claytonfaulkner Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 im thinking about oordering a maple stock but before do i want to see where i can get some info on finishing a stock like this. also pics of maple stocks that every1 ownes would be nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Steyr1Steyr2 Upper stock is Maple finished with Tung oil.. Bottom stock is English Walnut finished in Satin Poly. Both stocks are Richards Microfit Rollover style, bottom one was modified to Modern Classic style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 curly maple I didn't do the finish on this stock, but I've stained a lot of maple. Key for me is a wierd combination of water-based stain and oil-based stain. Not just any old brand of water-based stain is good. The only one I recommend is Behlen's stain. Behlen's stain Woodworker's Supply also sells aniline dye stains. Wet the sanded surface to raise the "hairs". Sand them off. Apply water-based stain. After it dries I use Minwax oil-based stain. I like a bit of red in my maple, so I favor red mahogany stains, or if just going for brown, Minwax golden oak is quite nice. I spray my finishes, but most folks go with oil finishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 That is beautiful, FC. I did Sparky (Link here) with Aqua Fortis of my own device. It's 20% nitric acid with 1 gm/100 ml (1%) ferric chloride. If you can get your hands on the nitric acid you can get the iron by adding some nails, barbed wire or whatever else you have around. I apply aqua fortis with a cotton ball to finish sanded maple. I use denatured alcohol (ETOH with nasties added to prevent people from drinking it - what a waste!) to raise the grain. Compared to walnut, maple doesn't raise very much. It also doesn't require wet sanding to fill - a few coats of finish is all. I'm getting ahead of myself. After staining the wood will be icky yellow-green. Don't panic! Take a propane torch and carefully heat the wood until it browns (don't scortch). After browning seal with 50:50 spare urethane:mineral spirits. Saturate the wood. Let harden a day or so and lightly sand - you don't want to take out the stain. Finish with Tung Oil to taste. I love Tung Oil. I use the cheap stuff from Home Depot. This is how I finished Sparky - everything came from Home Depot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Maple appears to be nice wood for stocks. I have not yet worked on any, but I do like the way it works. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradD Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Clay, I've done four stocks in maple over the years. All of them were nicely figured curly, birdseye or quilted. All are wonderful looking. And I hate every one of them!!!! If you don't get some fancy grain, there's not much sense in going to maple because it doesn't look like anything. Might as well use basswood. The problems: maple has a funny grain, quality and texture. When inletting, it has a nasty habit of grabbing the tool and taking your cut where no man has gone before - or wants to! It's sort of fibery and does not cut cleanly. Sometimes little pieces just excuse themselves and walk off after cutting, or peel back. Smooth straight chisel cuts are the exception more than the rule. I checkered one years ago and it was a complete nightmare. Could not get clean checks. Worst of all it is very unstable and squirms all over the place. On the birsdeye stock all I wanted to do was slightly freefloat the barrel. Everytime I went back to it the forearm was pushing somewhere else - right, left, up, down. It would not stay put. I finally "gutted" the entire barrel channel essentially leaving a 1/4" shell on the outside, laid in a steel rod and filled the whole thing with fiberglass bedding. It stopped wiggling after that and you can't tell it from the outside, but I hated it by the time I was done. Still stick my tongue out at it when I see it. On the positive side maple sands nicely and easily, takes a wonderful finish and will gain it's own rich color in time without any staining. You will get more figuring bang for your buck with maple than you ever will with walnut. Maple is workable and can look good, but it sure isn't walnut! Good luck, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claytonfaulkner Posted January 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 sailorman, i really like that stock, will u tell me a little bit more about how u did it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 It is a Richards MicroFit Rollover blem. It has a couple small cracks at the top of the stock next to the recoil pad. We need to retrim the wood which will take care of the cracks. Anyway, I tried something different on that stock. I sanded and got it ready to putting the finish on. However, when I dewhiskered, I did not removed the whiskers. I left them on. With them standing, I painted on about 4 coats of Tung oil. Then I used a palm sander with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and sanded it all while the Tung oil was wet. I let it dry for a few days, then went back with the palm sander and 400 wet/dry paper and Tung oil and resanded. You have to be care here, and just take off the ugly look mud/crud that dried on top of the stock. That is the old sawdust and tung mixed together. I sanded too much on the English stock and went down through the top layer of wood. At certain angles you could see a difference in color. So, I had to redo the English. After I got all the mud off, I just let it dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmsniper Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 heres one I did on a 1903A3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Scroll down the page to the maple M96 pics: http://home.pipeline.com/~shootzg/custom/m1909n.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngtrout Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Man, you guys have me really wanting to get back on my 308 turk project. It is a maple fancy A from richards (blem of course) I was going to just tung oil it but those are some purty rifle fellas, Makes me think about staining, its a pretty light colored maple as maple goes but has some nice tiger striping. All post a pic when I get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted January 11, 2006 Report Share Posted January 11, 2006 see im really wanting to stay with the light color that it has Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claytonfaulkner Posted January 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2006 sorry i forgot to log iin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmc0332 Posted January 13, 2006 Report Share Posted January 13, 2006 I have worked with maple quite a bit. It is my favorite wood. I have found that the grain usually works best in one direction. I usually figure which direction causes splintering, and do all of my cutting and machining from the other direction. I have heard of a method for tigerstriping that works best on light wood like maple. Soak hemp rope in kerosene until it is saturated. Then wrap the rope tightly so it touches the wrap next to it. Then burn the rope until it is 1/2 way burnt before extinguishing. The size of stipes varies according to how large of a rope you use. I bet that would look cool. A friend of mine that was into sporterizing in the 70's told me about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racepres Posted January 13, 2006 Report Share Posted January 13, 2006 Can't help it...... carefull bout that burnin' rope method... the more it smokes the better it will look to ya........ Sorry could not help myself..... does sound like it would leave a neat look, thanks for the tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelsdou Posted January 13, 2006 Report Share Posted January 13, 2006 I've got an old (1940's) book on gunstock finishing that illustrates "Suigi" or wood torch flaming to bring out the grain and figure in plain or dull looking wood. The trick is not to burn or char, but just to ever so lightly brown the surface to increase the grain contrast. I've done it on beechwood and it works but I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart. You really need to have a steady hand and recognize when enough is enough. Speaking of birds-eye maple, this same book gives an example of wiping it with a thin stain of asphaltum (asphalt) and turpentine; it really gives the figure a 3D effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradD Posted January 13, 2006 Report Share Posted January 13, 2006 I've got an old (1940's) book on gunstock finishing that illustrates "Suigi" or wood torch flaming to bring out the grain and figure in plain or dull looking wood. The trick is not to burn or char, but just to ever so lightly brown the surface to increase the grain contrast. I've done it on beechwood and it works but I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart. You really need to have a steady hand and recognize when enough is enough. Speaking of birds-eye maple, this same book gives an example of wiping it with a thin stain of asphaltum (asphalt) and turpentine; it really gives the figure a 3D effect. 9819[/snapback] Nels, Which book is that? Is it one of Howe's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelsdou Posted January 13, 2006 Report Share Posted January 13, 2006 Oops, my book may not as old as I thought. The copyright is 1949, printings in 1975 and 1980. It reads like it is old, though, old chemical formulas and names, B&W photos. In one chapter the author talks about picking up 1917 Enfields new for $17.50 and the sporterizing of a Mauser w/ new sights, blueing, stock, and accessories tearing quite a hole in a fifty dollar bill! It's Donald Newell. He actually gives Alvin Linden the credit for the Suigi technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradD Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Thanks Nels, That gives me a new one to look for. I've not heard of it. It might even pre-date me, but I doubt it. B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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