gunstock refinishing

[hawkeye]

hello guys,
i,m a very new in building guns.I bought a flintlock assembled but no carving or patchbox or so.
did some woodcarving before and now I wonna refinish the gun with patchbox and some carving.

for the stock refinishing: do I just sand old finish away or are there other or better metods to get the job done?

thanks ahead

hawkeye

[WadePatton]

I'm a scraper, with sandy papers only used for very sparingly.

Depends somewhat on the compatibility of the old finish and your intended finish.  There are many different concoctions used.

Tell us what you plan on finishing it with and some will be able to advise further.  I'm no expert.  Also maybe test some new finish over the old to see how they "compat". That way you might save yourself the hassle of removing all the old finish.

[alacran]

I would use a good stripper first, like Jasco. Follow their directions most old varnish type finishes come off fairly easy. Scotch brite pads and plastic putty knives. The directions say to use water to rinse the stuff off, but further on it says you can use mineral spirits to rinse.
It saves a lot of work and sandpaper.

[Dave Marsh]

I am not an expert either but have always used Citristrip and scrapers on guns and any other refinishing job.  The Citristrip does the job and wife doesn't mind the smell.  Good luck.

Dave

[hawkeye]

Trying to get rid of the old finish and stain, do carving and patch box and finish new with tannic acid and iron nitrate from Kibler

[WadePatton]

Trying to get rid of the old finish and stain, do carving and patch box and finish new with tannic acid and iron nitrate from Kibler

Then I'd strip it and scrap it and go right on with the program. You might test the tannic and AF combo on a "thick" or unseen area to see how dark it's going to come out. Easier to darken than lighten your finish in the end. Some wood has plenty of tannin in it.

But then a lot of folks like to make 'em dark as night and rub it back to the color they want.  Mind your fine edges when blushing so you don't scorch them.

[heinz]

Focus on getting the old finish off.  You can tell when you are good by wetting the stock with water.  If the water wets the stock the finish is sufficiently removed.  Scrape the stock and avoid sandpaper.  You will net to de-whisker the stock with a sharp scraper each time you apply the Kibler stain.  Any remains of the old stain after the finish is removed will just blend in