HELP! - Finishing a turn of the century Greener shotgun stock

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Hello Finishing experts:

My FIL has this turn-of-the Century W.W. Greener side-by-side that he inherited from his grandfather. Back around 1930, his grandfather cut off the butt and butt plate (due to his stature) and threw it in a cigar box. The end was found recently, my FIL and I reattached it (the butt plate had been glued AND screwed so no way to remove) and he wanted me to try to match the finish. (He spoke with Greener's great-great grandson who now runs the company, but he couldn't tell us the finish they'd used ... guessed a concoction of BLO and or shellac ...) I sanded the reattachment smooth and told him that I didn't think I'd be able to just throw some Tru-Oil on and call it good. I got him to agree to let me sand it more uniformly but I didn't chemically strip (see second pix).

I then applied multiple coats of Tru-Oil waiting days between reapplications and then let it sit for weeks. (It looked really nice as in the 3rd picture). When I began to buff yesterday, it smoothed out, but was dull on much of the stock and shiny on others. I used wet micro mesh with the rubber pad for this purpose.

He wants to pick the gun stock up next week so he can show it off to his friends . . . yikes.

Anyone know of a quick fix I can use? I'm thinking of a coat or two of dewaxed shellac to hide the dull / shiny spots? (And yes, I've told him. I'm not trying to "hide" anything but the uglies! :D) He's almost 80 and is getting understandably impatient.

Thanks in advance for any advice!


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[John TenEyck]

Got a photo of what it looks like now? If it's dull in some spots but glossy in others, and that applies to the areas you did not repair, I'd guess it's because the micromesh was bridging and only hitting the high spots. If so, you should be able to get a uniform sheen by using a softer pad on the micromesh and also by working your way up to higher grits. If you get desperate and just want a uniform satin sheen, you could use 0000 steel wood with wool lube or paste wax.

John

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Thank you John! I'll try to get a picture of the current look tonight when I get home from work. Appreciate the help!
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Added disclosure: Last night after rubbing out the day before and seeing the splotchy-ness, I added a thin coat more of oil rubbing with 1200 grit wet/dry, let it sit for about 30 minutes and rubbed it off. It didn't do anything. You'll see near the thumb rest (flute) in pic 2 and along the underside from toe to trigger it has more shine. That is actually the sheen I would like to end up with which is why I thought dewaxed shellac might be an easy cure.

[John TenEyck]

The first photo in your latest post looks like there is some sort of contamination, like maybe glue, that is preventing the finish from getting down into the grain of the wood. If that's the case, there's no cure except to sand/strip/scrape it back to bare wood and start anew. I can't see what you describe with respect to the second photo so I can't offer any help.

John

[Tom M King]

I think you're going to just have to tell him that it's close, but the schedule it wants will not fit a quick deadline. Tell him it will be worth the wait. Maybe take it, and show it to him, and tell him why you need to keep working on it.

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Thank you Tom. I think you may be right.

Anyone with thought on sanding down a bit and applying a couple thin coats of dewaxed blond shellac?

Work? No?


I think you're going to just have to tell him that it's close, but the schedule it wants will not fit a quick deadline. Tell him it will be worth the wait. Maybe take it, and show it to him, and tell him why you need to keep working on it.

[Richard Coers]

If the gun is going to be used in the field, shellac doesn't have moisture resistance. I will get a bit cloudy. But it strips off with DNA and then you could put the correct finish on it latter.

[John TenEyck]

Thank you Tom. I think you may be right.

Anyone with thought on sanding down a bit and applying a couple thin coats of dewaxed blond shellac?

Work? No?

If that area in photo #1 is from glue or some other contamination under the finish, shellac on top isn't going to fix it.

John

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Just to clear up the guesses . . . there is no glue unless it is from 100 years ago. I did not chemically remove all of the old (unknown) finish, just a light sanding down to dull as shown in the pic below . . .

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

439004439003439005Here is the final after a few hours of buffing on my “Don Pencil” lathe-based buffing system. Thanks for everyone who gave input!

[Adam Herman]

it looks good.

are you sure that its not oil or cleaner from cleaning the action for years? it may just need a wipe down with some hoppes to make it look like the rest of the stock.

my wooden stock rifles, while not nearly as old, look nice and shiny after i clean the rest of the gun and wipe them down after.