Grip Refinishing Questions

[longhornscott]

I have an old mod-36 chiefs special that has been a staple of my concealed carry since the 80's. The grips are original and have been worn down to the point of looking like someone took a sander to them.
What is a good oil/wax/whatever that I can use on these grips that will offer both protection and looks, and will cost less than just buying another set of RB J-frame grips? I have heard to use tung oil, beeswax, or other similar products, but some more experienced opinions woud be much appreciated.

Thanks, Scott

 

[longhornscott]

I have an old mod-36 chiefs special that has been a staple of my concealed carry since the 80's. The grips are original and have been worn down to the point of looking like someone took a sander to them.
What is a good oil/wax/whatever that I can use on these grips that will offer both protection and looks, and will cost less than just buying another set of RB J-frame grips? I have heard to use tung oil, beeswax, or other similar products, but some more experienced opinions woud be much appreciated.

Thanks, Scott

 

[bill_in_TX]

I think that you may get a number of different types of answers on this depending on the individual's perspective, so I'll give you a couple of different viewpoints.

I've done a couple of walnut stocks for shotguns with tung oil. Tung oil is an excellent protector and looks great, but is a bit soft (scars easily). It and Linseed oil both require a good deal of patience to apply correctly. You have to build it up in very thin coats (like a drop at a time) rubbed in well and left to dry thoroughly. I've got 60 coats on my sporting clays shotgun stock.

Another option is polyurethane. I like the Watco brand wipe-on stuff because it's easy to use and does give good durability/weatehr resistance. IMO it doesn't look quite as good as Tung or Linseed (a bit plasticky looking) but is easier.

When I had some Hogue grips done for one of my pistols I asked them how they finish them. They put poly on the checkering and simply finish the smooth wood with a couple coats of high quality carnuba wax.

Whichever way you go, the key to a good looking finish is the pre-finish prep work. Make sure you get any hand oils, guncleaner, wax etc. out of the wood and sand smooth areas lightly with a 400 grit sand paper. I found the best thing for checkering is just plain mineral spirits and toothbrush, although if the grips are old the checkering might benefit from repointing (a delicate job for the brave amateur IMO).

 

[ChuckS1]

I just refinished an old set of Herrett National Target grips for my M1911A1 I bought on eBay. I soaked them in acetone for 30 minutes to get the old varnish off and then stripped them with Olympic furniture refinisher to get rid of the stain. Stained with some Min-Wax walnut stain. Once they had dried a couple of days, gave them a light once over with 0000 steel wool and then used Tru-Oil. Given that the grips had lots of open pores, I must have put at least 25 coats of Tru-Oil (to tell the truth, I lost count.

I applied using my finger and used 0000 steel wool between coats. Toward the end, I rubbed really hard to build up some friction heat to fill the last of the pores. Ended up getting a blister on my forefinger and had to switch to middle finger. Once I got the finish nice and smooth, I did one last coat, hit it with 0000 steel wool lightly to knock the high gloss down, and then polished with a piece of old flannel.

 

[bill_in_TX]

ChuckS1 raised a good point worth embellishing upon -- wood with lots of pores or open grain.

One "trick" that I've used with tung oil on shotgun stocks (haven't really done any pistol stocks, but the same principles apply) is to wet sand the first few coats on. The usual advice is to start with something like 220 grit and wet sand in a couple coats, then move up to 320 grit, etc (after the first soak-in coat). I could never bring myself to go to something as coarse as 220, so always start at 320 or 400 grit.

The idea is that the oil and sanding dust combine in an emulsion that fills the pores better than just the oil alone. You can aid that a bit after the wet sanding by running your hand/finger over the oil mix against the grain which will force the emulsion deeper into the pores.

I'm not sure if that will work as well with the Tru-oil because, while Tru-oil is (linseed, I believe) oil based, it has a lot of dryer in it, so may dry too quickly to build up an effective emulsion.

ps. If you use steel wool (not my favorite) be very careful to clean really well before applying another coat. Steel wool has a propensity to leave a lot of minute pieces that will embed in future coats. When I do use steel wool, I go over things with a tack rag first and then use some masking tape to pick off the final bits (like using one of those lint roller thingys) before applying another coat.