Ahrends Finish fix

[Patrick L]

Last spring I bought a set of Ahrends smooth tacticals for my 66-2. While they fit the gun perfectly and felt quite good, I was extremely dissappointed with the finish on the grips. I read on his site where he had switched to a water based finish, and to say I was unimpressed would be an understatement. And this was suprising, since I have older Ahrends grips and were quite pleased with them.

While I could see there was a nice piece of wood underneath, the finish was "cloudy", almost opaque in appearance. Plus it was slippery as heck.

I experimented a bit, but ended up using very fine steel wool and wood finishing wax. I buffed the cloudiness out, then used the wax right on the steel wool to really polish the wood. A clean cloth was then used to buff, and that really brought out the glow and luster in the wood.

As I got them, this is what they looked like:

You can see how cloudy the finish is.

This is how they came out after buffing, waxing, and polishing:

I think the difference is like night and day. In addition to how much better they look, they now have that "grab" that highly polished wood does. They now look and feel like the Tactical Finger grooves on my 24-3. These are about 5 years old, and I have always loved the way they look and feel:

I almost wonder if a got a set of defective grips that maybe slipped through Ahrends QC or something. Does anyone else have a set of his grips that looked like mine did?

 

[AllAces]

Water borne finishes

Wood Butchers (woodworkers) have long known that water-borne finishes will"blush" if improperly applied or if they become contaminated. Most outfits that sell wood products have been forced to switch over to water-borne finishes to meet EPA requirements (the air you eject from a spray booth must be cleaner than the air that comes in via the intake).

Your photo shows a classic contaiminated water-borne finish.

 

[AveragEd]

I have two recently-made sets of Ahrends grips and a third set being made; the two I have look like yours did and I expect the third set to as well. This winter, I'll have something to do to pass the time...

Ed

 

[GearHead_1]

Little question as to whether or not you've improved those grips. They look SIGNIFICANTLY better.

 

[Kavinsky]

ill have to keep this in mind, I've been playing around with the idea of buying a pair for the 29

with the EPA thing that's pure BS, where does he live? california?

if he does that would explain a great deal.

 

[Patrick L]

Thanks Guys! I do want to make it perfectly clear, all I did was buff and polish; I did not remove the finish, just got rid of the cloudiness and shined them up. The wood still has a very hard, now clear finish.

 

[fyimo]

They look much better then before. You can also get them with an oil finish which I consider the best and easiest to care for.

 

[Skeeziks]

Is this the Tung Oil finish or the Poly?

 

[Patrick L]

The cloudy grips in question were the standard poly finish.

 

[james56]

The process you describe, steel wool and a high grade paste wax is an old wood finishers way of bringing old tried wood back to life. Many Museum curators use this process as well as furniture manufactures, and furniture refinishers. It works great and you can repeat the process when ever you think you need to. With this process on handgun grips and rifle stocks they seem to get gimme and sticky over time weather you use the weapon or not. So its an easy fix if you care for this type of finish. After waxing and buffing there is really no need to apply polish. Most polish and oil's I know of will break down the wax. The trick with this process is that the grain needs to be silky smooth and Ahrends grips usually are. Your job looks great, job well done. Ive done this process with alot of old veneering type furniture that was originally done this way back in the day.

 

[Patrick L]

James,

Not only is it an old woodwoorker's trick, it is an old housewives trick for maintaining the furniture! My grandmother taught me this method over 30 years ago. I've used it on both oil and urethane finishes, and it not only shines (subdued shine) but it also helps shed water. Honestly though, I've never had a problem with the finish getting gummy as you describe. Maybe the brand of wax I use?

 

[What the]

Those are a thing of beauty now, and your post is very informative as well. I can't believe the difference! It's too bad Government regulations result in a cloudy finish like that. Great job!!

 

[C/O]

Nice job, they turned out great.

 

[deanodog]

Here is a set that came from factory for comparsion on Model 21-4.

 

[Biginge]

I just got a set of Ahrends yesterday (the cloudy specials). After reading the forum again I got some 000 steel wool and a product I have used on wood stocks for years called Woodlove, and applied and buffed to a great shine just like you guys did. I have used Woodlove with great success for a long time. Just make sure you don't apply it to your gunmetal surfaces, the metal doesn't "take a shine to Woodlove." Good post here, Thanks.

Regards

Bill

 

[one eye joe]

They look much better then before. You can also get them with an oil finish which I consider the best and easiest to care for.

