Stock Polishing Advice

[London177]

Hi gang,
I'd like to bring some extra shine to my AR2078A stock. At the moment it's as it came from the factory. What work is required to bring out the grain better and do I need electric tools? I'd prefer elbow grease as it lessons the chance of making a mess of things...  
Many thanks,
Alan

AL DAVIS..LOL!..You can try Howards Feed-N-Wax....it contains Beeswax & ORANGE OIL.......Saturate a pad/rag & wipe on....let it sit for 20 mins..wipe off.....then polish with clean SOFT RAG.......1/2 HR YOUR DONE.......Good Luck Alan!
                 JOE CUZ(AKITA BREEDER)

[Splash]

If you just want to bring out the shine, use automotive rubbing compound, followed by polishing compound and a good wax. If you want to get the best finish, start with 120gt paper, working your way to 400+gt. I have found that a good LIGHT colored stain works best, for the China wood. If you want it darker, put on a darker stain, after the light. Follow with a few coats of poly. Either of these 2 methods are easier with power tool, but can be done by hand.

Mike

[ribbonstone]

The factory finish is more like a colored varnish...it's on top of the wood, not really in the wood.  Unless you want to go for a full refinish, I'd just lay down a couple of layers of good old fashioned jJohnson's Paste floor wax (this is the old style stuff that comes in a yellow tub).   It's a pretty tough wax, which you can buff to a shine if that's your goal.

This is my 78 with factory finish and a couple of coats of Johnson's wax:


And the 79 with factory finish and a couple of coats of waX:



Really not bad looking stocks with just the floor wax...long lasting wax job, water proof, and easy to maintain.  But i got to wondering what was under the factory finish, so dis a full refinish on each.  Were moments when I wished I hadn't started that job...the factory finish resists eco-friendly paint stripper pretty well but will come loose with the old-style paint stripper (which will also eat your skin about as rapidly).

[leftcoast1]

I used 000 steelwool (takes a couple of peices) over the entire stock. Then rubbed it out with some minwax furniture wax. If you apply the wax correctly it will come out like a laqure finish if you want to go that far. I learned a little trick for removing soy sauce from the stock. Try easyoff oven cleaner and steelwool or a greenie meanie scrubie. It works wonders just rinse off with a little water and let dry.

[SFCDenney]

Soy Sauce man that will make you chuckle first thing in the morning.  Never really looked at it that way and you made it seem so clear.  Yep it's soy sauce alright.   :emoticon:

[mikeiniowa]

Never even thought about using easyoff.........well as soon as I get some time I'll give it a try on a junker stock and see what happens,

Hi All- Do these techniques work for RWS 48 stocks?
I'd like a bit more shine on the 'ol apple  :p