Andy135 Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 I've been a bit of a lurker on PW since I joined, so its about time I contributed a bit. I thought I'd share how I refinished the stock of a 1969 AYA Yeoman bought recently from a Holts sealed bid auction. This was the first time I've tried anything like this so it was a learning experiment for me. I'm posting this on the off-chance that it might be of interest. As I bought the gun unseen (apart from a single photo & brief description on the Holts website) I wasn't quite sure what condition it would be in when it finally arrived. As it happens it was mechanically sound, with only very minor scuffing of the left chamber, good bores and good bore thicknesses (left .035", right .040" - much more than the recommended minimum of .020"). It had a very minor dent in the right barrel, so minor that I didn't detect it, but the keen eyes of Frank, my local gunsmith, spotted it and straightened it out in less than a minute with a barrel dent raiser and a 4oz hammer. Overall it was in reasonably good condition, and Frank & I suspect that it's not seen much use in it's forty or so years. It has most of its original colour hardening and the bluing also appears to be original and in good condition, even on the top lever which suggests that it's not been opened that often. So far so good. However the stock had seen better days - numerous cabinet marks, scratches and dents, plus what looks suspiciously like a hole made by a woodworm - but at least this suggests that the gun has been left in store for a number of years instead of being used. The stock as it was originally. Dents to the hand of the stock Dents in the forend wood Before stripping the factory varnish I removed all the metalwork from the forend and remove the action from the stock. In order to avoid stripping the heads of the screws with regular screwdrivers I made up some DIY turnscrew bits from few old screwdriver bits I had by filing down either side of the bit to leave it straight and parallel. DIY turnscrew bits To remove the forend extractor mechanism I removed the dome-headed screw from the underside of the forend and then the small screw on the top side that passes through the diamond-shaped washer. Once this screw was removed, the washer itself was gently tapped out with a pin punch. Using a pin punch to tap out the washer from behind The washer working loose Moving onto the stock, in order to remove the action the first screw to remove was the trigger guard screw, followed by the trigger guard itself, which simply winds out on a threaded pin at the front of the guard. Trigger guard removed from stock & action Then the rear trigger plate screw was removed, followed by the top tang screw, which is located under the top lever - the top lever must be pushed in order to gain access to the screw head. Once these are removed, the last screw to undo was the trigger plate screw, which was the largest and most difficult to get turning. Once removed the trigger plate was tapped loose by passing a pin punch between the flats of the action until it met the underside of the trigger plate. One or two taps and it worked loose. At this point the action, trigger plate and stock all parted company and the gun was fully stripped down. Yeoman in component form The next step was to strip the factory finish, in this case a layer of varnish with added stain/colour. I used Nitromors brushed onto the wood and left a minute or two to bubble & blister. Paint-stripping the factory finish I removed the Nitromors by gently scrubbing with 0000 gauge wire wool and most of the varnish came off with one coat but one or two stubborn spots needed a second coat & scrub. After finishing all the paint-stripping, the wood turned out to be very light. Nice clean wood but lighter than expected I chose to remove the worst of the dents in the wood by covering them with a damp tea towel and ironing them - I was a little sceptical at first that this method would work, but work it does, and very nicely too. Some of the deeper dents took a couple of goes to remove, and one or two dents just wouldn't disappear but on the whole I was impressed at how easy and effective this technique turned out to be. Next I sanded the wood down with fine grade sandpaper to remove any grain that had risen during the stripping and ironing - it was easy to tell as the surface feels almost gritty to the touch and reflects light in a different way to the rest of the wood. The aim here was to remove as little wood as possible, just to flatten down the grain to an even, smooth finish. At this point I toyed with the idea of applying a stain to the wood - I have a bottle of Birchwood Casey walnut stain but it comes out of the bottle very dark, almost black and I thought that this would mask all of the grain & figuring. I hoped that the Tru-Oil I planned to use to finish the wood would darken it up as well. As it turned out it did darken it but not as much as I was hoping. The stock darkened a little as the first coat of Tru-Oil went on Next time I do this I'll use some stain, perhaps diluted 50/50 with water and give it a couple of coats until I get the right shade & depth. Given that this is the first time I've tried this, I'll chalk it up to experience (or lack of it) and learn for next time. Stock after the first coat of Tru-Oil The Tru-Oil went on nicely - the hard part I found was avoiding smudging bits I'd already coated as I worked my way around the stock. The first four coats