Staining a stock repair

[Onojutta]

I had to glue on a flat to repair a forestock that was damaged, using Elmers Max and PC Woody. The repair turned out great; I was able to cut a thin sliver of wood and glue it on the barrel flat. You wouldn't know it was there- until I add stain. I've tried several different stains, including Laurel Mountain Forge, ZAR, shellac, etc. but I am unable to keep the glue line from showing through the stains. Zar does the best, but it still shows through. Is this something that will have to be lived with, or are there any secrets to disguising this?

What's strange is that when I tried this on a scrap piece of wood, the stains (Zar in particular) covered up the epoxy just fine.

 

[schloss]

Hard to really tell from the pic, but it looks like you have a thick glue line. I don't think you'll get it covered up if that's the case. Maybe it's something else going on. what are your thoughts on the glue line?

 

[Onojutta]

Hard to really tell from the pic, but it looks like you have a thick glue line. I don't think you'll get it covered up if that's the case. Maybe it's something else going on. what are your thoughts on the glue line?

There was one or two short areas where the glue line had a tiny gap, and that's where I filled with PC Woody, then sanded smooth. For at least 80% of the repair, there is no visible line. I put some of the PC Woody on a scrap piece of maple, then stained it. The PC Woody matched perfectly to the wood after staining, so I'm not sure what happened here.

Another possible factor is, I stained the repair pieces and the top of the forestock flat BEFORE gluing, because I was afraid that the opposite would happen- glue would prevent stain from getting in and end up with a light line. So maybe its possible that the glue somehow made the stain very concentrated and that's what is showing through. :hmm:

This isn't a very figured piece of maple and doesn't have much chatoyancy, so I would be content with a very dark stain that would cover this line. Maybe someone can recommend a good looking dark stain...

 

[Shifty]

How about shoe Dye not stain I have used it on a few Bows amd Guns and sometimes it really hides the glue,maybe try it on some scraps.Just a tip though when you apply the finnish over the Dye don't rub the first coat on the Dye just dab it on in that area let dry(I use Tru-Oil&BLO 50-50 mix) then steel wool lightly ,then apply your finnish.I have had some pretty good results while using this method,but I know that others here may have a better idea.I have a well i will call it a Tenn pistol that i glued the stock together it was in two pieces and now I can't even find where the repair was.

 

[don hepler]

I would be inclined to make a decorative line down the stock on both sides of the rifle. You could finish it out with a curve, and it would help hide the repair and look like it was part of the design.

 

[dlgraley]

I stain the wood before gluing. I also add pigment to the epoxy.

 

[Dane]

Epoxy is plastic. It doesn't stain. Even if you color it, it's still a thick line of plastic.
Wood glue, pre stained will be much thinner line.
You can hide a glue line, as long as it's pre stained, and not so thick.
Unfortunately, it's too late now.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Epoxy is plastic. It doesn't stain. Even if you color it, it's still a thick line of plastic.
Wood glue, pre stained will be much thinner line.
You can hide a glue line, as long as it's pre stained, and not so thick.
Unfortunately, it's too late now.

+1

Can't stain epoxy, done deal unless you re-work your repair.

 

[galamb]

You can colour epoxy "before" it cures.

I work on wooden boats so have gallons of marine epoxy around (EAST and WEST system stuff).

I also use it to fix "boo boo's" on my rifles when building.

I have done numerous "non-scientific" tests with the epoxy in the mixing stage. Contrary to most epoxy companies Q&A pages I have found that you can use water based OR oil based stains and effectively colour the epoxy. I have also added powdered Aniline dyes and Rit (material dyes - although they tend to look "grainy") right at the point where I combine the resin with the hardener.

It is tough to control exactly what colour you get when it cures, but with some horsing around you can get it close enough that sometimes, even when you know were the repair is, it isn't even obvious to you.

That doesn't help the OP "after the fact", but something for future consideration.

 

[Onojutta]

The PC Woody I used is "stainable" and the trial piece I did on a scrap came out good. However, I only used the epoxy to fill in a few .0001" gaps, most that got sanded off. The actual joint was elmers max wood glue. The dark line seems to extend beyond the epoxy. In fact, The problem I am having is the opposite of epoxy not taking stain; it seems that the stain is concentrating in the joint and showing up too dark. But, I guess that's neither here nor there at this point as it will not sand out.

Does anybody know of any good dark stains that look nice on a rifle? I'd be happy with a dark stain that would make this much less noticeable. Unfortunately, the LMF Lancaster Maple that I wanted to use seems to bring the line out more than the Zar that I tried, but I haven't found a Zar color that looks right.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Absolutely you can, I've done it many of times. However once cured and NOT colored, your only option is again to re-work the repair area. :hatsoff:

 

[dlgraley]

For small repairs I have used epoxy with dry pigments mixed in to come close to the color of the stain on the wood. Only I know it's there.