All - I decided to see what I could do with a couple of my Service Grade M1s. Very good shooters, with "bleh" stocks. Both stocks appeared to have the very basic, brownish, single coat stain that looked and felt as dry as chalk.
I decided to work the two stocks differently. The first was a more "minimalist" approach, basically to see how much better it would look with minimal prep and minimal work.
The second I took a more in depth approach. I'll describe each further hereafter.
First, here are pics of the second stock to show how dry and generally unattractive it is. The first stock was almost identical. If anything, these pictures show the stocks much better than they were.
The first stock I lightly sanded with 220 grit, wiped off the dust with a rag, and poured a good amount of Boiled Linseed Oil. I applied the BLO to a cotton rag, and then applied it liberally to the stock. I rubbed it in with the oil soaked rag for several minutes, then continued to rub in with my hands for 10-15 minutes. I then set the stock aside for about an hour to allow the oil to soak in as much as it would. Next I removed as much excess as possible by vigorously rubbing with a clean cotton rag. I did this 2 more times, 24 hours apart.
The next 4 days I switched to Pure Tung Oil, with the same basic application process, with the only difference being I lightly rubbed the surface wiylth 0000 steel wool before each PTO application. The last 2 PTO applications I rubbed in only by hand, waited 30 minutes or so, and used the clean rag to remove any excess. Here are pics after the PTO:
I am going to add additional coats of PTO over the next several days, but I am generally pleased with the results on this stock. I think this shows the tremendous improvement with very little effort, and very little time. Total expense was a can of BLO from Walmart ($7.00?), some rags, and some TV time.
The stock feels great, even with only the light sanding with 220 grit which was basically done to clean the stock.
For the second stock I decided on a more "thorough" aproach (with hopefully even better results). I first sanded the stock thoroughly with 220 grit to remove as much of the brown CMP stain as I could (without any chemical strippers). I then cleaned off the sanding residue with a mineral spirits wash, and then thoroughly sanded with 320 grit sand paper. Then another mineral spirits wash. By now most of the stain was removed and the stock felt pretty good.
Now to "de-whisker". After the mineral spirits evaporated, I rubbed the stock with a water soaked rag to raise the "whiskers". When it dried the stock felt fuzzy (as expected". I lightly sanded with 220 grit again. This was not to remove stain, just to remove the "whiskers". Then, light sanding with 320 grit for the same purpose. After a mineral spirits wash thoroughly dried, the stock felt better, but still a bit fuzzy. So, another wipe down with water soaked rag. When that dried I lightly sanded with 320 grit, then 400 grit. After washing with mineral spirits the stock felt real good again, to make sure I did another water rub down.
When this dried I lightly sanded with 400 grit then 0000 steel wool (de-greased with mineral spirits first). After this I did a final mineral spirits wash.
The following pictures show the stock at this point.
The first finish coat I used 1 part PTO to 3 parts mineral spirits, and hand rubbed in for about 20 minutes. The stock feels great.... but looks horrible. I think these pics show clearly what one can expect from a stock without attractive grain, and most importently, with the original stain not completely removed. I expect I would have better initial results if I had used a chemical stripper to remove the rest of the stain, and then applied an alcohol based dye stain? At this point I think I need to either: (a) apply a Chestnut Ridge Military dye stain (which I understand will penetrate the PTO), and then finish as previously planned; or (b) use a chemical / citrus stripper to remove the remaining stain and oil, then start over with
The first finish coat I used 1 part PTO to 3 parts mineral spirits, and hand rubbed in for about 20 minutes. The stock feels great.... but looks horrible. I think these pics show clearly what one can expect from a stock without attractive grain, and most importently, with the original stain not completely removed. I expect I would have better initial results if I had used a chemical stripper to remove the rest of the stain, and then applied an alcohol based dye stain? At this point I think I need to either: (a) apply a Chestnut Ridge Military dye stain (which I understand will penetrate the PTO), and then finish as previously planned; or (b) use a chemical / citrus stripper to remove the remaining stain and oil, then start over with
just a word of advice from a woodworker: you're sanding your wood too far. 150-180 grit is as far as you want to take it, especially if you plan to stain it in any way. sanding past that really closes up the pores, making it difficult for the wood to absorb stain, dye, or oil
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