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In need of stock refinishing help

K

karbinekrazy

Member
Hello everyone, new member here. I've found myself in a quandary, and thought I would seek help from someone who knows exactly what do. A few years ago, I bought a RC K98 with a stock that was dark, dirty, and beat to hell. After doing a little bit of research, I decided to refinish it. My procedure was a mild degreaser washed with water, followed by Citristrip, followed by stripper after wash and rinsed with water. I never sanded it, which caused any wiping with a rag or steel wool to "snag" under the wood fibers. I applied a single coat of BLO with steel wool and it somehow turned into a disaster. I applied it correctly. To this day, that stock still looks wet and is oily to the touch, as if the BLO never really dried. I recently bought a replacement stock which was in like condition as my original stock, and have done everything mentioned above expect apply a finish. After doing a lot of research, I'm still unable to get a definitive answer as to what the correct procedure is when applying a finish. The grain has been slightly raised from rinsing with water, and there is snagging when you wipe it. Should I sand it to eliminate the snagging fibers? What is the correct way to refinish it once it has been completely stripped? BLO seems to be everyones go-to finish, but from my past experience with it I don't want what happened last time to happen again. Excuse my ignorance. These are both laminate stocks. Thanks for any help.
 
Sorry to say you went about it the wrong way. We all have to learn the hard way. I use 4 products and that's about it.
1] spray on industrial paint stripper. Comes in a aerosol can.
2] lacquer thinner.
3] stain
4] thin grade lemon oil.

BLO sucks as far as Im concerned I have never had any luck using it. I always had the same result. I also tried tung oil and never thought that much of it either. Formby's furniture grade lemon oil is all I use and All Ill ever use.

There are many steps and techniques to properly restoring a stock.
 
Since you used water, maybe the stock didn't dry out enough before you put the BLO on. Isn't water soluble into BLO? Maybe you should strip the BLO mess off with a solvent this time, like denatured alcohol. Apparently denatured alcohol is the least damaging of the solvents on the wood and glue of the stock. Then let it dry for a while; even DN alcohol will get absorbed into the wood. BLO will still be kind of oily after a day, and won't really cure for like a week.
 
Dry BLO is immune to denatured alcohol.
When using BLO, after wiping off the excess, it must be exposed to sunlight to cure properly, it is is photo-reactive.
BTW, I think is has no place on WWII German long guns..looks like crap even when done correctly.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Since BLO doesn't seem to be the route to go, what do you recommend I do from this point? Like previously mentioned, the stock is completely stripped and fully dry. The stock is still splintery and rough from washing with water. Should I sand her down or leave her alone? What would be the best finish to apply to achieve a period correct look, and how should it be applied? The stock is completely blonde at this point. I know I should have tackled this from a different angle, but what's done is done. Thanks.

connors29 said:
Also, you know you have to wipe off the excess BLO 30-60 min after you put it on, right?
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BTW yes connors, when I applied that single coat I did apply it the correct way.
 
I am not a master woodworker, but I would start with 0000 steel wool on the raised grain. I would avoid sandpaper unless you absolutely have to.
 
Tricky question..you want to avoid polishing the wood, which steel wool will do..the grain needs to be open to a certain degree.
The stocks were sanded after rough shaping at the factory with fairly course grit paper (drum sander really) so working with the grain, front to rear so to speak I would try something in the 200 or under range, perhaps as low as 120 with the paper wrapped around a tool or form of some kind to prevent rounding where it should not be rounded.
The stocks were stained, treated or colored by something in most cases and some were stained/treated more than others.
Only thing I can offer is they used boiled linseed oil, but NOT the version available today, so unless you can make your own or find somebody selling the WW2 version, that is no help.
You are sort of seeking the holy grail here and many before you have searched and failed, myself included.
Bringing a stripped stock back to wartime condition is not an easy pursuit but I would like to see how yours comes out, I may need your advice in the future.
 
I've used both lemon oil with a paste wax finish rubbed into the wood and I've used pure tung oil. When using pto I only put on 1-2 coats. Both methods work for me but the pto takes a while to dry.
 
My experience with tung oil is that it drys to a high sheen, worse than blo IMHO, and it stinks to high heaven while taking a long time to dry.
It is excellent protection from salt water on wooden sailing ship masts..
 
What maker k98k are we talking? I mean you might not have the right stock on your rifle. I have cheaper stock sets that look good($175-275+sh). Don't ask me next week, then I'm probably sold out :facepalm:

Best regards Tommy
us1945@hotmail.com
 
Thanks again for the replies. I don't need another stock, but thanks Tommy. So now that we've boiled it down this far, should I sand the stock to get rid of the little fibers that catch when you wipe the stock, or just straight BLO? I still haven't found a definitive answer from researching.
 
karbinekrazy said:
Thanks again for the replies. I don't need another stock, but thanks Tommy. So now that we've boiled it down this far, should I sand the stock to get rid of the little fibers that catch when you wipe the stock, or just straight BLO? I still haven't found a definitive answer from researching.
Click to expand...

You're not the only one to go through this. I bought a S/42/G Russian capture with a laminated stock similar to what you described. I tried blo like other guys had suggested. But it was a disaster like yours.

The blo never cured, always felt sticky and continued to stink weeks later.

I tried again with tung oil. It cured. But even the low gloss version still had to high a sheen for me.
 
This was once a nasty Yugo captured stock I got from J&G Sales which I cleaned up with Krud Kutter, steamed out the stock and used two coats of pure tung oil on. It took a few weeks to dry but I don't think it came out too bad.

 
bda said:
This was once a nasty Yugo captured stock I got from J&G Sales which I cleaned up with Krud Kutter, steamed out the stock and used two coats of pure tung oil on. It took a few weeks to dry but I don't think it came out too bad.

Click to expand...

Looks very nice! As you said you used Krud Kutter, I'm assuming you got the stock plenty wet when washing it. Did you sand your stock? Did your stock have fibers sticking up everywhere? Thanks.
 
I still maintain that you should experiment with sanding..do a small area in a hard to see place like the underside of the buttstock, use coarse paper like 100/120, go with the grain and just touch it enough to knock down the "furr".
You want an open grain, not polished wood like a table top.
The real issue, that remains to be "solved" (IMHO) is what to apply after the stock is stripped/sanded (or not), rubbed with steel wool or left alone.
So far everything I've experimented with darkens the wood too much...still can't figure out how the Germans came out with light/er stock shades having applied something or other.
 
karbinekrazy said:
Looks very nice! As you said you used Krud Kutter, I'm assuming you got the stock plenty wet when washing it. Did you sand your stock? Did your stock have fibers sticking up everywhere? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes I did get the stock wet and I lightly sanded it and then oiled it.
 
chasdev said:
I still maintain that you should experiment with sanding..do a small area in a hard to see place like the underside of the buttstock, use coarse paper like 100/120, go with the grain and just touch it enough to knock down the "furr".
You want an open grain, not polished wood like a table top.
The real issue, that remains to be "solved" (IMHO) is what to apply after the stock is stripped/sanded (or not), rubbed with steel wool or left alone.
So far everything I've experimented with darkens the wood too much...still can't figure out how the Germans came out with light/er stock shades having applied something or other.
Click to expand...


If one was to over-sand the stock and it was too smooth, is there a way to rough it back out?
 
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