AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: Curmudgeon on December 22, 2023, 08:49:57 PM
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I want to darken a maple stock that is finished with linseed oil. Is Danglers a water based stain or will it work on top of a linseed oil? If it won't work, any recommendations for making the finish darker. I am fond of the aged darker look of Kit Carson's rifle in Santa Fe. If I can't find a recipe to darken the finish, I'll give the bone black a try shown in Kibler's videos. And why exactly is in Dangler's? It smells like alcohol to me.
Carson's rifle and mine I want to refinish:
(https://i.ibb.co/MGTtv4s/DSC-0292.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fnRyg52)
(https://i.ibb.co/hYyF4hg/DSC-0007.jpg) (https://ibb.co/dmr4V1f)
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Pretty sure it's alcohol based
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The linseed oil has made changing the color more challenging than it needs to be. It is done.
I would use dye stains.
https://laurelmountainforge.com/stain.htm
I'd get the black one, the red one and a brown one.
Strip off all the linseed you can with a solvent. Lacquer thinner, acetone, automotive finishing degreaser, use what you have.
Use the stain by diluting it and making many passes. Adjust he color as you proceed.
The real Hawken pictured looks to have used color in the varnish. You can tint varnish with the dye stains above. There will be a learning curve and test pieces.
You can add bone black to your finish to get the old timie black look too. It may take many coats.
Stop using linseed oil if you want it to like like the Hawken pictured.
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Just remember, those old 175 year old stocks have oxidized and aged, much like the WW1 and WW2 rifles. The darken and turn a reddish brown color. That Hawken probably didn't look like that new.
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The nice thing about linseed oil is you can do about anything over it. Even try stains. It will either get dark as you like, or not quite, and then you can start "stripping" but really there isn't much to strip, it's pretty much bare wood. You can also put stains in the next finish you put over the top.