[Aeby07]

Hello Everyone,

I have a CMP special grade M1 garand with a new Boyds walnut stock. I didnt like the stain they put on it so I am in the end stages of refinishing it. I got it stripped all they way down, sanded it, put 2 liberal coats of a 50/50 mix of pure tung oil and mineral spirits, allowing 24 hours in between coats. Since then I have applied 3 coats of 100% PTO (also allowing 24 hours to dry).

The hand guards look amazing and so does the stock, untill you hold it to your face and look down it. My problem is, There is a whitish, felt like appearance in some areas. its like the wood is very slightly furry and you can brush the whiteness away as if you were rubbing a microfiber couch. I tried sanding it out but had no luck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really want to get this thing looking nice.


http://postimg.org/image/ye5hdtj3h/


http://s15.postimg.org/adb6btnrf/IMG_3493.jpg

 

[tflorman]

When you say you sanded it down... how did you do that? What grits? Did you wet sand it with the 50/50 mix?

When I refinished my CMP M1 stock, I first stripped it down to bare wood, then I gave it a good initial sanding using various grits to get the wood smooth. Once that was done, I applied the stain I wanted to use, then once it was dry again, I applied a fairly thick coat of danish oil (not cut with mineral spirits), waited 30 minutes, wiped it down to get the excess off, then repeated that thick coat one more time and wiped it down again. Once the first 2 thicker coats were applied and dry, I scuffed the stock with 0000 steel wool and then I would apply another thick coat, but this time I used a piece of 600 or 800 grit sandpaper and wet sanded to get the oil into all the little pours... let it dry, scuffed it up with steel wool again to dull the finish a tad without removing the finish (this helps the next coat stick), repeated that a few more time until I was satisfied with the resulting finish, then I buffed it to shine after it was no longer tacky. Be sure each of these wet sanding coats are dry before scuffing and doing the next coat.

Lots of folks on this forum have their own techniques and mine was simply an amalgam of various peoples processes and I feel it turned out very well.

 

[oodnoodn]

Are you wiping the unabsorbed PTO off about 30 minutes after each application, then allowing the stock to dry about a day before applying the next coat?

If you don't wipe off the excess oil or allow sufficient drying time between coats you can end up with a hazy, & eventually gummy mess that'll need to be stripped off & redone.

Don't get discouraged. The true linseed oils & tung oils are very forgiving & easy to work with.

 

[Aeby07]

After i stripped it (2 times to be sure), I sanded it with 180 grit, then 320 as to not make it so smooth that the oil would have a hard time absorbing. I applied 2 heavy coats of 50/50. Most if not all was absorbed.

I then roughed it up some with 0000 bronze wool and oiled with PTO. I left it about an hour, hour and a half tops and wiped it down with cheese cloth and left it 24 hours to dry before repeating.

After 2 coats i tried to sand away the haze with the 320 grit and wipe it with tack cloth but it seamed to have little affect, maybe making it worse. I want to avoid more sanding so i dont take away too much wood.

At this point it does not feel gummy at all. the hand guards turned out great and i did the same process to them as the rest of it.

I skipped this mornings 4th coat to give it some more time to dry if that's the problem.

I hope this info give more detail as to what the problem could be.

 

[13Echo]

A grey or white white appearance may be from too much water or stripping chemicals left in the stock trying to escape through the drying oil or too much mineral spirits doing the same. If the surface begins to form a film while the stock is soaked with striping agent, water or oil and spirits it inhibit the evaporation of the mineral spirits or other fluids or chemicals which try to migrate through and partially dissolve and get trapped in the outer film. I had a stock redone by a very competent smith that applied the final finish too soon over the stripped stock resulting in what you describe, only worse.

Jerry Liles

 

[hammonje]

Its not absorbing, just sitting on top and polymerizing. Boyds uses a sealer in their funishing mix. Boyds stocks are tough to finish unless raw.

 

[Aeby07]

That sounds like it might be whats happening. Im in Florida where the humidity is high. I left it for 2 days after stripping it wiping it down with after wash but it may not have been sufficient.

