The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Gunsmithing Stock Refinishing and Checkering QuestionGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I have several of the LH Zastava bolt rifles and I have always hated their "American" style stock. I decided to reshape the comb and refinish the stock. This is my first attempt at any stock work like this and while I'm not looking for perfection I want something decent looking. This am I reshaped the comb and stripped the finish from the stock. The result is a pretty light colored wood. I want to darken the stock up a bit as well as clean up the checkering. The Zastava website says the wood is "European Walnut but it's very light. Any recommendation for a refinish product as well as what would be an appropriate tool for the checkering? The checkering resembles flat point checkering currently, note I said resembles. Any critiques are welcome as well! The stock in the back is what the altered looked like originally. Thanks in advance.   | ||
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Go to Brownells and buy a checkering tool. And some walnut stain; there are about 20 shades of it. I use Laurel Mountain stains. They make good finish too. I use finish from Brownells called pro custom. Tru oil is good. European Walnut can be plain like yours. | |||
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From your picture, it appears you will need to do another sanding pass to get all of your swirl marks going with the flow of the pores in this piece of wood. When you have your final sanding passes done you will need to stain at this time. Remember, if you are going to use a sand in pore filling method, staining comes after your pores are filled. I use Pro Custom Oil finish. Have been using it for 20+ years. Good stuff Maynard! Dennis Earl Smith Professional Member ACGG Benefactor Life NRA Life NAHC | |||
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I, too, use pro custom oil. I also use Laurel Mountain stains since you can apply this stain on top of your finish. This prevents blotchiness which you can't control if you apply stain directly to the wood. When you are within a coat or two of your final finish, apply the stain, then your finishing coats. Phil | |||
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Nice job reshaping. Dont go too dark with the stain, before you choose a stain use a little warm water to "whisker" the stock, and that will give you a better idea of how much darker you need to take it. | |||
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I would use some Alkanet root, Stain is a pain however...You can simmer some lead oxide in near boiling linseed oil for an hour or two, slop it on until the wood won't take anymore let it sit for a weel, wipe it off and let the stock stand for about another week, It will darken a bit with each application and it works good over alkanet root the one time I tried it....Its a slow process however.. If you stain a stock then want a sanded in finish that can be tricky for a newgie and an expert for that matter..stain goes best with a gloss finish, and a gloss finish is more waterproof than the sanded in finish if you like shiny wood, I don't..for a gloss finish you have a lot more sanding to do IMO.. If you have never checkered, Id suggest you have someone do the checkering for you..Its a learning process that should not be tried on a nice stock. learn to checker then do your own stocks.. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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If you want the reddish color typical of vintage Winchesters, there is a specific product that you apply BEFORE filling the pores. I forget the name of it but Brownell's has it. Herters Red I think? Russ Gould - Whitworth Arms LLC BigfiveHQ.com, Large Calibers and African Safaris Doublegunhq.com, Fine English, American and German Double Rifles and Shotguns VH2Q.com, Varmint Rifles and Gear | |||
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I planted two walnut trees here but one of them died long before big enough to make gun stocks from it. What I noticed in cutting the branches off was that the wood is not dark at all. So, is the color of dark 'walnut' stains we see in hardware shops anything to do with the real color of walnut timber - or has it come from the stain once (or still) made from macerating green walnuts? | |||
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Lots of different variations of walnut. Some lighter than others. The most common here in the states is "Black/American Walnut", which is fairly dark. So Im guessing a lot of American made "Dark walnut" stains may be based on that assumption. | |||
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Walnut stain is made from walnut shell/hulls (the outer covering) after they have turned (oxidized) black; they are full of oil. Or commercially now is made from chemicals. Walnut (black, Juglans Nigra) wood runs from very light (there is also a white walnut (butternut) Juglans Cinerea (can't believe I remember the scientific names after all these years), to black and everything in between depending on a lot of factors. Rich soil and water are important. If you planted Claro walnut, (Juglans Hindsii, native the US) or English (not native) which has several common names but is Juglans Regia; that wood can be practically any color. There are two basic walnut groups; thick, and thin, shell. American/black, is the thick shell kind. There is a lot more to walnut wood and trees; I didn't major in Forestry for nothing. I can still recognize an oak from an apple, (Not native to the US, which will surprise most people). (American as Apple Pie; Not a thing at all) Bottom line; it doesn't matter how your stain is made; get the color you like and you won't know until you apply it to your particular piece of wood, what it looks like. It will probably look nothing like what is in the bottle. Or it might. Each piece of wood is unique. | |||
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I sanded that awful roll over off of my left handed Zastava also. I'm also taking the flair off the bottom of the pistol grip and thinning down the tang area where all the proud wood is. Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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Thanks dpcd. I only came on the inky-black color that comes from the green/black husks because my Italian mate wanted some of the green walnuts so his wife could make a liqueur. I asked if I could have the recipe but it was a family secret and she wouldn't devulge it. So, I devised my own, soaking them in vodka (or, better, rectified spirit) with sugar for months or years. I've got some still on the walnuts from 2010 that tastes a lot like Fernet-Branca, which I imagine might be good for stomach aches. (Add some creme de menthe and it tastes like Jaegermeister.) I've now moved on to soaking our kumquats in brandy ... | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Gunsmithing Stock Refinishing and Checkering Question
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