S&W stock finish

[9492]

Does anyone know what S&W used to finish wood stocks (grips) on pre-war hand ejectors?
Thanks

 

[cxm]

I don't "know" what was used by S&W to finish pre war stocks...but from looking at the finish, I'm pretty sure they used well thinned shellac to finish the stocks...

FWIW

Chuck

Does anyone know what S&W used to finish wood stocks (grips) on pre-war hand ejectors?
Thanks

 

[handejector]

I don't think it contained any shellac as I recall.

Others here know the formula better than I, but I remember it being a mixture of wax and linseed oil.

 

[DWFAN]

I think Mike knows exactly what it was but Lee I think you are close.
Paul

 

[mikepriwer]

Paul & Lee

Its a mixture of linseed oil, wax, and turpentine.

What I don't know is the proportions ! I've tried various proportions,
and have good results with 60% linseed oil, 30% wax, and 10% turpentine. That may, or may not, be the factory proportions. You need the turpentine to disolve the wax.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[BobK]

In the more recent years, I believe they did use a shellac with a brownish tint. Bob

 

[Keith Brown]

After refinishing a set of stocks for Mike he mentioned the mixture of turpentine, wax and linseed oil, this had come from Mr. Jinks and as Mike stated they were not sure of the proportions. I began playing around with the proportions and have settled on one that I think is close. The following is how I make it, the ingredients are turpentine, boiled linseed oil and wax, the first two are available in any paint or hardware store, I felt whatever wax used was probably pure and would not have contained any silicone or other additives, What I had on hand was a fairly old can of Minwax finishing wax and I felt this would be a good place to start as it seemed from the label to have nothing else in it. I combined in a small glass jar 1 Tablespoon of turpentine, 2 Tablespoons of wax and 1/2 Tablespoon of linseed oil, this was then set in a pan of water and heated and stirred until dissolved. When it cools it looks much like shoe polish. I apply it with a toothbrush and let it set no more than 5 minutes then I buff as much off as I can with a shoe shine brush. Let them set overnight and he buff again. At this point depending on what your after and the quality of the wood you may call it finished, I have reapplied this to the smooth areas of the stock and have also topped the smooth areas with the Minwax as it comes from the can, this was done to get the look I was after and probably will vary with each different set of stocks. The mixture if left on the stocks to long before buffing will be a sticky mess, a quick rinse in clean acetone will take you back to square one. I have found the mixture to really bring out the color in the wood and it also cleans dirty stocks pretty well. I intend on experimenting more with the ingredients but have been pretty happy with this so far.

Keith

 

[mikepriwer]

Keith

I'd forgotten I'd mentioned that to you ! I'm glad you've had good
success with it.

In my experimenting, I had it pretty much a liquid. It never occurred
to me to work with it in a paste form.

Regards, Mike

 

[shaggist]

You might want to try substituting beeswax for the Minwax or whatever wax you use. It will dissolve in gum spirits of turpentine, not paint thinner(petroleum product). I have also had good luck with using pure tung oil on gun stocks. Tung oil tends to darken the color of the wood to which it is applied. A mixture of these 3 will probably get the look for which you are striving. And they smell good, too!

 

[handejector]

Keith, Mike-
I do believe whatever formula they had was a LIQUID.
I don't think high production would allow the time to fool with a paste and buffing. I think they were coated with a liquid and simply allowed to drain face down. Maybe coated twice, but I doubt it.
I also think beeswax may have been the wax. Just guessing from the color and texture.

We know they did not dip them because the backs are usually raw.
I wonder if Roy would know any more about the process?

 

[PJGP]

Are you chaps talking about real turpentine, ie from trees, or mineral turpentine? The former seems to be fairly uncommon here in South Africa.

