GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => The Shop => : speedturtle April 07, 2010, 12:44:39 PM
-
I really have no idea as to what kind of wood this one is. Aside from that I think the gun would look "nicer" if I make the cheekweld part of the stock to have some flowing curve to make it slimmer. This was my concept on the modification:
(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu182/speedturtle810/BAM%20B26-2%20Air%20Rifle/myconceptonthestockcurve.jpg)
Armed with a dremel tool, some bastard files, and some sheet of wet/dry sandpapers I started carving the wood stock. This is how it looks like after 2 hours of sanding and filing:
(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu182/speedturtle810/BAM%20B26-2%20Air%20Rifle/Stockafter2hoursofsandingandfiling.jpg)
My arms got numb from sanding so I took some rest and returned to work on the stock after 30 minutes. Here is the stocks' final outcome after 6 hours of labor:
(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu182/speedturtle810/BAM%20B26-2%20Air%20Rifle/RightSideofthestock.jpg)
(http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu182/speedturtle810/BAM%20B26-2%20Air%20Rifle/LeftSideofthestock.jpg)
Now, I need some opinions on what is the appropriate type of finish for this type of wood to let the woodgrain stand out nicely.
Thanks for viewing.
If the pics does not load, you can see them at this link: http://www.airgunone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2560
-
That's looking real sweet, liking the curves you put into it. ;) Ed
-
Thank you for the compliment Sir. :)
-
Willie very nice work there. The grain looks pretty good to for a Chinese gun.. Make sure you give us some followup pictures.
-
you need to give me some tip first on how to give this stock a nice finish Gene. Hahaha! Just kidding. Sure. :)
-
I wish I had that talent but I will just stick with springs and seals...:)
-
Nice work can't wait to see the finished product.
-
Willie, that is looking good! There is nice wood on those 26s, you might find a little filler but they are some of China's better efforts.
I am no expert but I did one that I thought turned out pretty well. You can find it in the albums. This was it...
(http://../photos/get-photo.asp?photoid=1051)
I highly recommend the Birchwood-Casey pamphlet Warm Wood, Cold Steel, as a starting point. I also recommend their Tru-Oil product very highly. As with most things, especially wood, the prep is more important than the finish itself.
Forget trying to match any remainders of the original finish- it all has to go (and that is tough stuff). I mean it all, really, has to go. Inside the thumbhole area was tough. There are always a couple places where the original dunk stain penetrated deeper. They gotta go, too.
Go in stages from 150 grit to 220 or 400. Wet lightly in between to raise that grain, then go up a grade of grit. Use a sanding block, not fingers. Leave the butt pad on and tape it off to avoid rounding the edge. For contoured areas like the thumbhole, you can wrap the sandpaper around soft round things, and an unused cigarette butt is a surprisingly good backer for tight curves.
I used Minwax Oil Prep, then Minwax stain. I went with the lighter Golden Oak and I like it, but I coulda gone darker. The Golden Oak was quite a bit lighter than the original finish.
Then it is Tru-Oil, hang to dry, sand lightly, and repeat. Do that about a dozen times. The first coat should be fairly heavy (wood will be thirsty) and needs a full 24 hours to dry. Then do two new coats a day, so every 12, once before work and once after happy hour :-)
Don't use steel wool. After the first couple coats you'll use like 400 grit, and after that I recommend a heavier scotch-brite. I read about it and it works, and doesn't leave bits of steel whiskers like the steel wool.
It will start looking real good. That means it's time to keep doing it. Like I say, a dozen coats is amazing.
Find a way to hang it to dry so you don't leave fingerprints. The oil sets up and hardens beautifully but it will capture bubbles, dust, and fingerprints, hence the frequent sanding and hanging. I have heard of final coating with automotive paste wax but I didn't do that.
Now a real stock maker like Timmy might chime in but this labor of love can actually be completed in a week and this is how I did it. I was very happy with the result.
-
Wow, dave. A tyrolean stock! The original finish of the B26-2 stock seemed to really kept the beauty of the wood in the dark. Sanding it off was the hard part of the job. I'll copy and save your finishing procedure and I'll follow it so my stock will come out nice. Thanks, bro!
-
That turned out nice!
-
I saw some of the advice you had gotten elsewhere. Pay more attention to what "douglas phillips" said.
Before I forget, here is the link to the Birchwood Casey pamphlet. It is about a 5mb download: http://www.birchwoodcasey.com/sport/howto/bcref2003.pdf (http://www.birchwoodcasey.com/sport/howto/bcref2003.pdf)
I only recommend oil based products, and using the Minwax oil prep, before the Minwax oil stain, made a big difference. Ithelps to prevent that blotchiness caused by stain soaking in irregularly. I tried the water based stuff first- what a disaster- I won't use that on a stock again!
The wood is supposed to be "qiu" or "red qiu" and is a tight grain (there was a post about Chinese Wood a while back if you care to search). The stain prep stuff will be worth it.
-
Looks very good I like recarving stocks it giver you a sence of it's my special rifle ( my idea ) howie
-
Exactly. That's actually the idea Howie1a. This will be the final look of my modified B26-2 stock prior to staining and coating.
http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu182/speedturtle810/BAM%20B26-2%20Air%20Rifle/Finalstockmodification_Rightside.jpg
http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu182/speedturtle810/BAM%20B26-2%20Air%20Rifle/Finalstockmodification_Leftside.jpg
If the pics still doesn't show here is the link: http://www.airgunone.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18702#post18702
Thanks!
-
I find if the factory stock has enough wood to do a recarve and dress it up a little with special woods like paduck or purple heart 2 of the woods I like it makes it special I really like what you did to your stock keep up the good work you have a eye for it. Howie
-
Thanks Howie. With a compliment like that from a honed woordcarver and gunstock maker like you is a good deal for me. Deeply appreciated, bro'! :)
-
not bad, i like it!