Some original antique stocks I have seen are stained in such a manner that mimics the striped figure of maple. I read somewhere that this was not an uncommon thing of the era.
If a varnish was applied later in time, and has since bubbled up, is there a way to safely remove the varnish without harm to the 'figuring' of the stain underneath?
Hi Dusty,
The first thing you have to TRY to do is determine what the "most recently applied" finish is, because a bubbled surface may indicate bad technique when applying a finish too much and too quickly OR it may indicate the firearm was around too much heat. The bubbling might also have been caused by wax on the surface before the last finish was put on it. Unfortunately for most of us with limited facilities, we have to figure out what finish we are dealing with by using solvents.
OK, to do that, step one is gentle cleaning of the finish with small wads of clean paper towels dipped in Dawn detergent and water solution, then wrung out and gently rubbed over the finish. Then dry with wads of clean paper towels. Old guns may have dirt, oils or grease on the finish and that should remove most of such foreign contaminants.
I like to try denatured alcohol next in an unobtrusive spot, as that will show whether someone used shellac as the "most recent finish." You might be surprised how many folks in the old days and who weren't trained in stock finishing, used shellac because they had it on hand.
After that, does it feel like there is wax on the finish? The use of mineral spirits the way Rich Pierce described above is also a good way to clean that and often all you need to "smooth out" the bubbled finish with enough gentle rubbing. But be gentle as mineral spirits will dissolve many finishes if applied "too wet" and wipe out the coloring under the bubbled finish.
If that won't do it, the next step is to try Acetone mildly wetted wads of paper towels. However, there is a big risk of wiping out the stain coloring under the bubbled finish.
Gus