I left for 24 hours and then rubbed down gently with 0000 wire wool to remove some runs and smudges. The 5th and 6th coats went on with no rubbing down in between - these were very light, thin coats dabbed on by a finger and rubbed in by the palm of the hand until the dab spread out. After the 6th coat had dried the finish was looking pretty good (to me at least!). So now all that was left was to put it all back together again. This was the part I'd been looking forward to the most; seeing the gun with a shiny new stock & forend. Collection of shiny parts ready for reassembly Reassembled gun Some before & after pics... Forend dents: before Forend dents: after Dents at hand: before Dents at hand: after ironing, sanding and Tru-Oil Next time round, I'd definitely want to stain the wood before finishing, but apart from I'm pretty pleased with the way it all turned out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gozzy Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Job well done , another very nice aya , are you keeping it or moving it on to do another ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted August 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Thanks Gozzy. I'm planning to keep it to use this season as it fits me nicely, then not sure. I might redo the stock with a walnut stain to see if I can improve it further or I might put it up on Gunwatch and make room in the cabinet for another stock to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulr5604 Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Very nice work looks like New Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgguinness Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Looks lovely mate, very well done. I have a No.4, an early one, 1963 I believe. The wood is very shiney, like a varnish and I plan on a reblue and some tlc to the wood. May I ask, how long did it take you to complete? Regards Jonathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archiebald Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 That looks very nice. I recently did my AYA yoeman in the same way you have done yours and it also came out great. Its a satisfying job when its finnished and looks good. just dont tell your mates or they will all want you to do theres lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted August 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 (edited) Thanks Jonathan, in total it took me a week, and most of that was waiting for the oil to dry between coats. Each coat took me half an hour to apply properly, and I did six coats, leaving 24 hours between each coat, but the preparation before oiling took me two and a half hours - roughly as follows... Taking it apart took me about half an hour, going slowly and being careful not to strip any of the screw heads. The paint-stripping of the old finish took about an hour, again going slowly and thoroughly. Ironing out the dents took me half an hour. Sanding down the grain and general cleaning up of the woodwork before oiling took about 15 mins. Reassembly was the quickest part, only 15 mins to put it all together once the last coat of oil had dried. Edited August 30, 2012 by Andy135 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ace_of_hearts Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Fantastic thread I have just bought an AYA Yeoman and it needs the stock refinishing. I will probably send mine off though for the price of getting somebody else to do it, and it will probably be a better job. I am still very tempted though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgguinness Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 (edited) Cheers Andy, thanks for the info. I fancy doing mine before the start of the pheasant season. Was it easy to maintain the detail of the chequering?? Personally I would prefer mine to be a little darker in colour but yours still looks ace. Well done Edited August 30, 2012 by jgguinness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted August 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Fantastic thread I have just bought an AYA Yeoman and it needs the stock refinishing. I will probably send mine off though for the price of getting somebody else to do it, and it will probably be a better job. I am still very tempted though It's really not as difficult as you think. Just take your time, don't rush it & you'll be fine. This was my first attempt & it turned out ok, I reckon, so I'm sure you'll be able to do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted August 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Cheers Andy, thanks for the info. I fancy doing mine before the start of the pheasant season. Was it easy to maintain the detail of the chequering?? Personally I would prefer mine to be a little darker in colour but yours still looks ace. Well done The chequering was actually ok to do. I cleaned it up by working the paint stripper into the grooves with an old toothbrush, then cleaned off the toothbrush before using it to clear out all the old stripped finish. I then went through the worst grooves with the blunt side of a dinner knife, to redefine them where necessary. Then, I only put a single coat of Tru-Oil on the chequering, to avoid clogging it and losing definition. I agree that a darker colour would have been better, and I was in two minds about staining it. Seems that all the colour of the original stock was in the original varnish finish, not the wood itself. Next time