Nice work by your friend.....Really commendable...
I have a D-52 which doesn't look good at the moment. I am waiting for Venom Kit ro arrive from B.A.R after that one of my friends will tune and refurbish it(Hopefully). At the moment it has a very dark stock(with lots of small dings and scratches) and I want to keep it that way(minus those scratches) that’s why i am too afraid of touching it but after seeing your rifle I think this can be really done....when it comes to stock refinishing i only know till SANDING and don;t have any clue about tinted and staining
So can you please share any tips and ingredients used to get that color and shine...?
Dents can be raised with steam. You put a damp cloth over the sanded stock and then place a hot iron on top. Steam will raise the dent. Raise dents till about 1/32" above level and then sand with a block.
ALWAYS sand with a block when sanding by hand, if you want a mechanical sander get a mouse sander or a random orbital sander. Mouse sanders are nice because they get into nooks and crannies.
Scratches can be sanded down, if too deep you will need some shellac sticks or some dust of the same stock with some good glue can make a good filler. Try to keep the wood all the same color.
ALWAYS refresh the chequering if it is agood quality checkering. You can use a bent triangular file if the checkering was cut using 60° tools, otherwise (90° tools) will need a special file. If you can get a thin triangular file you can bend it yourself with a torch. You want a smooth even bend, so that any "rocking" in your hand will actually help the cleanining of the checkering.
Once all the stock is clean, stroke it with a damp cloth and re-sand (this is called Whiskering). You should end up with 600 and 1200 emery paper. After you go that far in sanding it is mostly useless to use fillers. Just sand real well with progressive grades of paper and a good block. A Large Pencil Eraser makes a good block for small areas and tight corners, don't hesitate to cut the eraser to make the special shaped support you need.
After sanding goes tinting/staining. We use SayerLack's alcohol based wood stains. In this case, Dark Walnut. After staining, a little more sanding is again needed as the alcohol will raise some whiskers.
The lacquer applied to the 54 up there is just that, lacquer. We get it here in flakes that are then dissolved in alcohol (thereby the need to use alcohol based stains) and applied with a cotton filled "doll's head". This is the final rubbing. The first coat gets re-sanded about halfway deep and the second coat is applied. Long strokes and no hesitation, never go back. Always in the same direction, along the wood grain.
