my gpr

[Zonie]

is there any technique other than bluing or browning that protects the metal and does not change the color? in other words do i have to blue or brown the metal parts? reason i ask is this looks really good.

Pardon my saying so but it looks really scratched up at the moment.
OH! You were talking about the color.

Before we get to that I think your getting the cart in front of the horse.

That metal cap should be smooth as a baby's butt and twice as shiny before you even think about staining the wood.

After you've gotten all of the scratches and marks sanded out of it you will probably have to restain the stock.

Anyway, yes, your choices for the steel parts is to blue them, brown them or leave them in their raw condition.

If you choose to leave them in their natural color I advise that you polish them with finer and finer grades of sandpaper.
The smoother the surfaces are the less they will take on rust.

I have several different guns which I decided to leave the steel parts "in the white" and polished them to a mirror bright condition.
That was over 4 years ago and they still look fine but I do keep them lightly oiled with Barricade gun oil.

 

[ryzman]

i was just showing the contrast of colors, im nowhere near done with the metal work.

 

[ryzman]

ive got 2 coats of the birchwood casey sealer filler drying on the stock and will use steel wool to even everything out before applying the true oil. ive got a box full of metal parts needing polished and then the barrel. pics coming...

 

[Rusty Spur 82]

An old pair of Wrangler Pro Rodeos ,cut up, works good for rubbing between coats too.

 

[ryzman]

what sort of drying times did you get with your stock rusty? the filler says one hour but thats not enough time... the oil says 2 hours. did you ever work with your stock while it was slightly tacky or did you let it dry completely? im afraid to get finger prints on my finish...

 

[Rusty Spur 82]

I gave the sealer/filler 12 hours between coats and I probably should have waited 24 hours.I gave my very thin Tru Oil coats a 24 hour drying time before recoating.I did 2 coats of sealer/filler and 8 coats of Tru oil.I may have gone overboard with my procedeures but not ever having done this before,I didn't want to take any chances.After about a week of curing,I rubbed a coat of sheen & conditioner on the stock followed by stock wax.

 

[Zonie]

For those who aren't familure with it Birchwood Casey "Stock Sheen & Conditioner" is a very mild abrasive in a creamy fluid.

It is used with a rag to rub down the hardened oil finish.

If this is done fairly lightly without much pressure it will remove the gloss left by Tru-Oil.

If the rubbing is done using some heavy force it will smooth out the surface a bit and then proceed to create an even higher gloss than was left by the Tru-Oil.

It's all a matter of how you use it.

On the plus side, if you are after a non glossy look and you overdo it and start getting a glossy finish you can use a bit more and try rubbing with a little less force to remove the gloss.

It will not leave a dull totally non reflective surface like many modern guns now come with but as a gun with a dull surface cannot show the beauty of the wood that's fine with me.

 

[ryzman]

here is the 3rd coat of tru oil. this is not the most fun part of the build i have to admit.

 

[ryzman]

so im having a hard time with the tru oil and decided to take the finish off to bare wood. the rifle is completely assembled at the moment and ive checked the fit of all the metal furniture. everything is perfect.
the issue i was having with the finish is the stain would often rub off when using steel wool to try to even out the last oil application. maybe i was rubbing the finish too hard? ive found that dust and lint are the enemy as well as runs in the finish. also bits of steel wool found its way into the oil. ive also taken the advise of a friend and just used my index finger to apply the oil so i dont have to worry about the hairs of the brush sticking to the stock. that is a huge help as it happened often during my first attempt at applying the sealer filler.
once i complete the last layer of tru oil, should i have a completely smooth and clean surface or can i buff out some imperfections with sheen and conditioner? its almost impossible to avoid a little dust in the air that might stick to the stock. any suggestions on what i should do to avoid contaminating the finish on the stock?