Peter

 

[Keith Brown]

Mike, I appreciated the tip on the ingredients and tried a half dozen different proportions before stopping on the one quoted above, I'm not convinced it's correct but it gives me a pretty close to original looking finish. I think shagglist and Lee are correct about the beeswax and it did cross my mind at the time (a very short trip) but I used what I had on hand as it seemed like a reasonable place to start. I'll get some beeswax soon and give it a try. Lee, I didn't mean to imply that the factory did it the way I am, only that the final finish was similar. I would imagine that the process changed a few times over the years and it would interesting if someone who actually worked day to day in the stocking department could be located, someone who is about 85-90 years old would be about right, a long shot but you never know. Mr. Jinks is probably correct in the ingredients but it would take some one that did the work to tell the whole story. PJPG, the turpentine I used is labeled "pure gum spirits of turpentine" it was all I saw on the shelf, I guess it's also possible that's not the correct type.

Keith

 

[-db-]

Interesting thread. Here's what I've been using for the last couple years:

Now, before you ask, "Leather dressing, are you crazy?", note what the ingredients consist of: pine pitch (AKA turpentine), mink oil (mink oil, linseed oil, oil's oil, right? ) and beeswax. Easy to apply, rub and buff. Brings out the color and makes old dry stocks look like new with a soft satin no-shine finish.

 

[05CarbonDRZ]

You use that on raw unfinished wood,or just to restore old grips finish?

 

[-db-]

You use that on raw unfinished wood,or just to restore old grips finish?

On older factory stocks, it blends perfectly with and replicates the original finish (or lack thereof). I don't know exactly what the hard shiny stuff is they started applying to later stocks (polyurethane?), but waxes and oils won't penetrate it or mimic it on bare wood. The older and newer factory finishes are apples and oranges.

 

[-db-]

Here is an old set of bone dry plain walnut Sanderson stocks after soaking in acetone for 6 hours and drying out overnight and the second photo shows them cleaned up and an application of the leather dressing discussed above:

The results are similar with older factory stocks. Depending on the density of the wood, another application or two with a week drying between will bring the stocks back to their original look.

 

[Hammerdown]

Hello
I got these Pre-War Magna's for my 1935 Registered Magnum. It left the factory with some but somewhere along the way they got seperated from the gun and it's frame was cut and modified to resemble a smaller round butt configuration.I fitted the stock's to the gun's frame as they were slightly larger than my frame & While it was out receiveing it's frame repairs and being put back to it's factory N-frame square butt configuration, I refinished the Pre-War Magna's with a finish product called "Arrow Wood Finish". This product is a combination of oils and wood sealent's that allow you to sand in the finish with different grade's of sand paper to achieve the level of shine that you want. I generally use grades of 3-M sand paper above 600 and often finish up with 1500-2000 grit sand paper to get a nice semi gloss shine of which I feel is very close to the factory S&W wood finish of Pre-War time span. Below is my fitted and finished Pre-War stock's shown on my R.M. with Arrow wood finish applied. Here is a link to it if anyone would like to try it. I do know that it enhances the grain of the wood but does not stain it darker in color and the finished wood appearence is not that of a sealed grain Look there are still natural wood grain pore's that show in the finished wood stock's. I hope this helps, Hammerdown

Arrow Wood Finish and Klean & Brite - Home of Van's Instant Gun Bluing and Arrow Wood Finish.


Here is how my Pre-War Magna's came to me. You can see how much they differed in color between the two panels, and I surmised their wood finish was original of which resembled a soft glow low semi gloss sheen. I stripped them down with Acetone and placed the Arrow wood finish on them. The acetone seemed to pull all of the Gun oil or what ever caused the right stock panel to look darker in color out of the Panel. The finished color of both Panel's was an exact match as shown in the picture's below and if dabbed onto the checking it enhances the grain but does not change the color or make it look shinny in appearence when it dries.

 

[Old Corp]

I've had really good results with cleaning/degreasing with acetone, and then following up with several very thin coats of hand-rubbed Tung Oil. Once a coat is dry, going over it lightly with some 0000 steel wool. Use air compressor nozzle to blow off all steel wool particles.
Usually a single coat or two placed in checkered areas with a toothbrush.