Get that from a major league pitcher?
So, I've been working on the M28's stock a little bit. I'm trying to get it to a more traditional late 20s/early 30s Finnish look. I have not sanded it since it looked like the PO did enough of that. I haven't touched the handguard.
So far, just a round of pinetar/turpentine (75/25) for 8 hours followed up with a turpentine rub down. It didn't have much impact. Then, I applied some Minwax red mahogany. I think it's getting better, but not sure what the next step should be. I'd like to see it head in this direction.
Finish up with some BLO? I have some Feibings dark brown and wonder if I should try some of that...like the PU sniper in @coolhandluke's stock refinishing thread?
So far, just a round of pinetar/turpentine (75/25) for 8 hours followed up with a turpentine rub down. It didn't have much impact. Then, I applied some Minwax red mahogany. I think it's getting better, but not sure what the next step should be. I'd like to see it head in this direction.
Finish up with some BLO? I have some Feibings dark brown and wonder if I should try some of that...like the PU sniper in @coolhandluke's stock refinishing thread?
It's an improvement. The stock doesn't have any figuring like the handguard so the results from the pine tar won't be dramatic. I'd honestly leave staining out of the equation and keep up with the pine tar treatments. IMO the natural honey yellow color will look better on that stock than the Feibings color that I used on the PU stock. If you want it to look like the stock in your bottom photo, RIT brown dye is your ticket.
BTW...if you're ever in the OKC area, I'll buy the leftover pine tar if you don't have plans to use it. I'm almost out.
I'd like to see it head in this direction.
Finish up with some BLO? I have some Feibings dark brown and wonder if I should try some of that...like the PU sniper in @coolhandluke's stock refinishing thread?
Looking back over some of my old photos using Feibings, I would definitely not use it on this particular stock. On birch, medium brown tends to be very red and dark brown tends to be very purple. Even on walnut the red and purple overtones are noticeable, which is why I stopped using it. I still think that RIT dark brown dye should give you a color nearly identical to the stock above. If you end up using RIT, just purchase the liquid version from Walmart in the laundry section and mix it with denatured alcohol. After doing so, strain the mixture through a coffee filter to remove the salts and other sediment before applying to the stock. Apply thin layers until you reach the desired color / darkness. Remember that the longer you leave the dye on, the darker the wood will be as less of it will bleed out during the oiling process. I typically do one or two light coats of stain and let the stock dry for 12 hours before applying any oil. If you find that the color is still too light after applying oil, you can still apply another coat of stain as the alcohol acts as a carrier which allows the stain to penetrate the oil that's already on the stock. At this point an oil based stain will have little affect as it will be difficult for it to penetrate past the finish that is already on the wood.
All that being said, I would still vote for not performing any further staining. Since the stock has little in the way of figuring, it may just take a little more time for the pine tar to do its work. Try doing the following regiment:
1. Mix the pine tar 50/50 with turpentine.
2. Hand rub in a liberal coat of the mixture until the entire stock is tacky.
3. Allow the stock to dry for 3 or 4 days.
4. Hand rub a coat of turpentine and allow it to dry (this will take 2 to 4 days).
5. After stock is dry again, apply one last thin coat of the pine tar mixture and allow it to dry once more (leave for 5 to 7 days).
6. Apply hand rubbed coat(s) of oil (this should have little impact as most, if not all, the grain should already be filled).
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