how to proced with stock???

[Neil Richardson]

Hi,

I have the stock off my Trojan. I'm not sure how to proceed.
I've read several sites about repairing/refinishing French Polish.

The gun is actually pretty nice: barrels good colour little pitting, the receiver still has a bit of colour, the stock is showing its' well used look so I'm a bit reluctant to lose its' originality.

My questions:

1 What is the best method to get the stock clean? I've already used Bichwood Casey stock conditioner.

2 The finish is completely worn from a few spots especially the rear bottom.

3 I'm not overly concerned with the dents

4 I read that french polish can be repaired but would that work on this stock?

5 If I refinish the wood how do I safely take this finish off?

I hope you see enough detail in the pictures.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Neil

[Dennis V. Nix]

Neil I see the areas of concern but if it were mine I would put some paste wax on it and put the stock back on the gun. Others will no doubt give similar or opposite answers. In the long run it is your stock to do with what you want. It just doesn't look that bad to me.

Dennis

[Neil Richardson]

I've been searching the forum and reading the refinishing threads. I think I'll try the shellac and oil method and see if I can level out the finish.

I'm still concerned that I don't have the stock fully clean.

Neil

[Ed Blake]

Denatured alcohol will dissolve any old shellac or other finish. Wipe on with a clean cloth.

[Dave Noreen]

Get a disposable aluminum roaster pan at the supermarket that is large enough for the stock. Stop by your Home Depot or whatever and get a gallon of acetone and a gallon of alcohol. If the stock has a varnish or oil finish the acetone will lift that with no problem. Then toss the stock in the roaster and pour in the acetone. Cover the wood until it floats. Then pull off a good length of aluminum foil and make a cover for the "tank", sealing it as well as possible. Be aware that acetone is highly volatile and smoking the cigar over the top of it is not recommended. I let the things soak for several days, turning the wood over a couple times a day. When you feel like you're tired of that, and the acetone looks like it has quit changing color, pour the acetone back in the can, rinse the roaster out with alcohol, and then soak the stock in the alcohol just like you did in the acetone. When you yank the baby out of the alcohol bath it will be CLEAN! And you can seal it and refinish it anyway you want after you let it dry a couple days.

Condensed from our old friend Wonko.

[Neil Richardson]

I'd like to try and keep it an original shooter. But if that fails I'll take the finish off and put an oil finish on.

Dave, wouldn't a Trojan have a shellac finish? This is definitely the original finish.

Neil

[Dave Purnell]

I don't think your stock looks too bad as it is. But, if you want to "refresh" it, that would be easy to do. I would never strip this stock and start over. It's minor dings and scratches are honest wear and part of the life and history of the gun. The really nice thing about a shellac finish is that it can be softened with denatured alcohol and moved around. I'd rub it lightly with fine bronze wool dampened with a little alcohol. Blot the bronze wool on paper towels so it's only damp with alcohol, not dripping. If you use too much alcohol, or rub too hard, you'll remove the original finish. You just want to thin it and move it around. Keep wiping with paper towels so the alcohol isn't allowed to lay on the wood and work too long. If you do this gently, your stock will quickly look more even. Then you can use a cloth pad and fresh amber shellac to build up the french polish more evenly. Your best bet is the internet for french polish technique. Parker purists will say that Parker finished originally with two trays; one with shellac, and one with boiled linseed oil, dipping the pad in both. There is more to the technique than that. The BLO was only used to keep the pad from sticking. It's not really supposed to be a mixture of shellac and BLO. Actually, a few drops of olive oil on the pad works much better.

Dave

[John Campbell]

Why risk harsh solvents? I would simply scrub up the heel area of that stock with 0000 steel wool and low odor mineral spirits (mild) to clean and even the area, let dry 24 hrs., dab with a little stain if necessary, then rub on some varnish in thin coats with a cloth pad until it evens back up with the rest.
There is too much good finish on that stock to risk messing up.

[allen newell]

If you decide to strip the stock completely with the above method, then you might as well steam out the dents/dings. Take a damp cloth/towel and place over the dents and with a steam iron go over them carefully, this will usually lift out the dents. when the wood is dry, then you can lightly sand with high grit paper till smooth.

But I would agree with smoothbore and follow his recommendation before completely stripping the stock. Also, bear in mind that if you strip the stock completely and then refinish, you may have to do the same to the fore end as the new color on the stock will not otherwise match the fore end wood.

[Brian Dudley]

Denatured alcohol is good for removing surface dirt and contaminants without being too harsh. You must clean it with something first be it alcohol, mineral spirits or acetone. Since there may be dirt, wax or oil on there that can impede the application of more finish. The surface should be mildly abraded with 0000 steel wool to prep the surface.

Then sparing application of your finish of choice can be done. If you are just looking to freshen up the finish and take care of dry areas, then there is no need to sand or steam out dents and such. However, the checkering may need to be cleaned up. Most old guns can benefit from that.

[John Dallas]

I worked a stock with 0000 steel wool, then wiped the stock with water to raise whiskers and smooth it out. Bits of the steel wool lingering in the stock rusted, and left me with dozens of black freckles. Would suggest 0000 bronze wool, or at least stay away from water, unless it's being used to wake up a glass of single malt

[Brian Dudley]

Yeah. You never want to use water on bare stock wood. It introduces unwelcomed moisture. I always use alcohol to do this. It gets the job done and evaporates quickly.

[Neil Richardson]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Neil

[Mike McKinney]

You might want to look at a web site for TimberLuxe. Myself and others talked to the gunsmith, Brian Board, who developed it, at the Southern this weekend. I had seen the web site before and was interested in it. He was showing a stock he had used it on, maybe his results are more difficult than his claims, but it sure was a pretty stock with a very good hue. I came home with a couple of bottles.

[Eric Eis]

Mike must have missed him at the Southern, what's his website?

[Mike McKinney]

That web site is timberluxe.com I had heard of it, even watched a video, which was pretty interesting, that i can't find now, possibly on You Tube. He was explaining the product to another member when I met him and remembered the endorsement.

[ClaytonCarter]

When refinishing a stock, I routinely read that after an acetone soak to clean, de-oil the stock, the acetone soak should be followed with a soak in denatured alcohol. My questions are : (1) what is the typical duration of the alcohol soak and what is the metric by which one can tell the alcohol soak has accomplished all that it is going to do and (2) besides removing the finish which if shellac should occur quickly with alcohol, what is the purpose of soaking the stock in alcohol for days? Thanks.

[Jerry Harlow]

Since you have the stock off, whether you remove the old finish with acetone or not, take a hair dryer on the hot setting to the receiver end of the stock and watch the oil ooze out. Wipe it of and repeat until you are satisfied no more is coming out. Don't get it too hot by being too close, but one can bet there is 100 years worth of oil in there.