Stock Refinish...Stain Question

[MikeC]

Refinishing a maple flint longrifle that was originally stained with Aqua Fortis and rubbed with BLO. The stock has allot of curl but aged to a dull brown/green color that now hides the curl.

I stripped the old finish down to the wood and went over the stock first with 220 paper then some really fine stuff, washed with water and now it's ready to be refinished. My question is what color LMF stain should I apply to help the curl pop a little and bring back a nice color. I plan to finish it with about 7 or 8 coats of Formby's Satin Tung Oil Finish, then a coat of Butchers Amber Paste Wax.

Thanks in advance...Mike

 

[Capt. Fred]

When you say really fine, how fine do you mean? Sometimes you can go too smooth and it won't accept the stain properly. Also, after you wet it did you whisker it? ( lightly sand off the little whiskers that rise up)

 

[MikeC]

Fred...It was fine but not enough to seal the grain so stain won't take. I wiskered with some steel wool. Was looking for some feedback with regard to a stain that will bring some life back to the wood.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Mike: I put a thin wipe of cherry stain, diluted on maple stocks, and then after the stain dries, I sand off the stain from all but the coarse grain, where it sticks. Then, whatever color stain or finish I use, the slight red stain in the coarse grain helps the grain stand out(pop) through the oil finish, and other stain.

I am going to assume that you want the finish to be as dark as the original AF finish was before it turned green, no?

Then, use a walnut finish on the maple- sanding, or steel wooling, it back if it looks too dark, until you get the right tone of color you desire. Then rub in the tung oil.

Understand that any oil finish, including Tung oil, is going to darken and YELLOW a bit with age and exposure to UV light. So, you might want the stain to be a bit lighter than the final color will be after you put the oil finish on the stock.

If you don't have any whiskers sticking up, I think the stock is ready to stain and finish. Always be prepared to use a SCRAPER to remove whiskers that rise from any staining work. The Scraper will remove the whiskers without leaving bits of steel wool in the coarse grain of the wood. That is why using a scraper for this process is recommended over using Steel Wool. I also found that you can lightly remove the whiskers without removing any stain.

Move the scraper against the grain of the stock to remove those whiskers. If you scrape WITH the grain, you will take off wood, and stained wood, having then to do it all over again! Yikes!( Please don't ask me how I know this is true!!) :shake: :shocked2: :rotf: :hatsoff:

 

[MikeC]

Thanks Paul. I'll give the cherry a try since I have some...Mike

 

[Zonie]

MikeC:
I'm not picking on you but for the others that might read this post I feel I must say:

BEFORE STAINING, DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL ON YOUR RAW WOOD .
There. I feel better.
Well, almost better. I think I'll add:
DO NOT USE SANDPAPER FINER THAN 220 GRIT BEFORE STAINING YOUR WOOD.

Now I feel better. :thumbsup:

The reason for the steel wool statement is that steel wool will leave small bits of itself on and in the wood.
As soon as these are hit with Aqua-Fortis or any stain that contains any water at all they will rust and cause freckles or spots.
If that happens, the only answer is to resand the stock, this time NOT using steel wool.

Using steel wool or very fine grit sandpaper to get the stock smooth as a babys butt will also close the pores in the wood and prevent the stains from being absorbed.

 

[MikeC]

Zonie...Gotcha...I'll hit it with some 220 before staining. :thumbsup: