[phirel]

Raffaele- The only way to enhance the grain without making a mess is to select a stain that will increase the contrast between the soft and hard sections of each grain. On some stocks, an oil penetrating stain will do this better than a water based stain but on really hard stocks, the water base stain works a little better.

I am out of the stock business but at one time did a lot of them. I loved to checker. For me, sanding the wood with nothing finer than 240 grit worked best. The very fine paper, like 400 grit seemed to burnish the wood and prevent the stain from penetrating. The purpose of sanding the wood is to remove scratches. The gloss finish is achieved by sanding the finish with fine paper and then buffing on a soft wheel in a drill press. I used a lacquer filler and automotive lacquer finishes. Not quite as durable as some other finishes but it is quick and easy to apply if you are set up with a series of spray guns. This produces a very high gloss finish. It can be toned down is desired with different grits of rubbing compound.


Pat Ireland

 

[phirel]

Also, it should be clear to everyone reading this thread that there are many ways to get a nice stock finish. All of them require filling up the pores in the wood to get a nice smooth finish. It takes a little time for each individual to develop a method that works well for him. The first try might require sanding everything off again and starting over.

Pat Ireland

 

[phirel]

ftlupton- I did the same process you used but with different material. When I was doing a lot of woodwork and some stocks on the side, I had 55 gallon drums of lacquer, lacquer filler and lacquer thinner in my shop. I would allow no more than three hours maximum working time for one stock. The three hours were spread over three days. I would sand between coats and after the final coat, rub the finish with very fine steel wool. That was the only time steel wool touched the stock. I did my final buffing with fine automobile rubbing compound. The rubbing compound was applied lightly to a very soft 8 inch buffing wheel. I then applied some water and liquid furniture wax to the wheel, chucked it in a drill press and buffed. This made a great mess when I turned on the drill press. One minute of buffing would do the stock, two minutes would cut through the finish. My finish did come out with the high gloss "plastic" look, not the soft oil finish look you prefer. We went through the same basic steps to end up with a different type of finish. I also believe we went through the same learning process that takes some time.

Pat Ireland

 

[phirel]

Joe- The only way I was able to take care of the checkering was to rechecker the stock after finishing it. Checkering is fun. If you clean the checkering with a stiff tooth brush and some wax/thinner compound first, then sand with great care and use a finish that is applied with your hand or a rag, you might get a nice finish without recheckering.

My finish system involve spraying the stock, including the checkering and then recutting the checkering. Most of the used stocks I did needed the checkering recut. On a new stock, I would finish the wood and then checker it after the finish job.

I liked to use several coats of sander sealer that could be sanded 45 minutes after application to fill the pores and a final finish that could be sanded about 1.5 hours after application. This technique resulted in a thicker layer of finish over the wood similar to a factory finish. I was never a big fan of the thin layer of an oil finish that was in the wood and not on the wood. That finish looks very nice but does not offer a real good protective layer over the wood. It also takes a lot of time. I have done it on "show guns" but for a gun that gets a lot of heavy use, my personal preference is for a heaver finish on top of the wood. The only factory guns I am aware of that do not use a heavy finish over the wood have a retail price of $25,000 or more. They are looked at much and used little.

Pat Ireland

 

[phirel]

Joe, The few times I have tried to mask off an area I was always left with a ridge at the edge of the masking. You could try it and perhaps the final polishing might get rid of the ridge. I would polish the final finish with a large, soft wheel in a drill press. Does a great job and makes a great mess.

Pat Ireland

 

[phirel]

Mike- I would first try using automotive paste wax. Put some in the checkering area and use a worn tooth brush to scrub out the area. Follow the existing checker lines. Then coat the entire stock with the automotive wax and see if you are happy with the job.

If you want more, you could lightly remove some surface scratches with 0000 steel wool and then polish with an automotive rubbing/polishing compound. Use the finest grit possible. This procedure can be a little tricky and lacking some experience, you could really mess up things.

Pat Ireland