Refinishing a Curly Maple Stock

[canadianml1]

I finished one of my guns with Permalyn and have been disappointed with the result primarily because all the silver inlays were covered too and now they are discolored. There are several of them and most are very small .The stock has sheet, ribbon and wire inlays along with relief carving.

Removing the Permalyn on each inlay is not practical so what I would like to do is remove the Permalyn and refinish with Truoil. This will also give me an opportunity to lighten the color a bit before refinishing with Truoil as the stock has darkened with time. I am not sure about how to go about this and would appreciate the benefit of the experience of others more knowledgeable.

Please comment. Thanks

[Daryl]

A commercial finish stripper would work to remove the Permalyn, or simply sanding. I still like True Oil, but
have gravitated towards tung oil.  CIRCA 1850 Tung Oil to be exact - from Home Hardware stores. Just
make sure you give it a couple days between light, thin coats to harden properly between coats, with
etiher.

[smallpatch]

Permalyn is a very good finish.  You are getting into a lot more work than you bargained for, plus possibilities of damaging the carving and wire inlay.
I’d clean off the inlays if it were me.  A whole lot less work.

[Not English]

If it's maple, you might try 0000 steel wool lubricated with mineral spirits. If walnut - scotchbrite. I'd concentrate on the silver inlay areas and see where you are. If there's not much difference between the areas you've just done and the rest of the stock, I'd just scuff it up and use the finish of your choice, making sure it dries between coats. You might also consider that the silver is oxidizing due to age and weather. 0000 steel wool will take care of that.

[Curtis]

For removing Permalyn from inlays I use acetone on a q-tip, be careful to stay on target.  Acetone will soften the Permalyn better than most anything else IMHO.

Curtis

[Ron Scott]

I think Curtis has offered you a good solution. Keep the tip of your Q tip small and tight. Bright light and magnification will help as well.

[canadianml1]

A dozen or so inlays are small leaf shaped 1/16 x 3/16 inches in size so too small to clean off. Several others are nor much larger.