Curly Maple stock finish

[Ray Pennington]

Gentleman, I have finally completed my .54 cal Hawken cap lock rifle, now in process of staining with Aqua Fortes & Tru Oil.   Question...... should I mount all my hardware, lock & triggers included, before I place the last coats of tru oil & stock wax?

Thanks

[smart dog]

Hi Ray,
To be honest with you, I fuss over this decision on every one of the 35+ guns gun I've built over the years.  Right now I install all the decorative inlays, ramrod thimbles, patchbox, sideplate, and buttplate before I do the final coats of finish. I put on the trigger, trigger guard, and lock after I am done.  You have to clean excess finish out of the mortices because it builds up and also swells the wood so be careful.  A funny thing, Ray, I always hate my work when I get to the stage of putting on the last finish.  I inevitably think they look like $#@*.  When the finish is done and polished or smoothed, I like them again.  Go figure.

dave

[Ray Pennington]

That's funny!!!     I feel about the same way!!   I thank you so much for the input..... your outline is what I was leaning towards.     This is my first build, .54 cal Bill Large barrel, 37 1/2" long, 1/60 twist, patent breech, TOW non inletted curly maple stock, Bob Roller lock & hawken style double set triggers, all iron hardware...  if I get a chance I'll post some pics, after I find out how!! Ha.    Pretty proud of this rifle, 5 months of work!!   Again, thank you!!

[Mauser06]

I've noticed many guys on here have furniture mounted when finishing.

I don't understand why.    Inlays and such that can't be removed and are fit and shaped with the stock I understand.


I slop finish into the inlets the first coat or 2 to help protect the wood and such..after that I keep them clean. I don't fill them or slop it thick..but the bare wood usually soaks up a heavy dose.


I finally sh the stock completely and then mount the furniture.  Just easier for me...and I usually rub out my finish with rottenstone so I don't want that working in between the wood and metal. 


Just my method and why...but I am FAR from a pro and looking to hear from the pros!

[Bob Roller]

That's funny!!!     I feel about the same way!!   I thank you so much for the input..... your outline is what I was leaning towards.     This is my first build, .54 cal Bill Large barrel, 37 1/2" long, 1/60 twist, patent breech, TOW non inletted curly maple stock, Bob Roller lock & hawken style double set triggers, all iron hardware...  if I get a chance I'll post some pics, after I find out how!! Ha.    Pretty proud of this rifle, 5 months of work!!   Again, thank you!!

Ray brought the triggers to me to install the trigger guard and harden the triggers. That guard was HARD
and I had to heat it to a red heat to make it flexible enough to install on the bar.It broke just behind the
bow a few days later.He had another one that I had to repeat the process on and so far so good.I am now
wondering if no quality control at all is coming back like it was in the 1970's and 80's on these parts.

Bob Roller

[SingleMalt]

Items like a patchbox that may not fit after finishing, I leave on the stock.  Everything else comes off.

[Ray Pennington]

Thanks to all for the great advice!!  Bob Roller has been a tremendous help in building this rifle, from the lock & triggers, many telephone calls, shop visits and machine work!!

[jerrywh]

 When I put my inlays in, including the patch boxes, I wax the heck out of them and make sure the edges are waxed with paste wax. That helps them come out of the cavity without damaging the integrity of the wood or finish.   I apply the finish up to the last few coats.  I then take out the patch box and clean it up. This is the best time to engrave it out of the gun. Then install and put on finish coat. A thin coat will often look good on the box.
   

[freddiej]

Be sure to take off the buttplate and seal the end grain of the stock, particularly if it is a hunting rifle to be used in wet weather. Every time you load, you are exposing the butt to moisture. A lot of old rifles show multiple checks in the wood in contact with the buttplate.Two ways to prevent that. Either way, do a very precise job of inletting the plate. After that, I wax the plate and screws to make them easy to remove later. Paint on a thin layer of Acra-Glas available from Brownells. Not traditional but effective. Or you can put two coats of Tru-Oil on the end grain. It should soak it up pretty fast.

[Scota4570]

I'd do most of the finishing with the hardware in place, where I could.   I'd take it off toward the end and then finish the metal.  By doing this way the inletting looks more perfect. 

I would not use true oil.  IMHO it has no good qualities.  Consiter using spar varnish.  You might get what ever Chambers is selling.   

I'm photo documenting a current build.  Finishing will be part of it.  I am planning to make a web page of it.   IF i get it done I'll post links here. 

Bashing trueoil is not very helpfull, let me try a little harder.  My current build is also a hawken. As with all finishing it has a few basic steps, smooth, fill, color, finish material.  Many forget about filling the grain.  It is extremely important. 

 My plan for finishing is to:
-Sand to 320 then scotchbrite
-raise the grain
-stain with aquafortis and dye stains
-Fill the grain with a dark paste filler

    That is how I start all stock jobs, next decide on what you want to achieve.  For a Hawken I would:

-spit coat with with mohawk tinted spray lacquer
-top coat with egg shell spar varnish or,

BLO, then slackum tinted with black iron oxide.  I now like old thick BLO the best followed by black Slackum.  It is the fastest and most fool proof. 

Original hawkens seem to have had a finish tinted, and on the wood.  IT wore off leaving pale places.  I would guess it was varnish with a dark dye in it?  Herb or Don Stith may be able to help. 

[smallpatch]

I don't know  what grain you'd fill in maple.
True for walnut, but not maple.

[Ray Pennington]

Thank you all for the advice!! I have the gun complete & will post pics after I find out how....

[David R. Pennington]

Smartdog, I know what you mean about the love hate thing. I tried some old homemade aqua fortis and it looked awful. I ended up scraping it back and making a new batch. Looks better. I quit on it for awhile. I think I like it better now with half a dozen coats of finish.

[Mikeh]

Scota4570, could you elaborate on the black slackum? Guess i'm not familiar with that. Thanks, Mikeh

[Ray Pennington]

I would like to post a few pics of my first build (Hawken)....... not sure how??

[FDR]

I would like to post a few pics of my first build (Hawken)....... not sure how??

See if this helps Ray:

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=43575.0

[Ray Pennington]

Thank you FDR