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Old 05-29-2020, 05:17 PM
TTSH TTSH is offline
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Default Minor wood stocks touch-up?

There are some great threads here on the complete refinishing of S&W revolver wood stocks from the various eras. My question is similar, but much different in scale.

Having the personality disorder known as OCPD, I'm wondering if there are easier shortcut methods for touching up minor chips, dings and scratches that occur short of a full refinishing job, mostly in 1970's and later goncalo alves stocks that feature a polyurethane gloss or semi-gloss finish?

Would spot application of Tru-Oil be the best approach for that? Or is there a better solution short of a full refinishing?

Thanks!
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Old 05-29-2020, 06:20 PM
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Neversink n Klapperthal Neversink n Klapperthal is offline
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If the wood is chipped,I lightly sand it smooth in the immediate area of the chip. Tru oil may match perfectly,or you may have to experiment with urethane. Ita a pretty easy fix
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Old 05-29-2020, 07:23 PM
sonora sonora is offline
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Are we talking honest wear? If so leave it alone over time it will disappear into the patina. A mint safe queen makes me nervous.
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Old 05-29-2020, 08:24 PM
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Are we talking honest wear?
No, I'm talking more about minor incidental damage, not wear. In the past, I've bought some really worn S&W target stocks with the intent of fully restoring & refinishing them, but it seems I never get around to it. So I stopped doing that and only buy used stocks that are in relatively good condition. But that said, few are really perfect and I like perfect (or as close to it as I can get).

Hence my interest in making an already nice set of stocks with some minor dings or scratches look even better.
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Old 05-29-2020, 08:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Neversink n Klapperthal View Post
If the wood is chipped,I lightly sand it smooth in the immediate area of the chip. Tru oil may match perfectly,or you may have to experiment with urethane. It's a a pretty easy fix
I have some Tru-Oil around here somewhere... bought it years ago. I'll give it a try on a set of stocks I just recently bought and see how it goes.

Urethane? I'd probably screw it up.
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Old 05-29-2020, 10:24 PM
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I have some Tru-Oil around here somewhere... bought it years ago. I'll give it a try on a set of stocks I just recently bought and see how it goes.

Urethane? I'd probably screw it up.
Grips from the 70's was an oil varnish formula, S&W went to the polyurethane formula in the 80's.

For touch up work, thin out the Tru-oil, I use a minimum 50/50 mix of Tru-oil and thinner. For the checkered area, I use an even thinner mixture, almost like water, and apply it sparsely with a tooth brush. This is how you avoid getting that "filled in" look that many self refinished grips have in the checkering.

It's easier to blend in/regulate the amount of finish applied using the thinned out Tru-oil, than un-thinned.

Nothing looks worse than having a "blob" of finish higher than the surround original finish.
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Old 05-29-2020, 10:26 PM
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Boiled Linseed Oil

Great for just a small nick and can be applied with a paper towel.
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Old 05-29-2020, 10:58 PM
Igiveup Igiveup is offline
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I have used tung oil.
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Old 05-30-2020, 09:03 AM
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Grips from the 70's was an oil varnish formula, S&W went to the polyurethane formula in the 80's.

For touch up work, thin out the Tru-oil, I use a minimum 50/50 mix of Tru-oil and thinner. For the checkered area, I use an even thinner mixture, almost like water, and apply it sparsely with a tooth brush. This is how you avoid getting that "filled in" look that many self refinished grips have in the checkering.

It's easier to blend in/regulate the amount of finish applied using the thinned out Tru-oil, than un-thinned.

Nothing looks worse than having a "blob" of finish higher than the surround original finish.
Thank you for those tips. Not having any wood finishing or refinishing experience at all, I guess the part that I don't understand is how finishing products can be mixed and still give a good result. For example, if I'm dealing with a stock that was originally finished with polyurethane, how is it that a non-polyurethane product such as Tru-Oil doesn't show up differently in terms of color or sheen? How does it manage to blend so well?

And while I ask that, the idea of using polyurethane for just a very minor touch-up scares the heck out of me. I fear I could make things worse, not better.

