Finding all the fine scratches

[VP]

What help does anyone have in finding all the fine scratches and imperfections that show up perfectly when the stain and finish does on the stock. It seems no matter how hard I look there are some that are missed. Any trade secrets that can be revealed? I am in that stage now and looking for help.

Van

[Stophel]

I can't help you at all.  I have a hard time seeing the surface of the wood when it is still white.

 

[Acer Saccharum]

Heard this here, (or made it up) but never tried it:

stain the stock with yellow food coloring. the scratches will show up as dark. The yellow is light enough to be stained over.

[smshea]

That works!

[J. Talbert]

I rely on inspecting the work with bright light at low angle.  You can even turn out the other shop lights, and use only a bright work light at very low angle to the work.  Rotate the light from multiple directions, always at low angle.  This will accentuate any imperfections by casting shadows.

This works well for me.

Jeff

[Dphariss]

What help does anyone have in finding all the fine scratches and imperfections that show up perfectly when the stain and finish does on the stock. It seems no matter how hard I look there are some that are missed. Any trade secrets that can be revealed? I am in that stage now and looking for help.

Van

They usually show when the stock is wet for grain raising. But one has to look CLOSE. Usually by the time I have done numerous grain raising these thing are gone. Most of the time. But staining can show a great many things we don't want.

Dan

[Lucky R A]

    A dilute coat of LMF Honey Maple will make the imperfections stand out, and is a nice base coat for future applications of stain.

[Acer Saccharum]

    A dilute coat of LMF Honey Maple will make the imperfections stand out, and is a nice base coat for future applications of stain.

Lucky, if I do a dilute honey stain, can I stain with Aqua Fortis later?

[VP]

As a follow up question, if you would use a light colored stain, and have discovered some repairs that would need to be made, is it hard to match up the stains or do the darker stains applied later hide the repairs? Thanks for the suggestions.

Van

[elk killer]

take it out in the natural sunlight
flouresent type lights are very bad for trying to find scratches
either bright sunlight or just a regular bulb
the natural sunlight ,,you can turn the stock all kinds of different angles..
find all kinds of different scratches and dings

[Don Getz]

I use some yellow stain in water and use this to raise the grain.  It helps to see those imperfections, and at that stage
you are still sanding on the stock anyway.    It seem that no matter what I do, after I have several coats of finish on the
stock I am still finding rasp marks, etc. on the stock.   I guess that is why I have relegated my gunbuilding to plain, barn
type guns....inexpensive, and those little marks become character marks..........Don

[VP]

Thanks again for the suggestions. For the record I found some yellow Sol-Lux stain that I had and I diluted it way down with alcohol. I applied it to the stock and it did its job. I found the inevitable scratches and rough spots. I fixed them and slightly sanded the yellow stain and it never showed when I applied the final color. Works for me. Love this site!

[Acer Saccharum]

You might be able to use an alcohol base stain, such as LMF, and do an alcohol wipe to dilute and fade the yellow stain after the blemishes are found and cared for.

[California Kid]

Sound like what he did!