I will definitely use stain, just lack of experience that stopped me from doing it this time round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon pete Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 great job ,well i got to do mine now ,will be a nice winter project ,thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archiebald Posted August 31, 2012 Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 As a rough guide to stain darkness before tru-oil goes on i put a drop of water on the stock and smear it with my finger, then when the tru-oil goes on thats roughly the shade it will be. I used the birchwood casey stain before but didnt like it so used whikses own brand antique pine instead and the colour and grain pattern looked loads better in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lampwick Posted August 31, 2012 Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 Great job and write up. I did the same to mine a couple of years ago. The wood is light on mine too but I quite like it! Now get out and shoot it mine had a run out on this week always enjoy taking it for a walk. 3 pigeons and a rook. Lampy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimboozle Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 bought a yeoman a couple of days ago. Guess I know what I'm doing over my christmas week off work.. thanks for the detailed explanation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphant59 Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Recently given my AYA No4 16b the same treatment and I also discovered the stock was much lighter when the original finish was removed. I tried staining with some Texas (long gone diy store) American Walnut stain. I've hand oiled the stock but its still too light. Can anyone recommend a shade of probably better quality stain eg Coldron that will give me a dark redy brown colour? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsdad Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 I have just finished the first cost of tru oil on my Birmingham made boxlock. I used birch wood casey walnut stain and applied two neat coats - I agree it does look dark out of the bottle but I wanted a dark finish - it actually dries a lot lighter though. Lots more coats of oil to be done over the coming week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Funker Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 I'm coming to the end of re finishing the stock on my HW60 22LR It really is a process you needn't be daunted by. I used the Birchwood Casey kit cost around £15, I diluted the stain and used 2 coats. I'm on about the 7th coat of Tru Oil now and it looks great!!! Well worth doing it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 bought a yeoman a couple of days ago. Guess I know what I'm doing over my christmas week off work.. thanks for the detailed explanation! You're welcome Jim. The whole process is actually very easy. I've just finished doing the stock on my Browning too. Will post up here shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 I have just finished the first cost of tru oil on my Birmingham made boxlock. I used birch wood casey walnut stain and applied two neat coats - I agree it does look dark out of the bottle but I wanted a dark finish - it actually dries a lot lighter though. Lots more coats of oil to be done over the coming week. OscarsDad, that looks very nice. I have the same stain but was hesitant to use it as it looked too dark. If it gives a finish like yours then it looks like I had nothing to worry about. Good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted December 17, 2014 Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 (edited) A thread worth resurrecting me thinks! ... followed to the letter and photo's. Alll in bits in 10 minutes. Stock/forend stripped today. Wood slightly better grained than l'd been.lead to anticipate. l'm thinking of a darker look then Andy135, just personal preference, something similar to Oscarsdad stock, colour wise. Thanks Andy135 ... you're post was very helpful .. atb Edited December 17, 2014 by hoggysreels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamr Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Hi Guys, first of all many thanks for the thread, it as given me the confidence to attempt striping and refinishing a English box lock I have just purchased, the only issue I have is the stock looks like burl walnut, very marble effect, what kind of oil or finish would you use? To enhance the wood. Cheers williamr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshwarrior Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Dragons blood will highlight the colour variance to show off the grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Id like to enhance the stock and have a semi sheen to the stock.... whether thats possible on low grade stock, lm unsure .. just know l enjoyed doing my webley .410 stock .. very therapeutic ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshwarrior Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Id like to enhance the stock and have a semi sheen to the stock.... whether thats possible on low grade stock, lm unsure .. just know l enjoyed doing my webley .410 stock .. very therapeutic ! Its possible to enhance any stock and get a semi sheen (gloss) finish do expect to turn it into grade 6 wood though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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