Comerkershaw Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 (edited) Hi All, My godfather recently gave me his Webley Vulcan springer. edit... It's a MKIII Carbine...! Being a little bored in lockdown I decided to give it a bit of a spruce up! A few caveats I only have a limited amount of materials/tools available. I have no woodwork/carpentry skills whatsoever! This was my first project of this type. It was primarily for fun. Annoyingly I didn't take any 'before' photographs of the gun complete but after a quick strip down here is the stock in original form: First step was removing the varnish/stained finish. I covered the gun in varnish remover and wrapped in cling film for half an hour, then began to scrape off the varnish with a plastic tub i'd cut up (see points above about limited tool resources!) I'll come back to this point but it proved incredibly difficult! I then rubbed the stock down with 80 grade sandpaper by hand: I then moved onto 120 grade sandpaper: So it's starting to look better, but as you can see not all the staining has been fully taken off yet... My arms were hurting by this point! Edited April 16, 2020 by Comerkershaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 Slow and steady, keep it going, looking forward to the result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comerkershaw Posted April 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 I then moved onto the 240 grade: After a LOT of rubbing down I still wasn't happy with certain areas, in particular the cheek rest and the inside of the grip, it just seemed still to be quite stained. So, reluctantly, I got the 120 grade back out and went over those areas again, then again with the 240, my arms felt like they were going to drop off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strimmer_13 Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 Same as above, spend most of my time looking at stock making and refinishing on here 👍 Make a cabinet scraper if need be, Stanley blades or a piece of broken glass will do, even a sharpened spatula I've used in a fix Gotta say the grain on that is lovely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comerkershaw Posted April 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 After a significant amount of rubbing down I felt it was time to move onto staining... As noted above I have a very limited amount of materials available, and so I had to come up with my own concoction, made up anything I could find! First went a nice layer of lineed oil: After this came the following comerkershaw special mix: 50% white spirit 25% varnish 25% linseed oil I applied this mix, allowed to dry for 4 hours then rubbed down with fine wire wool. I repeated this process three times. After noticing lint from the microfibre cloth (and i'm sure it absorbed most of my mix!) I switched to a paint brush but that left noticeable streaks... So I cracked out the trusty air compressor: I then used this to apply one further special mix, followed by 2 No. layers of pure varnish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmboy91 Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 TC is spot on, don't rush. I know it's a pain when you have to go back over a bit your not happy with but it's worth it in the end. Looking forward to following this one 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.C Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 (edited) Was just about to write nice looking stock. Beech isn't it? Think I'd have been tempted to oil it rather than varnish but whatever you prefer. Edited April 16, 2020 by Mr.C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comerkershaw Posted April 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 I then used my special mix to lubricate 400 grade wet and dry, gave it a nice rub down and then applied one more final coat of varnish. After the final coat of varnish and allowing it to dry overnight here she is: Overall i'm quite happy with the result, especially given that it's my first project and generally comprises the use of odds and ends from the garage. Some points I noticed: Should have left the varnish remover on initially for a longer period of time. It was very tricky to remove and perhaps if it had been left for longer, it would have been easier to remove. Focus more on the 'tough' areas with the harsher grade - if I had focused more on the grip early on in the project I wouldn't have needed to go back over it. It bothered me enough that I couldn't truly move on until it was resolved! Use the compressor from the outset - the cloth and paintbrush proved ineffective, I've no doubt that lint free cloth would have been better but with limited materials the compressor proved the best. For info I screwed a big-headed screw into the existing hole in the butt, strung it up in the garage and gave it a good even coating all round. Finally - I had set out to achieve a higher gloss finish but I think with the materials available I have still got a vastly improved stock... plus I've gained a lot of experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pork chop Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 Looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 It does not look like there was any deep dings in the stock to get out, it is looking very well. My arms were aching just looking at your efforts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biketestace Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 Well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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