OK now I’ve really screwed up. Options?

[Snooterpup]

Hello everyone and hope everyone has a great new year. Now the trouble. I was in the home stretch on my Kibler colonial kit when I decided to try ti make things better.
This was a “fancy” grade maple stock but the stock end by the patch box was unremarkable and had bad color
Here’s what I did: wet the stock and after drying, sanded the whiskers three separate times to 320 grit. Applied two coats of Kibler’s iron nitrate, heated to the correct blush, and applied Permalyn sealer in successive coats as directed by Jim. Please look at the first photo. I don’t know why it looks this good in the photo Because it it totally washed out with no “curl” showing and the a weak honey gold brown whereas the rest of the gun looked pretty good. In attempting to create a light darker wash with Fiebings dye diluted with alcohol, I carefully applied this to the area to be darkened and with rag with Permalyn ready to blend in. Do not ever try this! I should have known better! The leather dye penetrated too fast and created a dark blotch that looked horrible and try as I might, could not salvage. I an sick about this development. I believe my only hope is to strip the stock. How is the best way to do this to get everything off including the aquafortis. Will this clean up or am I in deep doo doo. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.
Thank you!
Sincerely snooterpup

 

[Ponderosaman]

I can see why you would be distressed, but don’t think it will turn out as bad as you think. I’m not a gun maker but have done a lot of wood working stuff. I would just sand down and refinish. It will look a lot better after just a little TLC.

 

[tenngun]

I would sand until premalyn is off, not all the way to white. But light.
Then apply a dark stain then oil

 

[Snooterpup]

I would sand until premalyn is off, not all the way to white. But light.
Then apply a dark stain then oil

Would you recommend any commercial stripper? Sanding the Permalyn will take forever and there us incised carving I’d hate to loose.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

If you start over definitely use a paint stripper. Any brand will do. Sanding it off can remove too much wood. Is the area you sanded the place that you put the Fiebings dye? I've used Fiebings some and it fades with a little time and sunlight. In fact it fades so much that it needs to be put on to the extent that the wood is a lot darker than you want it to be in the end. In other words, I wish you had left it on and maybe even extended it back to the butt plate. Rather than strip the whole stock it might be better to just do the butt up into the beginning of the wrist and refinish that part. The whole stock does not need to have the same color and contrast from one end to the other and I think the stock pictured would look a lot better with a darker butt section. All this is just my opinion of course. Don't give up in frustration and utter despair. It can be saved and may even come out looking better.

 

[Snooterpup]

If you start over definitely use a paint stripper. Any brand will do. Sanding it off can remove too much wood. Is the area you sanded the place that you put the Fiebings dye? I've used Fiebings some and it fades with a little time and sunlight. In fact it fades so much that it needs to be put on to the extent that the wood is a lot darker than you want it to be in the end. In other words, I wish you had left it on and maybe even extended it back to the butt plate. Rather than strip the whole stock it might be better to just do the butt up into the beginning of the wrist and refinish that part. The whole stock does not need to have the same color and contrast from one end to the other and I think the stock pictured would look a lot better with a darker butt section. All this is just my opinion of course. Don't give up in frustration and utter despair. It can be saved and may even come out looking better.

Thanks for your ideas. I’ve see that Laurel Mountain forge has stains some folks really like. Any opinions? At thi point I’m not a huge fan of Permalyn. I’ve had better luck with TOW’s Original Oil Finish.

 

[Snooterpup]

I can see why you would be distressed, but don’t think it will turn out as bad as you think. I’m not a gun maker but have done a lot of wood working stuff. I would just sand down and refinish. It will look a lot better after just a little TLC.

Thanks Pondersoraman for the positive thoughts. It’s nice to know there is hope.

 

[SDSmlf]

Please look at the first photo. I don’t know why it looks this good in the photo Because it it totally washed out with no “curl” showing and the a weak honey gold brown whereas the rest of the gun looked pretty good.

I would assemble the gun and shoot as it, giving myself time to think about it. Might not be all that noticeable unless looking for it, at least based on the first photograph. As far as making a ‘repair’, my old man always used to say that the first thing you did when you dug yourself a hole, was to stop digging and put the shovel down……. If you find you must make a repair, suggest you duplicate the process that got you to where you are on a scrap piece of similar wood and see how it goes. I agree with the do not sand it crowd, and would use a chemical stripper. Many of the commercial citrus strippers work well, or consider a denatured alcohol and lacquer thinner mix - removes most finishes. Acetone will also remove a lot of finishes.

Me, I would leave as is for at least a while. Adds character. But if I decided to refinish, I would do the entire stock. Multiple finishes never seem to match up in my experience. Good luck, whatever way you decide to go.

 

[deerstalkert]

it's work to redo the stock, but i would bet that every other gun i have finished in the last 60 years, i have stripped at least once and started over. if you don't like what it is, the only way to fix it is to fix it.
by the way i really dislike Permalyn.
my go to is plain old aqua fortis/blo

 

[Steve Martin]

Snooterpup - we have all made mistakes worse than that at one time or another, at least I sure have. You certainly can fix it but it will take you a little extra time and effort. I do believe that IF you decide to strip and refinish, I would strip the entire stock and start from "scratch" because it's VERY hard to get a repair in the finish to ever truly match the rest of the stock.

