how to remove "Tru-oil/ tung oil" coating?

[golden sky]

hi guys, I have a kentucky rifle kit I completed and been shooting for awhile now. problem is I never applied any stain and just did a tru-oil coat of about 3 layers. I now want to darken the stock to the classic looks of a Kentucky rifle.

any ideas on how to remove the tru-oil? do i have to sand it all off ?

 

[ArmorerRoy]

I did something similar years ago and regretted it. The best i could do was steel wool the old finish down as far as I could and then I mixed an oil base walnut stain into more true oil and put it that on as a top coat. Not perfect but it was better.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Steel wool or scothbrite and paint thinner will help then apply stain with more steel wool.

 

[rusty]

I would use paint remover and a Scotch-Brite pad...D

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
If your kit was commercially massed produced that the stock probably has plenty of extra wood on it. I suggest just scraping off the old finish with cabinet scrapers or the blades used in carpet scrapers. No finish is very deep in the wood so it does not take much to scrape it away. It took just a few hours to scrape this Pedersoli Brown Bess clean.

dave

 

[LME]

Hi,
If your kit was commercially massed produced that the stock probably has plenty of extra wood on it. I suggest just scraping off the old finish with cabinet scrapers or the blades used in carpet scrapers. No finish is very deep in the wood so it does not take much to scrape it away. It took just a few hours to scrape this Pedersoli Brown Bess clean.

dave

Scrape the finnish is a good way to remove a finnish. I would also use a thinner afterwards and wash the wood down before trying to stain. This will ensure you got all the cracks and crannies clear of finnish.

 

[Nor Cal Mikie]

Tru-oil isn't clear. Sand, steel wool or Scotch Brite to get the shine off but the wood will still be a little darker.

Had a laminated stock that I had finished maybe 5 or 6 years before with Tru-Oil. Needed a change so I sanded the top finish (shine) off.
Re shot it with Automotive Clear Coat. Even with the Tru-Oil acting as a filler coat, the Auto Clear STILL brought out lines in the wood that I had never seen before.
Did you do the barrel channel with Tru-Oil? Might start sanding there to see what you'll get when re finished.

 

[golden sky]

thanks guys

 

[The Appalachian]

Save yourself all the sanding, because you will miss places. Just put a good chemical stripper to it. Tru-Oil doesn't get as deep as people think it does, and usually one treatment of stripper will get it off, and more importantly out of the pores.

Neutralize with water while scrubbing with an old toothbrush, let dry completely, THEN sand/scrape as needed. The stock should then take a stain like it was new wood.

 

[deerstalkert]

another vote for the scraper. I am old school (just plain old) , and use a piece of broken glass as a scraper.
if i don't have a new build going on i start to twitch and will drag out something like a thompson center and refinish it just for giggles. sick i know but its better than chasing women while in a wheel chair!!

 

[frankie]

Save yourself all the sanding, because you will miss places. Just put a good chemical stripper to it. Tru-Oil doesn't get as deep as people think it does, and usually one treatment of stripper will get it off, and more importantly out of the pores.

Neutralize with water while scrubbing with an old toothbrush, let dry completely, THEN sand/scrape as needed. The stock should then take a stain like it was new wood.

I would go with what appalachian said. Using any kind of scraper one really needs to be careful around the corners and contours, unless they have some good amount of practice at it.