Stock refinishing

[gustav]

Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? I have refinished several gunstocks and have a recurrent problem. I strip old finish in acetone bath,raise dents, sand, and colour, using commercial wood stains.

However although I achieve a good finish with refined linseed oil and turpentine [with or without driers] the rubbing with this mixture always washes the stain out again. P.S. I have no interest in Tru-Oil.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Gustav.

[Pheasant Feeder]

My initial thoughts are that the turpentine might be acting as a solvent on the stain.

You could try using a 50:50 mix of boiled linseed oil and finishing oil and see if that works.

[johnphilip]

After you have stained the wood how long are you leaving it. The way i do it. B&Q do a very good stripper, it there own make. And it does not smell. One or two coats as required. Remove as much as you can. I then use a stanley blade. I give the wood a good soak in water. Hang it up till it dries.

Using the stanley blade is all about the right angle it better to scrape than sand. Sanding raises the grain in the wood.

When i stain the wood, on a good day can give it two coats. In total maybe 6 to 8 depending on the colour i am looking for.

Then leave it for a week, then i use Danish oil, and again as many coats as is needed.

[buze]

For the stanley blade, I agree, you ALWAYS get better results with a scraper than with a sander; for the blade, take a sharpening stone, and 'sharpen' the stanley blade in reverse; ie 'push' the blade at about 30 degree angle on the stone, to create a burr, then use that blade the other way around (burr down) to scrape. With a bit of practice and a nice sharpening stone, you can get amazing finishes with just the scrapper. Practice a little bit but you'll soon know when the burr you created is 'just right'... Make sure to redo it when it dulls.