• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Clay Smith Trade Gun Build

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Finished sanding after the third grain raise. Applied iron nitrate, let it dry while I was outside doing chores. Worked it over with the heat gun thoroughly. Then mixed up a warm water and baking soda solution and wiped it down with that. Used the heat gun just a little to dry it. Mainly used the baking soda solution to see if I could get a little red tint to the wood. And it did, just a little. Three photos of the iron nitrate dry, then after heating, last one after the solution was applied and dried. Got to head home for a night or 2 and pickup a few supplies that arrived.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1901.jpeg
    IMG_1901.jpeg
    1.8 MB
  • IMG_1902.jpeg
    IMG_1902.jpeg
    1.4 MB
  • IMG_1904.jpeg
    IMG_1904.jpeg
    1.5 MB
Back to work on the build now that I’m caught up with outside work. Received my plates back from Mike Brooks, he did a magnificent job.
I wanted this stock to be different, to have some color. So I played around with Cherry and Maple stain cut with denatured alcohol. Ended up settling on this. The photos are after the first coat of Permalyn Sealer.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1908.jpeg
    IMG_1908.jpeg
    1.3 MB
  • IMG_1906.jpeg
    IMG_1906.jpeg
    2 MB
  • IMG_1907.jpeg
    IMG_1907.jpeg
    986.1 KB
  • IMG_1923.jpeg
    IMG_1923.jpeg
    1.4 MB
  • IMG_1925.jpeg
    IMG_1925.jpeg
    1.6 MB
  • IMG_1924.jpeg
    IMG_1924.jpeg
    1.4 MB
  • IMG_1926.jpeg
    IMG_1926.jpeg
    1.1 MB
Back to work on the build now that I’m caught up with outside work. Received my plates back from Mike Brooks, he did a magnificent job.
I wanted this stock to be different, to have some color. So I played around with Cherry and Maple stain cut with denatured alcohol. Ended up settling on this. The photos are after the first coat of Permalyn Sealer.
Looks great! I like it also .Mike did a great job on the plates also (of course I knew he would)
 
I’m having a bit of builder’s remorse. I put the final coat of Permalyn on this morning and after a while move it to the outside shop to hang. We have some warm, super dry air outside so it should cure rapidly. I followed Laurel Mountain’s instructions, put on 3 or 4 coats of sealer, and 2 or 3 coats of finish. I actually lost count. Went over it several times with synthetic steel wool during the process with wipe downs afterwards. This morning, per Laurel Mountain’s instructions, I finished with a thin coat of sealer. Now I’m not blaming anything on Laurel Mountain, great products all around. But I’m just not happy with the texture, it’s not as smooth as I hoped and I still have several small sags. My old eyes just miss things in the process. And the finish may be too much bling for a trade gun. I may go back and lightly sand the whole stock with 600 or 1,000 grit and put another coat of sealer or finish on it. Kinda wishing I’d just used Tried & True oil varnish, but too late now. Wood finishing is a weak point for me.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1933.jpeg
    IMG_1933.jpeg
    1.8 MB
  • IMG_1935.jpeg
    IMG_1935.jpeg
    1.1 MB
  • IMG_1936.jpeg
    IMG_1936.jpeg
    1,011.6 KB
  • IMG_1938.jpeg
    IMG_1938.jpeg
    1.2 MB
  • IMG_1939.jpeg
    IMG_1939.jpeg
    1.5 MB
Well, I got back at it. I took the stock out in the sun and went over it carefully looking for bad spots, then hit them with extra fine scotchbrite. Wiped it down while still outside where I could see, dabbed and blended all the areas that I found with the finish. Of course I missed some, but I’m much happier with it now and it will just have to do. Afterwards, I did have better luck with the barrel. Finished up draw filing a few spots and sanding, degreased it, and used @ 50/50 Jax Black/distilled water mix. Put on 2 coats with a little draw back in between, but I got the color I wanted without much trouble. So it’s basically finished now except for cleaning out the pin holes, assembly and making the necessary small adjustments. One things for certain, if @Rob M. has anything to worry about, worrying about me cutting into his Trade Gun building business is not one of them!!! I’m worn out from this one!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1943.jpeg
    IMG_1943.jpeg
    1.8 MB
  • IMG_1944.jpeg
    IMG_1944.jpeg
    1.3 MB
  • IMG_1945.jpeg
    IMG_1945.jpeg
    1.6 MB
  • IMG_1946.jpeg
    IMG_1946.jpeg
    1.4 MB
  • IMG_1940.jpeg
    IMG_1940.jpeg
    1.4 MB
  • IMG_1942.jpeg
    IMG_1942.jpeg
    1.3 MB
  • IMG_1941.jpeg
    IMG_1941.jpeg
    1.2 MB
I like it , looks great from what I see . I’m the same way with finishing wood.I painted many houses over the years as a side job but always get nervous staining wood.
 
Back
Top