Author Topic: refinishing stock dings???? (Read 567 times)

kenscot · « **on:** February 03, 2006, 12:10:17 PM »

One of my rifles took a good ding this season. I decided to try to sand it out and touch it up. Well the sanding went fine but I can't seem to get the stain to take. I used some minwax I had out in the garage perhaps I should have used something else?

savageT · « **Reply #1 on:** February 03, 2006, 12:43:42 PM »

I would not have tried sanding the dent first. It requires removing the original finish then steaming the dent out with a wet cotton cloth and soldering iron to bring back the grain. If the grain has been cut, you won't bring the dent back w/o filling it with sawdust from sanding mixed with an oil finish.

You didn't say what make the gun is, but some stains used are not readily available to the hobbist and won't take because of wood sealers used at the factory. Getting the original finish off requires some effort all by itself. If it is a polyurethane finish, as in Remington finishes, you need to heat or scorch it off carefully w/ a torch and scraper.

Jim

kenscot · « **Reply #2 on:** February 03, 2006, 01:07:15 PM »

Your right I am already regretting taking the sandpaper to it. the ding is not noticeable now. I would just like to get the stain back as close as possible. The rifle is a browning hunter with a satin finish

gunnut69 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 03, 2006, 07:49:27 PM »

If you sanded out the ding it's likely the finish is long gone. Getting stain to take and look like the original is not likely to happen,. A spirit stain is your best bet. These stains are thinned with a petroleum distilate usually. Avoid water or alchohol based products. Matching can be done, sometimes, but not most times.. You may well need to refinish the entire stock....

bluebayou · « **Reply #4 on:** February 05, 2006, 08:28:20 AM »

Why avoid water based stains?

june6th1944 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 05, 2006, 11:33:22 AM »

What grit of sandpaper did you use? If you used too fine of a grit you may have polished the wood, so that it's unable to take a stain--your description fits the symptom of well-polished wood. You can go backwards and that should open the grain back up, but you've removed finish and stain at this point.

As mentioned above, the ding should have been steamed out before sanding. I believe the Browning uses a polyurethane finish, I'm pretty sure it's not an oil-based finish. By using the sandpaper, you've cut through the finish and probably removed stain as well. If it were me, I would remove the finish on the entire stock and start over. You can remove that with KleanStrip KS-3 stripper--you can get this at Home Depot or something similar at Lowe's. It works well on polyurethane finishes, at least with the furniture I've stripped. Use the non-water-based version, you need to rinse w/ mineral spirits not water. You can then start over with your own stain preference and finish. Yes, this is a project you can do yourself, just take your time.

kenscot · « **Reply #6 on:** February 05, 2006, 04:32:45 PM »

Looks like I refinishing the whole stock. Is it tricky to remove the old finish from the checkering? What about the bedding compound should I avoid letting the stipper from contacting it?