I have a chance to buy a real nice lamanite stock for almost half off and unfinished one. Problem is this one is finished...and it doesn't look so good. (to me)

Is it worth buying it to take the finish off and start over?

I use scrapers made from old hacksaw blades to remove finish. It takes me about 10 minutes to have one completely stripped, and by not using chemicals I don't take a chance of messing up the wood or interfering with the finish I want to apply.

quote:

Originally posted by Tyler Kemp:
I have a chance to buy a real nice lamanite stock for almost half off and unfinished one. Problem is this one is finished...and it doesn't look so good. (to me)

Is it worth buying it to take the finish off and start over?

To get to S&W's rosewood basis material when custom fitting M28 grips to me, I used an abrasive blaster. The finish comes off quickly and thoroughly. The moderately textured finish of the stripped wood provided a useful surface for me to see what I was doing. If you intend to maintain any existing checkering -- unless it is very fine (24 lpi and finer) -- checkering on your finished stock will be more tactile than it was when you obtained the stock.

If you do not own one, abrasive blasting machines are found in a great many places. The cost for farming out the job should be modest.

Hope this helps.

Scraping off the finish is the easiest way to get it off without using strippers.
The best scraper I have found is simply a piece of broken glass.

Personally, I would use a chemical remover. Using a hard scraper is going to also put minor indentations in the wood. Chemical strippers might leave a miniscule residue on the surface but that can be easily sanded out. Gouges or scrapes in the wood require much more work.

Personally, I have found the best way to do it is to use a chemical like Circa 1850 or Lepage Suppa Strippa then use a Lexan spoon and knife as a scraper. Lexan is a very hard, opaque plastic used for camping utensils. The spoons have a nice sharp edge and wears slowly and does not mar the wood. The Lexan knife can be used for getting into recesses like bolt cavities etc.

The Lexan plastic does such a good job, your stock will be smooth like it has been just sanded. Using harded scrapers will yield an unsightly raw wood.