Stripping Varnish

[Noddy without Bigears]

Just a quick question, I need to strip the varnish off my sbs as it's flaked in places, what would you recommend?

ultimately I'd like to give it an oil finish.

[beatingisbest]

nitromors

[markbivvy]

do a search of stuart p,s threads, he did a good step by step of this in one.

 

nitro mors,( spelling) by the way.

 

http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/ind...showtopic=14534

[Noddy without Bigears]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, cheers lads much appreciated.

[mry716]

Nitro Mors is a super product BUT.........

 

For gun-stocks you may find problems when you refinish - Not always but you could do.

Generally the wood used on the types of guns we normally wish to refinish is quite open and soft and will soak up the chemical and it will not all be washed out when we wash the stock to remove the stripped finish. Then weeks later when its a warm day the chemicals start to surface and affect your new finish.

 

Because I have found out the hard way and because there is no solution to such a problem I always scrap off the old finish by hand.

 

Its quite a simple and quick job once you get used to holding a 'Stanley' blade between finger and thumb at the right angle. Always scrap towards you with the blade about 45 degrees and in as long a scrap as possible. Use enough force to scratch and remove some of the top surface and do it 2 or 3 times to get down to clean wood. Around the areas that are difficult to get a full blade into I used a curved one with the same technique.

 

When most of the finish is removed start with Wet and Dry paper. Do Not Use Sandpaper as the grit comes off and you cannot get sufficient variants of grit size. Start with 180 grit then when all the bits of finish you have left are removed use 360 all over with the grain only and then 500 or 600 grit.

 

Whisker at least 3 times leaving 3-5 hours to dry between and then grain fill and oil finish.

 

It sounds a lot of work but actually takes considerably less time than you may imagine.

 

Good Luck !

[Finnclassic]

MRY is correct. I have spent many hours scraping off varnish. I thought I would butt in with a little tip though. Take an old pane of glass and smash it in a box, the straightish edged pieces then make excellent sharp scapers (using a rag to hold them).

 

I used glass when restoring old wooden ladders for museum displays, it takes a while to do a 10.5 extension ladder!

[Dave 101]

Nitro mors is good for stripping varnish but it is a job that needs a lot of patience and time not the sort of thing to be done in a day . Iwas a joiner by trade and I have done several stocks . you need to apply NM in as thick a layer as you can leave it till looks almost dry then scrape it off onto old news paper , wear gloves and goggles and have plenty of vetilation . a small scrubbing brush or tooth brush are good for the chequering . you will need to do this twice for best results , wire wool is also good or scourers for getting around the curves . then it needs to be washed in hot water and scrubbed , dont breath the fumes . thorughly dry , when it is hot and wet the fibres expand so you will loose some of the small dents in the wood work . then it needs to be slowly dried avoid direct heat . then all the preparation of the wood for refinishing has to be done . restain oil you can get kits for that . If I was you dont try your best gun first . the whole job is going to take a couple of weeks to get a good finish . hope it looks good

MRY is correct. I have spent many hours scraping off varnish. I thought I would butt in with a little tip though. Take an old pane of glass and smash it in a box, the straightish edged pieces then make excellent sharp scapers (using a rag to hold them).

 

I used glass when restoring old wooden ladders for museum displays, it takes a while to do a 10.5 extension ladder!

 

 

one very important thing i forgot after it has dried wash it down in meths this neutralises the chemicals in th NM . quote name='Dave 101' date='Dec 31 2006, 12:22 AM' post='254013']

Nitro mors is good for stripping varnish but it is a job that needs a lot of patience and time not the sort of thing to be done in a day . Iwas a joiner by trade and I have done several stocks . you need to apply NM in as thick a layer as you can leave it till looks almost dry then scrape it off onto old news paper , wear gloves and goggles and have plenty of vetilation . a small scrubbing brush or tooth brush are good for the chequering . you will need to do this twice for best results , wire wool is also good or scourers for getting around the curves . then it needs to be washed in hot water and scrubbed , dont breath the fumes . thorughly dry , when it is hot and wet the fibres expand so you will loose some of the small dents in the wood work . then it needs to be slowly dried avoid direct heat . then all the preparation of the wood for refinishing has to be done . restain oil you can get kits for that . If I was you dont try your best gun first . the whole job is going to take a couple of weeks to get a good finish . hope it looks good

MRY is correct. I have spent many hours scraping off varnish. I thought I would butt in with a little tip though. Take an old pane of glass and smash it in a box, the straightish edged pieces then make excellent sharp scapers (using a rag to hold them).

 

I used glass when restoring old wooden ladders for museum displays, it takes a while to do a 10.5 extension ladder!

[Noddy without Bigears]

Dave101

 

Thanks for the additional info, will be starting the strip very soon, will post pics of results or mess.