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Hey all, I removed a bad lacquer refinish from my 1894 stock…..it looked pretty good just getting the old finish off but then I steamed a few dents out and it left some chalky, whitish green looking areas and before I move forward I wanted to know if new oil will fill that color back or if I need to do something else, in other words is it just dry ?….thankful for any tips
No need to speculate, wipe a touch of oil (you mean linseed?) in the worst of these spots, let a dry a few days, & you’ll know if you need to do more.
clarence said
No need to speculate, wipe a touch of oil (you mean linseed?) in the worst of these spots, let a dry a few days, & you’ll know if you need to do more.
For sure, I’m using a specially ordered linseed oil/Winchester red combo, after a very light sand. I still need to sand, so I didn’t want to re-oil until I did that and wanted to make sure there was no in-between step I was missing.
Jeremy Polk said
For sure, I’m using a specially ordered linseed oil/Winchester red combo, after a very light sand. I still need to sand, so I didn’t want to re-oil until I did that and wanted to make sure there was no in-between step I was missing.
If the stock is in bad enough shape to require sanding, I suspect the metal is pretty worn, too. Seems like you’re falling into the very common trap (I’ve been there!) of making the wood look much better than the metal, which creates an unpleasant contrast. Sanding is the last resort for a stock in the very poorest cond. (Unless you have the skills of a master stockmaker & restorer I know; he can do wonders, but that’s after about 50 yrs in the trade.) For myself, I’d rather see scratches & dents than an amateur restoration.
clarence said
Jeremy Polk said
For sure, I’m using a specially ordered linseed oil/Winchester red combo, after a very light sand. I still need to sand, so I didn’t want to re-oil until I did that and wanted to make sure there was no in-between step I was missing.
If the stock is in bad enough shape to require sanding, I suspect the metal is pretty worn, too. Seems like you’re falling into the very common trap (I’ve been there!) of making the wood look much better than the metal, which creates an unpleasant contrast. Sanding is the last resort for a stock in the very poorest cond. (Unless you have the skills of a master stockmaker & restorer I know; he can do wonders, but that’s after about 50 yrs in the trade.) For myself, I’d rather see scratches & dents than an amateur restoration.
I like Clarence’s advice. I two would rather see scratches and dents than a gun that doesn’t match condition wise.These kind of projects are fun but sooner or later you regret them. In my world a well used wall hanger is more pleasing to look at than a amateur restoration. T/R
All fair comments above. A little more history, I didn’t give full story…
I bought it as a nice old gun (1901 made mod 1894) with some special options like half oct barrel, shotgun butt plate, and short mag. Problem is, someone had already done an amateur restoration. I had my gunsmith disassemble it and he’s going to reblue the barrel to cover up a sloppy cold blue job and he’s going to send off the other metal parts for case hardening. I offer to do the wood to save time and money and I had to take off a sloppy lacquer job and trying to take it back to it’s original color…long story short, someone else had already ruined the originality, so at least want to take it back to a nice restored look.
….and when I say sand, I mean a VERY light sand… The wood had a couple of old repairs that were actually done very nicely and it had good fit, just want the old color back in an oil finish.
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