Refinishing a set of Ahrend w/Tung Oil (First post updated with final results)

I've been on a search for the perfect grips for a while. For me Ahrend's are darn close. I have some in tung oil, and others in the ploy finish. See the bottom revolver below, which is outfitted with a pair of Ahrends.



One thing I've noticed is that I much prefer the feel of tung oil fishishes over poly on the grips. So I went about stripping the Ahrend's of the poly and applying tung oil. I thought I'd show the results so far. This is the first time I've done this so if you have any helpful suggestions when I do this again (I have multiple sets of Ahrend's in poly) I'm all ears.

I used 150 grit sandpaper to sand away the poly:



The wood is Cocobolo. I must say it has a rather pleasant smell, almost like a sweet spice.

After the rough sanding, I used 400 grip to smooth the wood:



The one of the right is smoothed, and here's both sanded with 400 grit:



Here' the natural, unfinished wood compared to the poly finish on the back:



Now, here are the grips with the first coat of tung oil. I plan on applying two coats:



The grips have a much more natural feel than the poly coat, which felt like I was gripping plastic (very pretty plastic, though). Also, the grips have lost the "plastic" sheen of the poly and have a softer appearance. When I apply the second coat and put them back on the 686, I'll post the final results.

Let me know what you think, and if there's something I should be doing that I missed. As I said, I've never done this before, so I just took some sandpaper and tung oil and went to work.

I recall one member here said he only sanded his with 150 grit and then applied tung oil. I might try that for one of my sets on my carry j-frames, as the added texture might be a bonus for a carry weapon.

Things I learned:

1) Cocobolo smells good.

2) Sanding by hand requires patience.

3) You need to look closely at the finish product to make sure it TUNG OIL. I first bought Minwax Tung Oil Finish and realized it was not tung oil, so I purchased Hope's Tung Oil of Amazon.

4) Tung oil stinks.

***********
Update: Well here they are. Three coats, with steel wool applied before each coat as suggested. I might do more coats but I want to see how these look after about a week.

Here are two pictures of the grips (taken with my iPhone, my photography skills don't hold a candle to some of y'all):





Here's a comparison to some Ahrend's with a poly finish. Both are cocobolo, and both looked the same before I refinished the grips. The refinished grips are on the 686:



A view from the backstrap:



Overall I really like the results. There is no comparison in the texture - the feel of natural wood is so much better than the poly coat.

I'm going to try some different finishes in the future - one with the 150 grit rough texture, and perhaps the very smooth and rich finish Chuck described below.

Refinishing Ahrends grips w/tung oil

You might consider finishing up the sanding/smoothing process with 0000 steel wool. Just make sure you use a tack cloth and/or air hose to get all the steel wool fuzzies off. Other than that, sounds like you got it going on. No matter what grips I have on a gun, I always prefer a more natural finish to a poly finish.

I spent many years building Ukuleles from scratch. When finishing with tung oil, I would apply the first coat and let it dry, then apply another wet coat and smooth it in with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper while the tung is still wet, making a slurry of tung and sawdust, this fills in some of the open grain of the wood, and helps to make a really smooth finish.

Now, I have repeated this step up to 15 times when finishing my Ukes, really leaves a nice warm looking deep finish on the wood.

After several of the sanded coats, you wipe the last sanded coat off so the surface is clean, apply a final coat of tung oil alone to cure and set on the surface.

With Koa wood it really looks awesome.

good luck

Chuck

Nice work, they look great

What HE said !!

Hi, I was going to add some advice to you , but what Chuck said (above) pretty well covers it. However, you can save a ton of time and effort by using a wood stripper such as Bix Strip (or any other) and it will just disssolve the poly finish and it will wash away in hot water. Let dry. Apply Tung oil like Chuck said. I have done every rifle stock I own, and many grips. Tung oil never really hardens all the way, so it is good to re-do every once in a while. Personally, I LOVE the way it smells, but a set of grips should get about 5-6 coats to start with. You may use your revolver or rifle in between coats, if you want, just re-assemble.......once it is dry. Buff with oooo steel wool between coats. Every couple of years, I give everything another coat. A hot (dry) summer day is good for this, let em sit out in the sun and the heat opens the pores and lets it soak into the wood.

Thanks all for the advice all. Flattops, I'll try a stripper next time. I wasn't looking forward to another sanding session....and I have several grips.... I couldn't find "Bix strip." Will any stripper do, or are there types I should avoid?

Pef said:

Thanks all for the advice all. Flattops, I'll try a stripper next time. Will any stripper do, or are there types I should avoid?