I probably should just take out some of my lesser condition stocks and go at it... i.e., do some experimenting.
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Old 05-30-2020, 09:06 AM
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Boiled Linseed Oil

Great for just a small nick and can be applied with a paper towel.
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Originally Posted by Igiveup View Post
I have used tung oil.
Thank you gentlemen. Once again, I think most of these glossy target stocks I'm finding are later generation and probably polyurethane finished. I understand these two products (above) work very well on the older grips, especially for a full refinishing? But would you (or have you) used them for minor touch-ups on polyurethane-finished grips?
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Old 05-30-2020, 10:10 AM
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I have had some smooth target stocks laying around for some time. They had about a square inch or so worn spot on the left side. As I thought they were Rosewood, I did not know what to do with them. I had tried to refinish some Rosewood many, oh so many years ago, and the finish I applied would never dry!
During the lockdown, I decided to try to put some Tru-oil on them to see if it would dry, and if it didn't work out, I would start over and strip them and try something else. Well, when I started, it seemed reasonable to apply it all over to both sides. Wow! They really turned out perfectly, and I eventually applied three coats. So, give it a whirl, not much to lose!
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Old 05-30-2020, 05:23 PM
2152hq 2152hq is offline
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For fixing up small areas of damage to the finish itself, not necessarily wood damage, but scrapes and chips in the original applied finish,,,one of the most easily applied and most forgiving finishes to work with is common Shellac.

It will adhere to and dry on most any other finish. It drys very fast and is easy to work when dry and by that I mean sanding it down if necessary to level it to the original surface.
It cuts easily as it is reletively soft (compared to space age poly finishes) so you can work it over with common sanding papers in fine grits. Then 0000 steel wool or even scotchbrite type pads work well to blend the surface to match whatever is there surrounding it.

Since it's an alcohol based varnish (a Spirit Varnish in true name), applying a coat over a dryed coating does NOT require sanding or roughening up the prior coating. The newly applied coating will disolve slightly and melt into any coating of the same already there.

I like to put a few coats of Boiled Linseed over the top of the finished project when done. Just a dot or two on the wood will be more than enough to rub out and cover the entire stock of a rifle. Let the stuff dry for a few days.
I use an 'Artist' Linseed oil,,seems to have more dryers in it than the big can from the hardware store. It actually does dry hard. BUt the real secret to using the stuff if there is one is to use so much less of it than you'd ever think would be needed and then let it dry.

Back to Shellac,,It does have a shelf life. Most say about 6mo from mix date and after that dry become longer.
I don't know, i've used some pretty old stuff and it still worked ok, but get the freshest you can.
I mix my own and date mark the jar it's in. The stuff I'm using now is from 11/18 and works fine. So take that for what it's worth.
I never mix up very much at all any way at one time.

Most store bought stuff is dated with a mix date. Try and buy the smallest container you can use and the newest Mix Date.
You can mix your own if you buy Shellac Flakes,,dry thin flakes of shellac in a plastic container. They last forever, I have some I bought 15 or more yrs ago and still mix from that lot.
Just pour a 1/2inch or so of alcohol iinto a tight sealing jar,,add a few tbs of the flakes and let it stand for a day or so to disolve. Shake it around a bit after that and it's ready to use. Add more alchohol if you want it thinner. Decant some out and add a bit of any alcohol bases dye (leather dye, Laurel Mtn stock stain, ect) to it to color it when using. I use pill bottles to make up small amts of the dyed/colored stuff for use. We all probably have a bunch of empty pill bottles around.

Shellac comes in natural or Orange color. I use that the most. Actually a light amber color, just right for most any gun stock work.
Most furniture finishing shellac is 'White Shellac'. Same thing as above. It's just bleached during mfg to remove the natural color.

Many late 19th century and 20thcentury firearms stocks were commercially finished with Shellac.

There are better finishes for an over all protective and tough coating.
But for touch up and objects that might get less than combat usage, shellac can be a great finishing product especially for someone to start out with and gain some wood finishing experience.

Alcohol cleanup of course,,but also plain household ammonia cleaner will clean up shellac . It's a cheap brush cleaner if you do use some brushes to shellac something.
On gunstocks I always just apply with a small pad of folded cotton material.
...Don't clean your Shellac finished pistol grips w/' Mr Clean w/Ammonia'.
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Old 05-30-2020, 05:51 PM
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For fixing up small areas of damage to the finish itself, not necessarily wood damage, but scrapes and chips in the original applied finish,,,one of the most easily applied and most forgiving finishes to work with is common Shellac.
Very interesting. Thank you for taking the time to explain that in detail.

The fact is that most of the minor flaws I'm talking about addressing are, indeed, in the surface coating (whatever it is) and not in the wood itself. For those stocks where we are taking actual wood damage, I will usually pass on them as I just don't have the time to attempt a proper repair job... and even then, I'd probably not be satisfied with the end result.

I'll keep your suggestion in mind as I go forward with my experimentation.
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Old 06-14-2020, 08:47 PM
oldiegoldie oldiegoldie is offline
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not for touch up, but for a full finish job.....Dale Goens introduced me to Lin-Speed oil. this is what he used for finishing stocks and if you've ever seen his stocks you'll be a Lin-Speed convert. as an aside, he built me a checkering cradle that i still have. haven't used it in 25 years. he checkered with hand tools, not the electric checkering device.
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