No! From your pre-oven-cleaner pic, getting a closer color match would have been pretty easy. I would have suggested mineral spirits clear the BLO you applied, then dilute some Birchwood Casey walnut stain with water, and rub the forend to even out the color. Let it dry. If too light in color, do it again. If too dark, go over with plain water. When it matches to your liking, use the BLO. I have matched a few handgaurds like this.

That was my option #2! I debated between more BLO, dye (stain), or Easy Off for almost half the day, then finally went with most drastic. Whatever was under the coats of BLO was giving me fits, so I figured time to start from scratch. Wish I had made that decision before the repair.

Good news, I didn't get any oven cleaner on the stock. Good news, the wood has some pretty grain underneath. Bad news, I have to do the handguard rub all over again, and stripped wood tends to look, well... stripped. I have a couple of tricks here, maybe they will work.

[browningautorifle]

I use Watco Danish oil, medium walnut but they have dark or light as your taste is. Oven cleaner can be a death knell for woodwork, I've been out all day so didn't see anything after 0500 this AM. Whichever oil and stain you use should be ok. Don't be surprised if the streaks come back. Hope not though.

[mrandig]

Cleaned 3 times with oven cleaner, then steamed with a clothes iron for probably 45 minutes. Crud wouldn't stop seeping out. Should be clean enough now, and most of the little dents are gone. The big dings at the midline will just have to stay; they don't affect the way it shoots.

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[mrandig]

I think I caused some concern in the group over stripping the forend completely, so I now I have to try to make some magic happen.

First, since we stripped the forend down to bare wood, this gives me a chance to do a little repair work. Any small dings, I'll hit with 150 grit sandpaper. I'm going to sand any deep gouges with 100 grit sandpaper. Then I'll sand everything lightly with 150 grit one last time. Note that I'm using a pencil eraser as a backer; its flexible enough to shape and keep the paper against the surface of the forend.

Second, I'll clean off the forend with mineral spirits.

Third, after the mineral spirits are dry, I'm going to "whisker" the forend. This is simply knocking down any raised grain with a Scotch-Brite pad. I want a nice smooth surface to work with. I'm not using steel wool here, as I don't want to deal with the metallic pieces that can sometimes get left behind.

With the above done, we should be ready to start putting on a new finish.

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[mrandig]

It's a personal thing, but I just can't seem to get on board with water based stains or gets. I just really don't use them.

Unfortunately, oil based stains come in only a few brands, and I don't like most of these either. At least not the ones for sale at the "big box" stores. I've found the best stains need to be special ordered.

Instead, I'm going to use leather dye. Yes, I said that correctly. I love this stuff, and it works great on wood also. This has an alcohol base, which means it dries super-quickly. Make sure to wear gloves, as it stains really bad. I use a cut up old "skivvy" shirt as an applicator (you may have seen other pieces of this T-shirt in previous pics).

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