I assume i should strip it down and start over?

How would i get the oil out to get it raw again and start over?

 

[Aeby07]

Anybody?

 

[13Echo]

I suspect you need to gently strip the stock and give it a week to dry and loose all the extra water and mineral spirits. then start over. I tend to dilute BLO with turpentine rather than mineral spirits and use it half and half for cleaning old dirty stocks but I don't dilute when applying for finish. The solvent needs to be able to evaporate. I do not have experience with tung oil.

How I finish a military stock is make certain it is clean and dry. Put on a sloppy coat of BLO and rub it in hard to generate heat then wipe off the excess after an hour. Let it sit until the coat is dry to touch (polymerized). If the stock has whiskered the next sloppy coat is wet sanded with fine paper just enough to remove the whiskers and get a smooth surface, rubbed in and wiped off. Subsequent coats are applied when the stock is dry to touch as thin coats of only a few drops rubbed in hard and allowed to harden and repeated till the stock is where you want it. I tend to maintain with "Gunny paste" or equal parts of beeswax, turpentine and BLO. Apply in a thin coat and rub in hard, next morning buff with a dry cloth. Looks great. I suspect Tung oil can be done the same.

Jerry Liles

 

[Aeby07]

Thanks allot, Im going to try that. Im going to use Minwax furniture re-finisher as opposed to the Klean strip, stripper. Hopefully I have better luck with that. Ill give it the full week dry time too. Thanks again for the help.

 

[13Echo]

You are most welcome. I hope that fixes the problem. This type of finish is GI and won't completely fill pores in the wood or give a glossy finish. I like it much better on these rifles. It just seems more appropriate.

Jerry Liles

 

[Aeby07]

Thats exactly the look I am trying to get. I thought i had it until I noticed the little "hairs" Ive stripped it 3 times with the minwax furniture re-finisher and i like it much better than the other stuff. This isnt gooey or hard to remove. I used 2 coats of after wash also to try and get all contaminants out. However, Im not convinced that the problem is gone.

It seems like the white feltyness might be the whiskers that people talk about. But I tried de whiskering by getting it wet and attempting to cut off the standing hairs with bronze wool and a scotch bright pad. Im stumped, idk if this is what the wood is suppose to look like or what...

Im going to let it dry for a few days now, but I feel like ill have the same result when I start putting the PTO back on....

 

[13Echo]

If it is whiskers from the wood wet sand using linseed oil, not water. Apply the oil and use fine paper backed with a block or hard rubber pad and gently sand to remove the whiskers and get a smooth surface. You could use a Scotch Brite pad but I do not recommend steel or bronze will. Wipe the oil off after sanding and let it "dry".

 

[Aeby07]

After stripping with the minwax and sanding it with 320 grit i left it for 4 or 5 days to dry. I just finished putting on the 2nd new coat of PTO. I wet sanded it in and immediately saw a better result. It was clearly soaking into the wood. 24 hours later i scrubbed it with 0000 bronze wool, rubbed it down with a tack cloth, and repeated. The "feltieness" seems to be fading away and the wood is starting to look really good. Im going to do this 3-4 more times. I hear more is better.

Thank you to everyone who has helped so far. I have implemented your tips and it appears to be working really well. Ill keep you all posted on the progress.

 

[tflorman]

Be sure to post photos when you are done, we luvs our gun porn on this site.

 

[13Echo]

More is not necessarily better. It is possible to get an "oil soaked" stock that is so soaked with oil that it inhibits Oxygen getting to the oil in the wood to cause it to polymerize (dry). Makes for a sticky stock that oozes oil when it gets hot. This is more of a problem with straight linseed oil than with tung or BLO but it can happen. I'd just go with the light coats after two or three heavy ones and let them harden before adding more..

 

[Aeby07]

Im sorry it took a while but here are some pictures. Its been about a week since the final coat. I was debating using Toms wax but i love the way the oil looks, and im after a more USGI look so im going to leave it how it is. Im extremely pleased with how it turned out, this was also my first wood refinishing project and I greatly appreciate everyone's help.