 

[Rusty Spur 82]

I have a collection of news papers so each time I worked on the rifle,I worked on a clean layer of news paper.I also had a small hand held vacume cleaner on hand to suck up any dust or steel wool laying around.I used a coat hanger and hung the stock away from the work area in a dust free area to dry between coats.I mostly just used burlap or jean material to rub between coats after I seen the mess that steel wool leaves.By putting the Tru oil on thin each time with just my index finger, I didn't have to worry about runs or high spots building up.Hope I have helped some.
Rusty Spur

 

[Rogue River]

If you are getting runs in the finish you are putting way to much material on! Just wet your finger tip(1 or 2 fingertips) w/true oil and rub it in until it won't spread any thinner and your finger gets warm. Repeat until the stock is covered and let dry completely and then give it another coat. Remember fingertips WARM! :thumbsup:

 

[Rusty Spur 82]

Yes,most definitely,I forgot to add that part.Rub it in with your fingertip until it feels warm and maybe with a little squeak to it,then move on to a new area next to it.

 

[Zonie]

Many THIN coats are the answer.

IMO, steel wool should not be used unless at least 4 coats of finish have been applied and even then it should be no courser than #0000 and it should not be used with any force.

I avoid the use of it entirely when applying an oil finish.

 

[ryzman]

i was trying to add too much at one time i think. the bottle said apply generously... and the guy at the gunshop told me to use a lot. im going with several light coats instead of trying one or two really thick ones. thanks guys for the help.

 

[Zonie]

At the risk of upsetting someone from a gun store, the salesmans comment should have been the first clue to beware. :hmm:

Try it our way and I think it will end up just fine.

 

[ryzman]

now that i have most of the metal furniture smoothed out how do i get a really nice polished surface? steel wool?

 

[Zonie]

Go to your hardware store and buy some finer grits of the black "wet/dry" silicone carbide sandpaper.

If you don't have it buy some 320, 400 grit paper.

If you plan on browning the barrel and furniture sand everything using the 320 grit paper until the entire surface has an even look to it.

Even though you may be tired of filing and sanding you must remember, the slightest pocket or scratch that is left on the surface before browning will stick out like a sore thumb.
Browning, bluing or the various "aging" treatments will not cover up a flaw that was left.

The reason for stopping at a 320 grit paper is if you use a finer paper like a 400 or 600 grit, the surface will not "take" the browning solution evenly and will come out streaked even after several coats.

If you intend to use a cold bluing solution (like Birchwood Casey Perma-Blue) after you have the surface finished with the 320 grit paper, resand everything with 400 grit paper. Follow this by resanding with 600 grit paper.
The surface will then be ready for cold bluing after you have fully degreased it.

If you want a "mirror bright" shine after the 600 grit paper is used there are various buffing compounds that can be used with a rag.
This is labor intensive so be forewarned.
A buffing compound that works well is called "Stainless" but I use it with a power buffing wheel for polishing and honing my chisels.

 

[ryzman]

thank you for that zonie. now i just need to decide how much more sanding and polishing i want to do. i just dont know...
i can get everything hot blued for little cost if any... not sure what a blued barrel would look like with polished furniture. im sort of leaning toward bluing everything on this project but the contrast the dark stock makes with the shiny parts is really nice too. ill get everything at around 320 grit and then decide...

 

[Mongo40]

Just so you can compare, I browned my barrel, polished my nosecap, then did a vinegar treatment on the the rest of the metal pieces.

 

[Bill Hall]

Here's something I've learned about hand sanding metal parts. Sometimes as you polish with a certain grade, scratches will start becoming apparent that were missed from previous grades of sanding. It's real easy to think you can sand it out without going back a step or two, but that's a real waste of time. Better to find them, then go back to sanding with a coarser grade, or even back to a file, then work your way back to the finer grade to see if you really got the scratches out. Hard to go the wrong way when 95% looks really nice, but it will save you some frustration and sore finger tips.

I mention this because I can see some small scratches on your trigger guard that look like they've already been by-passed. You might want to take them out before proceeding any further. :thumbsup: Bill