Stage 1 of stock refinish.

[ShadeTree]

Don't ask me why, but on top of never refinishing a stock before I also stripped it in a way I've never taken finish off wood before, and decided to do it old school and scrape it. I'm a risk taker I guess. It took some time and learning but I like the way you can tell exactly which layer you are dealing with. The wood stays natural, no chemicals this way making it darker or lighter.

I used the backside of a fingernail file/saw blade in a combo knife for the main scraping. The inside edges were the trickiest and for that I used the round end of a hacksaw blade, teeth side away from the wood of course. A hacksaw blade isn't the best tool around for that job but it's the best I could come up with at the moment.

Zero stripper or sanding, every inch scraped by hand. The only thing holding me up right now is getting all the finish off the checkering. I got 70% or so by using a hair dryer and a small stiff bronze brush, but I don't know how to get the last of it without putting something on it? Deep red stain and layers of polyurethane is tough to get out of that checkering.

 

[6mm Remington]

It's coming along nicely. A lot of work but I bet you will be tickled when it's all finished!!

 

[5shot]

You can probably just re-cut the checkering to get the finish out of there.

 

[ShadeTree]

You can probably just re-cut the checkering to get the finish out of there.

Problem is it's pressed checkering. I'm considering taping off the stock around it and hitting just the checkering with mineral spirits or maybe a non abrasive stripper like citristrip, then work it with a tooth brush or stiff bronse brush. I don't know, it kinda has me stumped on how best to get it out without getting anything on the rest of the stock now that I've gone this route. They must of sprayed the stain and poly on with the forearm hanging down because it's especially thick at the forward ends of the checkering.

 

[salmonchaser]

Well you could set it aside for a little, order a set of tools and patterns from Dembart and re-do the checkering altogether.
Sounds like you're getting the finish out of the checkering already, I guess I would start with a mild stripper and brush. I don't know much about strippers, I really don't [emoji16]
The wood looks good I think you're going to be very happy.


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[cloverleaf]

I refinished a forend for my Mossberg shot gun years ago. I used stripper on the checkering and the eye of a needle to scrape the finish out of the "lines" in the checkering, as it seemed about the right width. I assume Mossberg pressed its checkering. It worked Ok and the checkering is a little deeper now. Finish came off the top of the points in the checkering with a rag. CL

 

[ShadeTree]

Well you could set it aside for a little, order a set of tools and patterns from Dembart and re-do the checkering altogether.
Sounds like you're getting the finish out of the checkering already, I guess I would start with a mild stripper and brush. I don't know much about strippers, I really don't [emoji16]
The wood looks good I think you're going to be very happy.


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Bull puckey, you're grinning too much to be telling the truth. Ha!

I think too the stock should have some nice grain when done. It's all new to me so as long as I don't screw it up somewhere between coats I think I'll be tickled with it. I'm planning on taking my time and filling in the pores with wet sanding in between. I just have to decide what to do with the checkering.

 

[Polaris]

Rubber gloves and carb cleaner. Tape the adjacent wood as you described. Don't let it sit long before you brush it off, then rinse with starting fluid, this will liquefy and drip off any carb cleaner and dissolved residue, then evaporate free and clear.

Forgot to add, assume you know this already, but do both of these steps outdoors FAR away from any potential ignition sources and in a well ventilated area.

 

[elkeater2]

I suggest taping it and using a stripper agent. I don't follow directions well, and discovered that brushing the stripper in and not letting it sit long at all, then brushing again with a pretty stiff brush to make sort of a soup out of the stripper and softened finish - then wiping and brushing that clean, works OK. Bronze is fine if its pretty stiff. Actually, a pile of brushes and going through the cycle several times works pretty well. It can be rinsed and brushed clean with rubbing alcohol too. Your scraping work looks great!! If you get stripper on any of the scraped areas all that is likely to happen is the stripper will pull finish from some of the larger pores that are still partially filled. The way I just described is gradual and allows you to stop when it is good enough, without harshness or over-doing it.
EE2