How to finish rosewood?

[arjay]

There are a lot of laminated rosewood stocks around,but they have that carved plywood,high gloss look and don't look nearly as nice as a grip made from a solid piece.

 

[Culina]

I hope this is not inappropriate here.

I am trying to understand rosewood. I see a ton of grips/stocks that are aftermarket that are labeled as rosewood. I always thought many of these were impregnated or stabilized or not actually real or natural wood. More of a laminated grip? Am I just wrong here? Any way to determine whether advertised rosewood is indeed the type of wood here in discussion?

Thanks,

Craig

Most of the stuff you see labeled as "Rosewood" or "Cherry Wood" are high density laminates (Plywood) using usually Birch, sometimes Maple as the base. They choose drye light colored woods since they can be dyed a number of different colors. Then they bind it all together with a resin or acrylic.

 

[ViperR]

I just finished a set of smooth target stocks that the seller said were rosewood.
I soaked them for two days in acetone to remove the OEM coating and let them dry out for a day. I then applied four coats of TruOil with a full day dry time in between coats and a fine steel wool rubbing in between coats as well. A final dulling with steel wool and then hand rubbed with a soft towel. Came out pretty good. The smaller j-frame grips are the standard S&W Gongalo Alves I think. Pics below show the acetone dried stage and finished stage.

 

[Bearbait in NM]

Kurac and AR,

Thank you. I thought that was the case with many I have seen. I have seen a couple of youtubes on guys trying to refinish these laminates and talking about stains and dyes and waxes. In my experience with laminates, it sand with progressively finer sand paper, then perhaps polish with fine abrasives. I tend to real ivory and real wood, so I will keep my eyes open. And when I see what looks like a laminate, I will assume so.

Viper, those look great. I really need to find something smooth and un-finger grooved for my new N frame.

Craig

 

[Murcus]

I have never finished rosewood grips, but have finished guitars. As said by various other people, Rosewood is a compendium of woods. It is an open grain wood; meaning that you can see the grain as looking like a series of very tiny spiderweb open canals. First, determine whether you want to shade or color the wood. Then, wear gloves and go over the grips with acetone to remove surface oil. Next, you will have to find a good woodworker's store and get some dark red or brown open grain filler. This is mixed with some naptha to a cream consistency and brushed into the grain. When it hazes over in a few minutes, rub across the grain with some burlap. Let it dry and go over with some steel wool. Next, put a thin layer of shelac. This forms a bond between the wood and the next finish coat. The finish coat is three light coats of varnish. You may want to use marine varnish. Steel wool between coats. The only problem will be that the finish will be very smooth. You may want to look at some online tutorials in finishing. This is an art rather than a science.

Hope this helps.

M

 

[Culina]

Another thing that will work on Rosewood but is kind of a pain to work with is CA (cyanoacrylate) it will dry on anything but you can only get one easy coat in, any more and it wants to melt the coat below it.

 

[Warren Sear]

One of the (apparently forgotten) desirable attributes of real rosewood is that is has its own natural oils, and does not need to be finished. Just polish the wood and it will be beautiful. It can be waxed, if desired. Lemon oil will also clean and protect rosewood.

It would be a shame to soak the real stuff in acetone or other solvent just to be able to put a high gloss finish on it. Use plywood "rosewood" or some other "lesser" wood for the pimped look.

 

[ViperR]

I agree on not soaking or finishing rosewood if it looks good already. But this is how my grips looked when I bought them from the seller. Got the regular S&W coating that looked yellow and was pealing. I think I improved them quite well.

 

[Walter Rego]

I have a pair of rosewood smooth Target Stocks on a Model 27. I put some Howard's Feed-N-Wax on them which is a combination of orange oil, beeswax and carnauba wax. The rosewood seems to really soak it up and they appear dull again after a few weeks. I tried Ren Wax after first cleaning them with acetone but the finish turned cloudy after a few days. The rosewood is definitely darkening over time, they went from reddish brown to a very dark color, almost black. I don't know if it is the Howard's wax oxidizing over time although I use it on antique furniture like quarter sawn oak with nice results and have not seen the same darkening effect. Rosewood is weird stuff.

 

[Laketime]

I have a pair of rosewood smooth Target Stocks on a Model 27. I put some Howard's Feed-N-Wax on them which is a combination of orange oil, beeswax and carnauba wax. The rosewood seems to really soak it up and they appear dull again after a few weeks. I tried Ren Wax after first cleaning them with acetone but the finish turned cloudy after a few days. The rosewood is definitely darkening over time, they went from reddish brown to a very dark color, almost black. I don't know if it is the Howard's wax oxidizing over time although I use it on antique furniture like quarter sawn oak with nice results and have not seen the same darkening effect. Rosewood is weird stuff.

What has worked for me in the past since I accelerate the darkening by rubbing in pure mineral oil to achiever the color depth that I am looking for.sometimes they can get too dark hiding the grain. When this happens I let them sit for 10 - 15 minutes in the oven at 150 degrees, this dries out and forces the oils to the surface which can be easily wiped off.this is why I prefer to use a satin or gloss poly rifle stock finish to get them to stay at the color I want.A trick that the late Deek Deason the owner of Bear Hug grips taught me was to use small amount of satin poly then bake as mentioned above. You will now have a flawless hard gloss finish which will really showcase the grain.Dull wood can be nice and is the easiest finish to have, but it is as its called. Dull to look at.