Fyimo, I agree. The Tung Oil finish is the way to go. It's a nice natural looking finish that has a great feel, IMHO.

 

[bsms]

My technique: I sand them down with 80 or 100 grit sandpaper. Then I use a little linseed oil.

Why? Because the wood feels rougher, and I like the feel. Think of it as a poor man's checkering. Go light on the linseed oil, or it will darken the wood too much.

If you try it and don't like it, you can keep going with higher grit sandpaper.

 

[Patrick L]

Its funny you guys mention the tung oil finish. The latest set of Ahrends I bought, a set of K frame retro targets for my K22, I ordered in unfinished walnut. I am in the process of doing my own tung oil finish on them.

I'll post pics when they are done, but it may be awhile.

 

[one eye joe]

Lookin' foward to seein' the pics, Patrick......

 

[VaRecon]

That has a nice shine to it. Good job Patrick

 

[steamloco76]

I've stripped two sets of urethane finished Ahrends with acetone rubbed with bronze wool. I then sanded the contours to a more rounded finish and used Formby's low gloss tung oil to refinish. Great looking grips for only a couple hours effort over a few days.

 

[one eye joe]

I've stripped two sets of urethane finished Ahrends with acetone rubbed with bronze wool. I then sanded the contours to a more rounded finish and used Formby's low gloss tung oil to refinish. Great looking grips for only a couple hours effort over a few days.

Did you break the sharp corners in the front, steamloco ? ? Any particular advantage to bronze wool ? (I'm not a woodworker) Can ya post some pics ? We all love the gun porn........

 

[steamloco76]

Did you break the sharp corners in the front, steamloco ? ? Any particular advantage to bronze wool ? (I'm not a woodworker) Can ya post some pics ? We all love the gun porn........

Yes, I broke the sharp corners in the front and lightly rounded the edges of the butt. The Ahrends are a bit too sharply contoured for my hand. Wet sanded them with the acetone and 240-320-400 grits wet/dry sandpaper. I've used the same technique to restore three sets of badly scratched S&W Combat stocks. All have been finished with low gloss tung oil, then a coat of wax after the oil is fully cured.

I always use either bronze wool or scotch brite pads when working on anything related to a firearm. If any small steel wool particles get embedded on the back of the grips they WILL cause rust on the gun frame.

As for a photo- I'll have to take some. Haven't photographed either set of grips since the re-finish.

 

[one eye joe]

Steamloco, what do you use for wax ? ?

 

[Maximumbob54]

Most of my poly finished Ahrends have come just fine as is:

But I do have to agree the older finish did look much better:

But the new finish comes right off with a little Klean-Strip:

Before:

After: (On the right)

I'm in the middle of stripping the poly finish from some moradillo right now and just finishing a few hand rubbed in coats of Johnson's Paste Wax. So far it is really bringing out the grain of the wood that seemed trapped under the poly. This is them as I bought them:

I will edit this once they are added to the 19-4 they will then live with. I wanted to bring out the grain and darken them up a bit.

I guess they aren't that much darker but it's enough for me. Maybe...

 

[robctwo]

I've been buying them unfinished and doing my own tung oil, then carnuba wax.

 

[03snake]

Those look great with the tung oil and carnuba. These are my Retro Combat in moradillo
with the factory hand rubbed tung oil:

 

[jjgi5150]

Hi all,

The last two sets of Ahrends that I got for my K-frames seemed to be of an oil based finish. I love the FG Combats on my snubs but they did need a bit of trimming/reshaping to better fit my thicker fingers....and to take off that rather sharp squared edge the grooves had.

I shaped a few spots to better suit me, sanded, and then used some Watco teakwood marine finsish in a can that has to be about 20+ years old. They came out great, and the match is so close to whatever was there that I can't tell the difference. It's very durable stuff as well...I used to use it on wood stocked hunting rifles I used to build...


This picture is not the best lighting, as the outdoor light is reflecting off the front edge of the grips, but I haven't had time for more photos lately.

Take care,

JJ

 

[one eye joe]

WOW, you did a great job JJ. Those grips are BEAUTIFUL.........

 

[steamloco76]

I stripped these N frame Ahrends coco bolo with acetone, sanded the finger contours to ease the edges and then finished them with a light coat of tung oil, then multiple coats of hand rubbed Johnson's Paste Wax.