Staining maple reveals major flaw

[ky_man]

Well after sanding my pistol stock down to 400 grit last night, I cleaned it well then proceeded to stain it. When I stained it I found a nice flaw in the wood that I did not see before, even when the wood was wet. It's a curly maple stock with nice figure, but right next to the lock there is a 1" figure flaw that runs from the ramrod channel to the barrel channel, diagonally (I'll try to post pictures later) It looks like an area of wood that decided it didn't want to take the stain, and stands out like a sore thumb.

The only thing I can think to do is to try to file down 1/32" or so of wood from that side, re-sand then refinish that side. I can't go much more than this because the sides are pretty thin now and if I went anymore I'd have to do the other side over as well. Will the stain match if I just do one side? I'm looking for a dark stain and i have the Chambers finish kit.

As always your help is appreciated!

 

[Kentuckywindage]

I had a problem like that on my rifle stock that im working on now. The stain wouldnt soak in and stay, just wipe right off. Rough it up with some 320 grit to open the pours and use a wet paper towel to bring up the wood grain, once thats dry, use your 400 grit and hopefully it will take then. What kind of stain are you using?

 

[ky_man]

Chambers stain (FK) that comes with the kit
[url] http://www.flintlocks.com[/url]

 

[Doc Arroyo]

I cheat, just like Leman. Leave the area, and get everything ready for finish. Mix up a bit of oil paint and touch up the area (areas). let this dry thoroughly, then apply the finish.

Truthfully, I have done a bit of touch-up with Magic Markers and Sharpies!

 

[Roy]

Never ran across that problem unless I have fixed a crack and got careless with the glue. I don't ever sand my stock down to 400 either and still get a great stain and finish. As long as your scratches are all going in the same direction you shouldn't have a problem with courser paper. Like Doc says you can mask it a bit with random paints or markers as long as its not to wide of an streak. :v

 

[howlingwolf]

Typically when you get the stock ready and it wont take stain like you are running into you have run into a pocket of sap. With maple the sap may be light enough that it blends with the stock enough to not be noticable until you aply the stain. You can try going under the pocket my takeing it down 1/16 just not more than that. I couldn't tell you for sure if this is definatly your problem without seeing pictures or the stock but I believe this could be your issue. If it is sap...sap will not stain. I would try roughing it up with 320 grit as has been suggested then try to go down further. There's no telling where in the sap pocket you may be. The begining or the tail end. Try to stay away from the magic markers or sharpie solution that was mentioned to you earlier. Its a bad idea if you have a nice piece of curly maple. It simply won't look right. If you had a very plain piece of walnut maybe, but not curly maple. Try what I have suggested. I do stocks for a living.

 

[renovato]

If it's a sap pocket, maybe it could be dissolved with something. Degreaser or detergent perhaps? At least deep enough to allow the surface to accept the stain. I've ran into that in the past also and never knew what to try.

 

[Zonie]

IMO, there is a good chance that your sanding the wood with 400 weight paper is the problem.

Folks seem to think that getting a super smooth surface before they stain the wood will make the gun look better when it's finished however IMO, this is not the case. (Even if the surface was absolutely smooth, the stain will tend to roughen it up a bit.)

The superfine papers, when used before staining actually end up compressing the wood fibers more than actually removing any wood.
This tends to close up the surface making it difficult for the stains to penetrate.

If someone were to ask me what weight they should stop at I would say 220. Anything finer is just wasted effort and can cause problems like your seeing.

Looking at this another way, wood is made out of long fibers and there are tiny open areas randomly located between these fibers.
Trying to finish the woods surface smoother than these fibers just plugs things up.

The time to use the super fine papers is to remove the high spots in the finish between coats assuming you are using a finish that hardens.
If your using a finish that really doesn't harden like linseed, the use of super fine paper is another waste of time.
zonie

 

[Mike Brooks]

Zonie is spot on of course. :bow:

 

[howlingwolf]

I wish that were true. You would leave a void behind though. You would have to sand down the whole surface.

 

[ky_man]

Well, I tried my best, and sanding/filing/carving it didn't help. SO I went ahead and finished it anyways. This is my first pistol (but definintly not the last!), so I'll just chalk it up to experience and move on. I attached a couple shots of the back and side of the gun for your enjoyment, the lock side ain't nearly so pretty. After this coat of oil finish dries, I'll take a pic of the lock side.

 

[howlingwolf]

Great attitude. Don't make it your last, you have done a fine job with what you had. Shows character.

 

[captgary]

Looks mighty fine, personally I like a few flaws, it gives the gun character so it dosent have that assembly line look.. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

by the way how can one work on a bench that doesnt have any clutter :rotf: