Staining TC Hawken stock

[skoda]

The Plum Brown actually is quite good. I too have some 40 year plus guns that still look great. I wanted a really strong, antique looking brown rather than a thin brown version of a normal blue so I applied the solution with a small piece of cloth and let it sit for an hour or so and then went back and applied it again, let it sit over night and applied a third time letting it sit for a few hours then rinsing, drying, and oiling. This also hides any uneveness by being rough.

 

[kansas_volunteer]

Original Hawkens mostly had blued barrels, barrel rib, and thimbles. The rest was case hardened. There's plenty of info online if you want to study it.

The T/C Hawken, despite its name, is not styled after any actual Hawken, instead it purely a late Ohio style gun. An Ohio rifle barrel and steel parts could have been finished either blue or brown, or bright white. So, just about any way you chose to finish the steel will be authentic.

 

[Crawfish]

It’s coming along. I have four thin coats rubbed in over the sealer. Starting to look very nice to my eyes. I was thinking a few more-how many do you guys put on a stock, in general. Grain is not yet fully filled, but doubt that’s necessary.

 

[Idaho Ron]

Wet sanding will fill pours and make it look really nice.

 

[Crawfish]

Getting to my last coats of finish. This makes 6. Stock has a nice looking surface.
i prefer a satin finish. Any recommendations? I have read of Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen, also rotten stone, or possibly 0000 steel wool. Curious as to what you all prefer.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Gray Scotch bright works well for me and no steel fibers to deal with.

 

[Crawfish]

I had not thought of that! Thanks!,

 

[Crawfish]

I am finally on the home stretch! All the parts are finished or polished, and I am beginning to assemble the rifle.
LMF Sealer and Stock Finish was used throughout. As recommended, my final coat was the LMF sealer, applied very thin, and left alone for several days to thoroughly dry. Then I used BC Stock Sheen to get more of a satin finish, and cut the gloss.
interestingly, as this has dried, the very dark color I saw originally on the stock has lightened quite a bit! This surprised me.
I may use the stock sheen a bit more, but so far, I’m basically happy with the results.

 

[Crawfish]

I have put on 8 thin coats of the Permalyn finish. it looks nice, but the pores in the walnut are not even close to being filled. I have always used tru oil in the past and it did a great job On several stock refinish jobs. Anyone have any knowledge on how Tru Oil works over Permalyn finish?

 

[Crawfish]

The stock turned out very nicely. Made a few mistakes, but they are small, and hard to see.
thank you all for the information!

 

[Whitworth]

Nice color, I like it.

 

[oldwood]

Have used alcohol based stains on 'bout 140+ rifles. It's the only type stain that's controllable , repairable , and reversible. With alcohol stains ,certain American woods can be made to look like French walnut , or English walnut . Tried all the acid ,and base stains several years and in frustration finally got the hang of using alcohol stains. Using a heat gun on the alcohol stains when applied , speeds up the staining process,and dewhiskering is an immediate benefit between stain coats. A jager rifle came back to me brokenin half from a guy falling on ice. The brake fit together so well , I elected putting the pieces back w/o making a new stock. The gun was originally alcohol base stained , minor alcohol restaining quickly restored the finish so well , the break was invisible . ................oldwood

 

[JeffG]

You did a really nice job on that rifle, way to go!

 

[Greg Blackburn]

Stain??
I have a T/C Seneca and the factory finish was some sort of Poly that was sprayed on. The finish had an yellowish orange look to it which I never really liked. I had Frontier refinish the stock which turned out to be what they call "flame walnut or curly walnut". You would never know what beauty was beneath that factory finish just looking at it. Frontier did a beautiful job with no staining involved. I guess my point is why use a walnut stain when the wood is already walnut? Just a thought.View attachment 52102View attachment 52103View attachment 52103View attachment 52104

Who or what is this "Frontier?" I would like to hire that person/company to refinish a stock for me!

 

[COTNTOP]

Best way to fill all the pores using permalyn is use fine grit foam sanding block and sand using the permalyn as a lube. You can feel the stock slicken up. I bought a fine sanding block and cut strips, just dip corner of block in permalyn and lightly sand, don't take very much effort after you have several coats. Minwax makes a good wax to help keep stock looking good.

 

[nkbj]

Good thread.
Some factory finishes need to go away around here and some wood that needs to be thinned down too.
By the way, some of the alcohol based stains supplied over the years on replica muskets have been atrocious, rubbing down with lots of old rags and alcohol being just a must do!

A refinish project looking forwards to doing is a Traditions Shenandoah. The glue used by the manufacturer to affix the brass ornamentation precludes using a stripping product to remove the urethane coating from the stock. Some areas of the wood could use a little reshaping any way... scraping and sanding will be the way to go. Eh, unless I go completely off the deep end, break it all completely down, brown the barrel, remove the ornamentation, patina the brass... which reminds me to order the ferric nitrate and ferric chloride for a brass frame revolver. Been a while so will have to disassemble the rifle and again familiarize myself with the quirks of how it was built.

 

[Grenadier1758]

My T/C Hawken has the walnut stock. I could see no benefit in using stain as Tung oil darkened the wood and brought out the grain.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Thank you all! I already swabbed the Red Colonial into the barrel recess, look fine, but I don’t know! I’ll take your advice and do the underside of the buttplate, as it is the fine, walnut looking part of the Gun. That may tell the tale!,

Inside of buttplate can be a confusing result. End grains stain much differently than the rest of the rifle. Inside of barrel channel best place to experiment.

 

[flashpoint]

The stock turned out very nicely. Made a few mistakes, but they are small, and hard to see.
thank you all for the information!

You definitely should be proud of what you did. Looks great.

 

[flashpoint]

Have used alcohol based stains on 'bout 140+ rifles. It's the only type stain that's controllable , repairable , and reversible. With alcohol stains ,certain American woods can be made to look like French walnut , or English walnut . Tried all the acid ,and base stains several years and in frustration finally got the hang of using alcohol stains. Using a heat gun on the alcohol stains when applied , speeds up the staining process,and dewhiskering is an immediate benefit between stain coats. A jager rifle came back to me brokenin half from a guy falling on ice. The brake fit together so well , I elected putting the pieces back w/o making a new stock. The gun was originally alcohol base stained , minor alcohol restaining quickly restored the finish so well , the break was invisible . ................oldwood

Oldwood, before you put the first coat of stain on, did you have to put a sealer on first so it didn't get blotchy? I am wanting to stain the hickory handle of my Hawk. Thank you.