Need guidance on refinishing stock

[Nessmuck]

Just wondering if any one has a good video of the refinishing process on a curly maple stock. I have it all sanded down to 400 grit.  Seen some iron nitrate used with a heat gun...then what products are used after that. Not looking for anyone’s secret sauce...but would like it to come out nice. I’ve been doing paint and bodywork on Corvettes and classic cars ....and new collision work...Pearls and Tri colors and show paint on cars...for the last 45 years.....but I know nothing about Wood refinishing. Thanks for any help

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Your stock needs to be whiskered prior to staining and finishing.  Take a piece of towel or a small sponge, wet it good, and wring out most of the running water.  Rub down the stock to wet all surfaces, and let it dry.  Sand it again to remove the grain that was raised from this wetting/drying.  You'll need to go through this tedious process several times to eliminate as much of the raised grain as you can.
By far the best stain for maple is Ferric Nitrate.  There are many many threads here that will give you the process for applying and treating FN, Tannic Acid, and various finishes...so a search will help you there.  Repeating it all again is redundant.

[Craig Wilcox]

Ness, you can use the FN to give definition to the curl pattern, then stains of your choice for the color in the non-curl portions.

Experiment on scraps until you reach a color you can live with.  And by all means follow Taylor's instructions on raising the grain.  You can use scrapers in lieu of sandpaper if you wish.

If you have no scraps to experiment on, use the inside of the barrel channel.

[Nessmuck]

Where’s a good place to buy the nitrate....and all the other stains and stuff. A list of your fav products would be helpful...and thanks

[Craig Wilcox]

Track, or Muzzleloading builders supply have both.

I generally keep all the Laurel Mountain Forge's stains on hand.  As well as the Ferric Nitrate stuff.  Experiment some, and dilute the stains if you need to.

I use small scraps of stock wood, and a Q-tip to apply stains.  just be sure to label them.  You can also mix some of the stains if you'd like a little more brown, or red, whatever.  there are also finishing products with various colors that you could use.

I've never seen a blue or green rifle, so perhaps you could surprise us all.

[Nessmuck]

So...after you use the heat gun with the nitrate.....you then move to stain....and what is used after that ?

[Pete G.]

0000 steel wool, a thorough wiping and several hand wiped coats of a good oil finish. I prefer Homer Formby's tung oil finish.

[Dwshotwell]

Jim Kibler has videos on finishing his Colonial kit with Ferric Nitrate. Walks through the process. It is (of course) one of the last videos in that series. Worth watching if you’ve never used it - the first time your stock turns green/black/grey can be a bit unsettling otherwise!

Just type Jim Kibler Colonial into the You Tube machine and it should come up.

[Bob Gerard]

I don't know of any specific videos to refer to, but I would surely agree with the folks above! Yes, raise the grain several times before the final finish goes down. Just as a thought, if you 'polish' the wood too much prior to applying your stain or solution, the wood will not absorb as much as if you leave the surface with some 'tooth'. I do a 220 grit for final sanding. Because I finish my stock with Boiled Linseed Oil (many, many applications[ once a day for the first month, rubbed in well) the process of rubbing the oil into the wood will result is a super soft, smooth sheen.
One consideration for color is to use powdered dyes. You can mix a variety of colors to get the color you want (use a spare piece of similar wood). I suggest using water as a medium, as oil will not penetrate as well and alchohol will leave witness marks which can be a bear to deal with.
Good luck!

[deepcreekdale]

Since your original question was what to do AFTER heat treating with nitrate and stains, and hardly anyone answered your question, let me suggest you use Jim Chambers oil finish. First coat goes on fairly heavily, so it can soak into the wood, a nice thing about Chambers finish is that it does not tend to run. Let it dry for 24 hours or so, then apply the next coat as thinly as possible with a lint free rag, again letting it sit at least overnight. I find that 2-3 thin coats, rubbed in with a lint free cloth gives a nice matte finish. If you want more gloss, just rub in a few more thin coats. When cured, I use Briewax to protect it. some people like to mess around with other finishes and that is fine, it is part of the fun of this. But, since I make money doing this, I don't have time to monkey around with finishes that take weeks or months to set up and may or may not provide any protection to the wood.

[Top Jaw]

If you don’t have any scrap, PM me your address, and I’ll send you a few scrap pieces of curly maple to practice on for the cost of shipping.  But I agree, if you don’t have any scrap wood from this gun, your final test run should be in the barrel channel, as every piece takes stain slightly different.

[Nessmuck]

So.....just one coat of iron nitrate and heat ? Or do that step twice ?

[Dwshotwell]

I’m no expert, but on mine I did two coats, blushing and rubbing back in between.

[Dennis Glazener]

Where’s a good place to buy the nitrate....and all the other stains and stuff. A list of your fav products would be helpful...and thanks

https://www.laballey.com/products/ferric-nitrate-lab?currency=USD&variant=7218992021563&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImaWYkdjC7wIVSuWzCh1k2w2OEAQYAyABEgJghPD_BwE

https://www.sciencecompany.com/-P6384C670.aspx?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImaWYkdjC7wIVSuWzCh1k2w2OEAQYASABEgJ_XPD_BwE

[Nessmuck]

Thanks Everyone for all the input .