N Frame Diamond Magna Refresh

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TF82

TF82

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I’ve posted a lot of pictures of my 27 so some may know that it came to me with smooth presentation grips. I think they are a bit big for me and I kind of wanted it to be more period correct so I ended up grabbing some diamond magnas and a T-grip from eBay. The magnas were in okay condition but needed a clean up. I didn’t want to deal with any of the scratches or anything but I did want to clean up the brass and make the wood look a little bit nicer.

I did some research but didn’t really see any before/after pics so I felt like I was flying a little bit blind. I figured I would post a thread in case some other newb like me is wondering what happens when you use this method.

Here is the before from the seller and a pic on my revolver (I had already used oil soap on them by then):
IMG_9778.webpIMG_9779.webpIMG_9780.webpIMG_9781.webpIMG_9782.webpIMG_9787.webp
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Not bad, but needed a little clean up, especially on the metal. I used flitz on the escutcheons and lightly on the emblems and on the screw. Then I cleaned them with Murphy’s Oil Soap a few times. The last time I rinsed them with water and it was apparent that pretty much all of the original finish was gone.

I let them dry and then proceeded to apply Watch danish oil. I applied with a small paint brush and then wiped the excess off with a cloth leaving about an hour in between coats (the can said 15 minutes). I probably did 10 coats or so like that until I put a couple of light coats on without rubbing in between, but for those I skipped applying it to the checkering. They ended up with a sheen but not glossy like the presentation grips. Finally, I threw on a coat of Renaissance wax and buffed.

Here is the finished product. Not necessarily amazing, but more what I was hoping for in the grips. And definitely a huge improvement for the metal parts. IMG_9801.webpIMG_9811.webpIMG_9812.webpIMG_9813.webpIMG_9815.webpIMG_9806.webp
 
Big improvement...I spent the weekend separating, categorizing and bagging my lumber yard...I actually thought I had more, but I wound up with 217 pairs...Now I need to take them out again and try to improve their appearance...I doubt I'll put in the effort you did on your Magnas, but I hope to smooth out a few dull spots...It'll at least give me something to do this summer...I'm also glad now I bought the stack of roller boxes below at the pawn shop when I saw it :giggle: ...Ben

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Truckman said:
Big improvement...I spent the weekend separating, categorizing and bagging my lumber yard...I actually thought I had more, but I wound up with 217 pairs...Now I need to take them out again and try to improve their appearance...I doubt I'll put in the effort you did on your Magnas, but I hope to smooth out a few dull spots...It'll at least give me something to do this summer...I'm also glad now I bought the stack of roller boxes below at the pawn shop when I saw it :giggle: ...Ben

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Wow
 
Truckman said:
Big improvement...I spent the weekend separating, categorizing and bagging my lumber yard...I actually thought I had more, but I wound up with 217 pairs...Now I need to take them out again and try to improve their appearance...I doubt I'll put in the effort you did on your Magnas, but I hope to smooth out a few dull spots...It'll at least give me something to do this summer...I'm also glad now I bought the stack of roller boxes below at the pawn shop when I saw it :giggle: ...Ben

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Wowee!!! I thought I was bad - I only have one bin worth.
 
Truckman said:
Well, you guys keep buying up all the good guns before I can get to them, so I'm left to picking up the odd scrap of wood wherever I can... ;) ...Ben
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Don’t blame me! I have three measly revolvers.

A certain other poster in this thread… well, let’s just say I perused his wears on gunbroker before I settled on this 27 and they were a little too nice for this poor civil servant. Very nice.
 
TF82 said:
Don’t blame me! I have three measly revolvers.
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I didn't intend to hijack your thread...I did make note of your refresh method, and I'd like to hear about any other methods to improve the appearance of stocks as they appear in the OP...I'm always learning... :giggle: ...Ben
 
No worries about any thread drift. When I try things like this that I’ve researched I like to see pics of how it will come out so I was just posting in case the next guy was wondering the same thing.
 
Just curious why you didn’t sand out the nicks/scratches at bottom as long as you had to apply oil.
 
Bald1 said:
Just curious why you didn’t sand out the nicks/scratches at bottom as long as you had to apply oil.
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Two reasons. First, the gun has wear on it, so I don’t want the grips to be out of line with that.

Second, and more importantly, knowing myself, I probably would have gotten carried away and ruined them.
 
Your grips look great. But I had to laugh when I saw how spellchecker butchered your finish oil: as we all know, it's Watco Danish Oil.

Years ago, we ordered some vintage heart pine flooring from a good ol' boy in rural N.C. (Yes, the customer wanted it shipped cross country all the way up here to Washington state). When I asked him what finish to use, it came out "wako ol." Took me five tries to figure it out.

Now I know what to do with the leftovers!
 
Son of a..., eh, I'm going to leave it for the lulz.

To tell you the truth, I'm thinking of trying to take some of the sheen down now. And that's why I didn't touch them with and sandpaper, because I'm not that good at leaving stuff alone.
 
Acetone is your friend for cleaning and removing finish and oils. It is not friendly though so read up. Brownells cold blue can remove discoloration and lighten the wood.
 
Thanks. I knew that about acetone but decided to start with a less aggressive approach, especially once I washed them and saw barely any finish.

For my own purposes I’m not looking to lighten the appearance at all. I prefer a darker look.
 
Truckman said:
Big improvement...I spent the weekend separating, categorizing and bagging my lumber yard...I actually thought I had more, but I wound up with 217 pairs...Now I need to take them out again and try to improve their appearance...I doubt I'll put in the effort you did on your Magnas, but I hope to smooth out a few dull spots...It'll at least give me something to do this summer...I'm also glad now I bought the stack of roller boxes below at the pawn shop when I saw it :giggle: ...Ben

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I estimate $30,000 in grips. Damn!!!
 
Truckman said:
That's very near my estimate...I really had no idea until, just like the gambler, boredom overtook me and I began to count...:oops:...Ben
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I don't think any of us would complain about seeing at least some of that collection laid out and photographed.

On my end, I'm starting to think I want to take some of the sheen down. I may hit them with a little bit of scotchbrite and see what happens.
 
TF82 said:
I don't think any of us would complain about seeing at least some of that collection laid out and photographed.

On my end, I'm starting to think I want to take some of the sheen down. I may hit them with a little bit of scotchbrite and see what happens.
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Leave as you have them. Shoot, clean, and repeat. Nice work.

My experience the more I jack with a project the worse it gets.
 
TF82 said:
I don't think any of us would complain about seeing at least some of that collection laid out and photographed.
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Since you, as the OP, said you don't mind the hijack, I'll offer this pic of what's inside the stack-o-boxes I pictured earlier...I'm not going to spread them out for a group shot because it took me long enough to squeeze them all in the tubs and boxes to begin with...However, I do have a planned display table at the Bryan gun show in August, and I hope to find room for at least a 100 or so on that 8 foot table...One table was all I was able to reserve as the show has been sold out for a couple of months...:eek:...Ben

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