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There are several one-liners I could think of to reply to the above text but I don't want a vacation from the forum! Really shows you how overhearing part of a conversation can be taken out of context!

^^^^^^^
Yea, that is one for the books! Surprised I didn't see it!

In case you didn't know you can buy Aherends grips directly from them unfinished. That is what I have done them put on my own Tung oil.

I do a LOT of grips for people, I really enjoy it. I start:

with spray stripper, let it sit 20 minutes.
while wearing HEAVY rubber gloves wipe/scrub with 0000 steel wool.
next rinse in hot water, both front and back. I use an old t-brush to scrub.

if you are doing magna, or target grips with the diamonds in the center use the t-brush, while holding under the faucet to get all the stripper out. Once out use a detail brush, with the brissles just a little bigger than a pen tip and paint the oil in the trough then fill the rest in with the little brush. This only takes one coat. Wipe the excess off with a clean cotton then buff lightly,0000, like you do the rest of the grip.You don't need to remove all traces of your 'fill in.' I NEVER use steel wool on the diamond area. Just looks like it would be a tough job getting all the steel brissles out.

once dry hit both with clean new 0000 steel wool.
get 2 grip screws and thread one in the back, so you are like holding a popsicle on a stick. The other run from the top down so you have your same 'stick'
use the 'sticks' to hold the grips while you rub, using a 3"X3" folded old t-shirt piece, the first coat.
let dry 12 hours, hit again lightly, just to take the gloss off, with the clean 0000 again and repeat with a new 3"X3" cotton

I usually do them in batches and it is VERY easy. If, when dry, you see a 'funny spot' on one hit with the steel wool, and repeat. 3-4 coats and it will look EXACTLY like new.

Duskykiller said:

In case you didn't know you can buy Aherends grips directly from them unfinished. That is what I have done them put on my own Tung oil.

Click to expand...

Yes, but I have some that are finished in poly. Live n learn....

Has anyone used Formby's traditional tung oil finish?

Getting ready to tackle my first set of grips that were coated heavy with poly.

Got the poly off and have the Formby's but wanted some feed back if possible before I start the coating process.

Thanks
Masterbuck54

Masterbuck54 said:

Has anyone used Formby's traditional tung oil finish?

Getting ready to tackle my first set of grips that were coated heavy with poly.

Got the poly off and have the Formby's but wanted some feed back if possible before I start the coating process.

Thanks
Masterbuck54

Click to expand...

See my post #10. I have used the same process with Formby's. I GUARANTEE you will love the results.

cddanjr said:

I spent many years building Ukuleles from scratch. When finishing with tung oil, I would apply the first coat and let it dry, then apply another wet coat and smooth it in with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper while the tung is still wet, making a slurry of tung and sawdust, this fills in some of the open grain of the wood, and helps to make a really smooth finish.

Now, I have repeated this step up to 15 times when finishing my Ukes, really leaves a nice warm looking deep finish on the wood.

After several of the sanded coats, you wipe the last sanded coat off so the surface is clean, apply a final coat of tung oil alone to cure and set on the surface.

With Koa wood it really looks awesome.

good luck

Chuck

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I am with Chuck on this one. The NRA published this process years ago. It produces a high quality oil finish and only takes a few minutes to apply each coat.

I strip with Soy...
Soy-Gel Paint Stripper | Non Toxic Paint | Real Milk Paint ®

First I apply the soy gel and let it sit. Then I use a light plastic card (a gift card or something a bit thinner than a credit card) and "scrape" (it doesn't take any pressure really) the smooth surfaces clean of soy/poly residue. For the checkered parts I lightly brush with an old toothbrush.

I have done several Ahrends grips, but I order them unfinished. If you have several to do, you can take them to a professional stripper. I don't think it would be too expensive. They do them in a large tank. I mix the Tung oil with some real Turpentine. I may have been the one who said that I used 150 grit or so. I have also used Pine tar on my grips. Just a little, till I have nice secure grip. I rub it in, it needs frequent re application and smells even better than Tung oil. When I use Tung oil on kayak paddles and oars that I carve, I mix the Tung oil, Pine tar and Turps together. Its known as Boat Sauce. Good protection in salt water and gives a nice grip. I am not talking about the large amounts of Pine tar that baseball players use on their bats. My hands stay reasonably clean. Quite a few coats are used by finishers. The rule is one coat a day for a week, one coat a week for a month, one coat a month for a year, and once a year there after. Thats about 23 coats the first year. And, finally, some woods like Cocobolo have sanding dust that many people are allergic to. I use gloves when I sand.

Best,
Rick

I've posted the final product in the original post above in the "Update" section.