Hello: I am planning on refinishing a couple of gunstocks this winter and started wondering what is the proper way of refinishing the checkered areas (both pressed and cut checkering)? It would seem you wouldn't want to take sandpaper to those areas to remove the factory finish and it would seem counterproductive to apply either oil or varnish and gradually fill-in the cuts. Thanks for any suggestions

Pagris, first determine if the finish on the stock is Polyurethane. If it is you can try Polyurethane pant remover or just plain acetone to remove the finish on the stock. For the pressed and cut checkering on the stock, paint on a liberal coat of remover and let it set till the finish gets soft, then take one of those soft Brass brushes with the wooden handle that looks like a toothbrush and brush the oxidized finish out of the checkering, you may have to repeat this process several times to remove all the finish from the checkering. (Fact is I always remove the finish first, from the checkering and a border around the checkering when starting a refinishing job). At this point you can start on the finish on the rest of the stock. There is no reason to sand the stock till you have all the finish removed. You may find a few places where light sanding is necessary to remove stubborn finish and stock blemishes. But never sand the checkering. After the finish is removed and the stock is bare and well cleaned up, do a light sanding job to the whole stock to clean the pores of the wood, but don't sand the checkering. Then take some Masking tape and tape over and cover all the checkering. Take you Thumbnail and run around the border of the checkering pressing the masking tape into the borderline along the edge of the checkering. Take an exacto knife or razor blade and cut the tape along this borderline so the tape only covers the checkering and as much of the borderline as possible without Tape getting outside the borderline of the checkering. Put several layers of tape on, normally I put 4 to5 layers of masking tape on the checkering, the more the better, but within reason. This makes it easier to get off after you finish refinishing the stock. I assume your going to put a hand rubbed finish on the stock?????????? In any case then go ahead and refinish your stock and after the refinishing is done you can remove the tape. Carefully slit a small hole in the center of the tape that�s over the checkering, and begin pealing the tape off, you may have to relieve the tape with the exacto knife around the borderlines of the checkering because it will be stuck because of the finish. After all is removed you can clean those borderlines of the checkering out and you will have perfect checkering. One last note, I always take a small modeling brush and apply one very thin coat of finish to the checkering and work it in well so there is no buildup. This seals the stock. Job done. A hand rubbed stock is a lot of work but a True work of Art. Also with a hand rubbed stock you can repair any character marks that it may receive in the daily operation of it's duties. A little light sanding some fine steel wool and a little Hand rub Finish and it's good as new. Hope this gives you some ideas. Best of Luck.

Sniper;

I had pretty good success with Southern Comfort..

Thanks for the ideas FreeBird LAL - I appreciate the effort - pagris