Refinishing Wood Grips and Stocks

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Howdy All

       It's been a while since this thread has come up, I redid my Remington 1875's grips, just using 400 wet dry sand paper and ARROW OIL, I didn't have to remove the old finish, I just worked over it, I'm real happy with the way they came out, I was looking for a softer look and feel, and this method worked for me, here is a picture of the guns finished.

                                                             Regards

                                                         tEN wOLVES 

[Virginia Gentleman]

Ten Wolves:  That is a great job that looks very similar to the results that I got with my Model P and Schofield and the natural Walnut underneath is beautiful...again I don't know why the Italians cover it up.  Arrowood is good stuff because you can use the existing finish to help create a new one and save the step of completely stripping the wood.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Virginia Gentleman

      Thanks for the flowers, I agree the ARROW OIL is truly a great way to get the finish you want without having to remove the old finish, you can archive a high gloss or a satin sheen, which is nice to have a choice using the same product.

                                         Take care Pard


                                           Regards

                                       tEN wOLVES     

[Matt Bastardson]

If you take too much off of the edge....so what.  The fact is, it would probably make the grips look even more 'authentic', as the originals 99.9% of the time had a crappy fit anyways.  Take a look at original Colts and Remingtons.  The grips were most often horrendously fit.

[Tabaquero]

Howdy all,

I was thinking about refinishing a set of grips on my Uberti using acetone to strip off the original finish. The grips are the "one piece" type (glued at the center). Does anyone know if the acetone will cause the glued joint to come apart?

Tabaquero

[Fox Creek Kid]

...Does anyone know if the acetone will cause the glued joint to come apart?

Tabaquero

Doesn't matter unless you're steeping the entire grip in acetone!!    Just rub it on the outside panels where there is finish and you will never touch the adhesive. Remember, outside & with nitrile or rubber gloves.

[Tabaquero]

Thanks for the info Fox Creek.
I was going to immerse the whole grip but I think your method will woke better.
Be well.

Tabaquero

[Nawlins Kid]

Howdy,
I was wondering could Arrow wood finish be some how applied  to grip or rifle checkering to lesson the Italian poly finish?

Thanks
Nawlins

[rifle]

About old originals with bad fit wood. Wood shrinks with age. Maybe that gives the look of the ill fit wood on originals.

Polyurathane is the most water proof of the finishes. Seals in the moisture content the wood had when finished and helps keep the wood from shrinking with age.

Linseed oil can be the second best waterproof and if done right as water proof as polyurethane but.....the linseed needs many thin coats over a period of at least 2 years and kept up as long as the gun is around.

Water repellent doesn't get it with guns used in the weather such as hunting guns or even Cowboy guns used during rainy matches.

Linseed oil can get sticky on hot humid days also and can thin if used on rainy days like huntin all day in wet snow or rain. Boiled linseed oil has petroleum substances added to it also. Makes it dry faster than pure linseed oil.

Rubbing yer guns down with Tru Oil instead of regular linseed oil has advantages. Dries harder and is more waterproof after many many thin coats. Linseed products adhere on the molecular level whereas stuff like Polyurethane goes on one coats sticks to the other coat like a lot of layers.

A rule of thumb is a soft finish goes on over a soft finish(like linseed oil) and a hard over a hard like poly over poly. If the Arrow can adhere to ply then that's good since poly is waterproof not just water resisitant. Water resistant means it is not waterproof.

A good type finish fer guns used hard if Permalyn gunstock seasler and finish. A little shiny but .....can be rubbed dry(cloth patch lint free and a little finish on it and rub it in till it seems dry) to get the satin look.

Ya know....not all oil finishes back in the day were the standard satin look. Varnishes were made and some oils were used that were a satin shiny look. Some a mirror reflective shiny. Some done with wax and made to be shinier than poly. Finishes like were used on furniture made fer Kings and Queens.

Some guns back in the day were simply varnished with a brush application. Brushed on like paint. Things like violins were finished very shiny. Pianos too.
You guys sure the old Colts and Winchesters were hand rubbed with oil or was it brushed with varnish of some concoction?  I don't remember what I read they were finished with ....somewhere in some book.

[Virginia Gentleman]

Will be revisting this on a new project, a 1st Generation SAA that will have one piece wood grips put on it.