 

[Snooterpup]

it's work to redo the stock, but i would bet that every other gun i have finished in the last 60 years, i have stripped at least once and started over. if you don't like what it is, the only way to fix it is to fix it.
by the way i really dislike Permalyn.
my go to is plain old aqua fortis/blo

I’m solidly in your camp on Permalyn. I tried it on a recommendation, Big Mistake, always used aqua fortis and blo ( TOW’s original oil finish with much better results)
Live and learn. Thanks deerstalker!

 

[Artificer]

Personally, I would NOT use most chemical strippers on the stock unless the Permalyn sealer has plastic in it, which I don't think it does.

Plain old Acetone will strip ANY oil finish with no trouble and it leaves NOTHING behind that you have to worry about neutralizing or cleaning up afterwards. When Acetone evaporates, it is GONE for good. Soak a wad of paper towels with it and remove as much as you can. Then repeat as many times as necessary until the old finish is gone.

I have used Acetone to strip I have forgotten how many dozens of stocks and after trying every stripper on the market for years, I went back to Acetone over a decade ago. Now I use nothing else, unless it is a plastic finish.

Gus

 

[Snooterpup]

Snooterpup - we have all made mistakes worse than that at one time or another, at least I sure have. You certainly can fix it but it will take you a little extra time and effort. I do believe that IF you decide to strip and refinish, I would strip the entire stock and start from "scratch" because it's VERY hard to get a repair in the finish to ever truly match the rest of the stock.

Steve Martin, thanks for reinforcing what needs to be done. I firmly believe stripping the entire stock is the only way to achieve a good result.

 

[Snooterpup]

I would assemble the gun and shoot as it, giving myself time to think about it. Might not be all that noticeable unless looking for it, at least based on the first photograph. As far as making a ‘repair’, my old man always used to say that the first thing you did when you dug yourself a hole, was to stop digging and put the shovel down……. If you find you must make a repair, suggest you duplicate the process that got you to where you are on a scrap piece of similar wood and see how it goes. I agree with the do not sand it crowd, and would use a chemical stripper. Many of the commercial citrus strippers work well, or consider a denatured alcohol and lacquer thinner mix - removes most finishes. Acetone will also remove a lot of finishes.

Me, I would leave as is for at least a while. Adds character. But if I decided to refinish, I would do the entire stock. Multiple finishes never seem to match up in my experience. Good luck, whatever way you decide to go.

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately, that ship has sailed as per the second photo. Now completely stripping and starting over seems the only real choice. Thanks fir the tips on denatured alcohol and lacquer thinner. As I live in the frigid north, in Minnesota, I’ll have to wait until warm weather to do this outside. Bummer!

 

[Snooterpup]

Personally, I would NOT use most chemical strippers on the stock unless the Permalyn sealer has plastic in it, which I don't think it does.

Plain old Acetone will strip ANY oil finish with no trouble and it leaves NOTHING behind that you have to worry about neutralizing or cleaning up afterwards. When Acetone evaporates, it is GONE for good. Soak a wad of paper towels with it and remove as much as you can. Then repeat as many times as necessary until the old finish is gone.

I have used Acetone to strip I have forgotten how many dozens of stocks and after trying every stripper on the market for years, I went back to Acetone over a decade ago. Now I use nothing else, unless it is a plastic finish.

Gus

Thanks Gus! I never really considered acetone but that may be in my future next spring when I can do it outside. Sounds like a great product and I really like that nothing us left behind.

 

[tenngun]

Would you recommend any commercial stripper? Sanding the Permalyn will take forever and there us incised carving I’d hate to loose.

I’ve never used a stripper.

 

[Artificer]

Thanks Gus! I never really considered acetone but that may be in my future next spring when I can do it outside. Sounds like a great product and I really like that nothing us left behind.

You don't have to use it outside as long as there is no open flame nearby. Just get a desk fan to blow across the area you are working on to dispel the fumes, if they bother you.

You are most welcome.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

Thanks Gus! I never really considered acetone but that may be in my future next spring when I can do it outside. Sounds like a great product and I really like that nothing us left behind.

Sorry, I forgot something. For years, I never used chemical resistant gloves with no harm at all from the acetone. However, once I turned 50 or so, the acetone would dry out my already dry skin. So, I use the chemical resistant gloves now just like I do when using stains.

Gus

 

[SDSmlf]

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately, that ship has sailed as per the second photo. Now completely stripping and starting over seems the only real choice. Thanks fir the tips on denatured alcohol and lacquer thinner. As I live in the frigid north, in Minnesota, I’ll have to wait until warm weather to do this outside. Bummer!

Not that big of a deal as long as you don’t have any pilot lights nearby. I would still suggest taking it outside. And the stuff won’t freeze.

 

[tenngun]

I’ve never used a stripper.

No dirty minds here Deerstalkert and nameless hunter