TC Hawken stock finish
- Thread starter JimCunn
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Believe different finishes were used over the years, some tougher than the stuff they use on bowling alleys. You can try steaming, but I’d call dings character and apply a coat of oil or wax and be happy.
In that case I'd do a complete strip and refinish. You're not going to "steam out" dings in a poly finish, as you propose doing.
It will help seal the wood where (if) the poly seal is broken from the dings.
"You're not going to "steam out" dings in a poly finish, as you propose doing".
What you do is remove the finish (poly ?) from the damaged area, tape mask the surrounding area, steam the dent, and do a multilayer crystal clear fill of the remaining dent till it is flush or near flush. Works quite well. It does help a lot though, if you know what the original finish was.
Gouges are more tedious, but can usually be made fairly inconspicuous.
What you do is remove the finish (poly ?) from the damaged area, tape mask the surrounding area, steam the dent, and do a multilayer crystal clear fill of the remaining dent till it is flush or near flush. Works quite well. It does help a lot though, if you know what the original finish was.
Gouges are more tedious, but can usually be made fairly inconspicuous.
IF "you know what the original finish was" otherwise you'll never get it to blend in perfectly, either color or sheen. I'd rather just start over from scratch.
But ... other than wasted time, effort and material, it doesn't hurt anything to try.
I have refinished 3 TCs, I stripped them down first.
Steamed out the dents and filled the pores with walnut sealer.
I finished the wood with Tru-oil applied with a scotch bright pad for a satin finish.
I added a GM drop in barrel;
Steamed out the dents and filled the pores with walnut sealer.
I finished the wood with Tru-oil applied with a scotch bright pad for a satin finish.
I added a GM drop in barrel;
Looks great, Eric.
I'm currently refurbishing a few of my guns, about 10 or 12 out of a couple of dozen, with the intent of giving them to my grandkids. Because I'm not retired, I'm trying not to spend unnecessary time on any one gun, but method used depends upon the gun. Currently, seems like the old Remington Model 11s and an old Belgian Centaure 'clone' of the 1860 Army are taking the most time.
I'll strip and redo the Hawken if needed to achieve an acceptable look. I'm not going for 'like new'.
I'm currently refurbishing a few of my guns, about 10 or 12 out of a couple of dozen, with the intent of giving them to my grandkids. Because I'm not retired, I'm trying not to spend unnecessary time on any one gun, but method used depends upon the gun. Currently, seems like the old Remington Model 11s and an old Belgian Centaure 'clone' of the 1860 Army are taking the most time.
I'll strip and redo the Hawken if needed to achieve an acceptable look. I'm not going for 'like new'.
Ditt44
40 Cal
I made the same mistake a couple years ago loaning my Renegade to a friend of a friend. He managed to climb up and down who knows how many ladder stands with gun in hand, apparently, based on the dings, scratches and maiming. I have been angry for a good two years + about it. The factory finish is early 90s, orange-ish/red and I thought the same thing you did to fix it.
I found Eric's thread (including his pics above) when searching for ideas on how to strip mine. Still haven't tried to do the strip and fix but have all the necessary items to do it. I've finished a few TC Hawken factory rejects with various methods and they've some out pretty nice so I know I can manage it. I'm more nervous about making a mess since it was the first ML I ever owned... the one in my avatar pic, actually.
I found Eric's thread (including his pics above) when searching for ideas on how to strip mine. Still haven't tried to do the strip and fix but have all the necessary items to do it. I've finished a few TC Hawken factory rejects with various methods and they've some out pretty nice so I know I can manage it. I'm more nervous about making a mess since it was the first ML I ever owned... the one in my avatar pic, actually.
All I do to mine is use stripper to clean wood, denatured alcohol to neutralize, iron dents, wet stock to help raise grain, heat, de-wisker, sand and then it will be ready for desired finish. I just like to see the grain is why I start off with thinned true oil for the finish.
I forgot to mention; the stripper is water soluble; I have used Cirtistrip with good results, it has no fumes. The Kleestrip I used in the picture cost half as much as the Citristrip but is very caustic and is outside use only because of the fumes. Both strippers took two applications to strip every nook and cranny of the stock, I used a water hose and soft bristle scrub brush to clean off any remaining stripper, there was no need to neutralize the stock.
I did whisker the stock multiple times during the sanding and sealing process as well as before I applied the Tru-oil. The stock in the picture has 6 coats of Tru-oil on it. I put the finish on thick with small piece of green scotch bright pad and quickly wiped off the excess with a rag. If you want a little more shine, you can put the last coat on with a rag and make it a very light coat with no excess to wipe off.
I did whisker the stock multiple times during the sanding and sealing process as well as before I applied the Tru-oil. The stock in the picture has 6 coats of Tru-oil on it. I put the finish on thick with small piece of green scotch bright pad and quickly wiped off the excess with a rag. If you want a little more shine, you can put the last coat on with a rag and make it a very light coat with no excess to wipe off.
I agree with Eric. You can use a stripper like he has or, what I did was just start sanding with 100 grit and move up to 220 grit.
I then applied a sealer (Birchwood Casey) then True Oil, several coats. It came out nice IMHO
I then applied a sealer (Birchwood Casey) then True Oil, several coats. It came out nice IMHO
