I messed up my Garand stock.... (Restoration)

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Well, kind of.

I had intended to clean the stock just to smarten it up as it was a little dirty.

I saw somewhere (as part of a full stock refurb series) that you can use a water based de-greaser to just clean the wood, without hitting the paint stripper. So, in the states, something like Krud Kutter.

I figured that i wasn't going to do a refinish and this would be perfect.

So sprayed down with watered down degreaser, brushed with a soft-ish nylon brush and the finish came up nicely, a little cleaner, a little lighter, perfect.
I sat the main stock aside to dry in the sun as worked on the handguard, but when i turned around again to lay the handguard down to dry, i got the shocking sight of what looked more like driftwood than the stock i just laid there a few minutes ago.



Not exactly what i had in mind, obviously those pics are from when they had completely dried, i had run inside panicking, looking to see if i needed to nourish the wood with something after washing.
Anyway, i learned a lot about stocks, their finish and what they're finished with, which kind of explained it all.....

I have gotten a little further with this now and i will be posting pics to this thread as i progress.

More pics to come tonight, but after this stage, i bought come Citri-Strip (safe paint stripper) and some Raw Linseed oil (not boiled or filtered, the raw was used originally and gave that reddish patina over time)

Read More

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Nitric acid CAN give you a reddish color on the stock.
I use this a lot on antique muzzle loaders.
Might try a little bit on the under side of the stock.
Deep in the barrel channel works ...
Wood is wood and dosen't always react the same so be careful.
Andy

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

My plan is to just allow the oxidisation of the fatty acids in the raw LSO to take place, hopefully the finish will be pretty nice before that happens.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Sounds like a good plan.
When I first saw your reply , I thought it read "raw LSD to take place". Far Out Man LOL!
Andy

 

[Medic!]

No problem. That's how it should look.
Mine are kind of grey, or almost bone white when I pull them out of the dish washer.


Make sure all chemicals are washed out of the wood. And the wood is dry! Knock down any raised grain in the wood with 400 grit.

Mix some burgundy stain into your walnut stain to get that aged oil red tint. And stain her up.
When the stain is dry. Hit it with BLO.

I wipe on a thick coat of BLO and let it soak for 30 minutes. Wipe off excess and dry a day.
Make sure it's dry. Then repeat over and over until she has that soft even glow.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Asking those who know, what tool for application of the oil? Soaked rag, sponge brush or hands?
This is for Linseed oil.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I usually just hand rub while wearing gloves.
( The oil on the stock that is , get your mind out of the gutter LOL)
Andy

 

[Mark W.]

I use a small piece of terry cloth folded a couple times so it holds more oil.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I always use a flannel patch to rub the oil in with! Steel wool will leave residue, but helps between coats to remove any fuzz or other blemishes.

 

[MountainBear]

Cheesecloth or my bare hand. Cleaning any oil finish off the hand afterword can be a booger, but I like to be able to feel the stock heating up and feel any imperfections I might have missed.

I would start with straight oil and if you aren't happy with the results, you can back it off and stain it. If you stain it first and aren't happy, it will take more to remove.

Good tuition project.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Here are a couple of close ups after the first degreasing, seems that some ~70 year old tree sap is still present...

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Here's what the colour looked like before, i don't have pics of the rest of it before stripping.....

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

I had long ago removed any remaining Cosmoline from the stock, but i noticed a couple of areas had gone dark and shiny after lying out in the sun, these needed degreasing again.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

I then got the Citri-Strip, after thinking about it, i guessed the dark spots (not the Cosmoline ones) were old dents that had more oil still in them.



This is after the first coat and maybe 45 minutes, the wood already looks lighter under the gel.

A second coat, thicker this time, and another 45 minutes, seemed to do the trick.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Its looking good.
Just go slow.
Andy

 

[Ura-Ki]

Try denatured alcohol on a rag or steel wool ( wearing rubber gloves ) to try and pull more of the old stuff out of the wood!

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

When i was rinsing it off with water, i noticed oil-slick-like areas in a few places, and needed to degrease it again, fully rinsed off and dried, looked like this now, much cleaner.

 

[Oryguner]

I've given a mess of nasty ole Garand stocks the dishwasher treatment with no ill effects. Gets all the dirt out and raises the dents. A little light sanding after drying and it's ready for MinWax #225 Red Mahogany to give the walnut the desirable tint. I use 100% Tung oil for the final finish. Thin the first coat with mineral spirits to really let it soak in then 3 to 5 thin applications in the days to follow.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

So here we are up to date as of last night, the pre-hung parts after some minimal sanding with 600 grit, and then the resultant first over-light stain.



I said over-light because I did make the mistake of putting the first coat on right before bed, tired, and read sparingly, instead of generously, as for how much to apply.
Meant it dried before i was done..... Anyway, tonight will be back to normal again

The first coat was mixed (50/50 with thinners), used shop cloth (the blue stuff) just as it was handy, but it was awkward trying to get inside the stock.

I'll try and see if we have a cotton rag (clean) that i can use, or just my fingers for tonight's attack.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

If you are looking for a USGI finish the CMP has an excellent article on what the original finishes were and how to clean and restore the stock.

Wood Cleaning Article - Civilian Marksmanship Program