Tunged a Blonde Beech

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BradAir

BradAir

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May 9, 2021
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Bloomington, IL USA
Benjamin sent me a stock with scratches. I used a razor blade to scratch off the thin & terrible looking finish and then followed up with sandpaper 180g. (It was this dry method vs Citristrip. Glad I did this dry)

This process revealed a beautiful beech wood stock with the tightest grain I’ve seen on a piece of wood. I did 3 100% Tung oil applications, doing a UV open air cure on the last thin coat of tung oil. This produces the hardest finish I’ve discovered with just a nice glow sheen.
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MongooseV8 said:
Dang that looks amazing, nice job. What are you using for a UV source?
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The Sun. lol

70-75F. afternoon when UV is higher. 45-1hr per side exposed to sunlight.
Above 80F. 30 min per side.

I discovered this with tung oil 8yrs ago when I sat some axe handles out on the back deck to dry. I noticed the side facing the sun hardened, so I rotated them and those axes have been used frequently ever since and when I clean them up, you would think I never used them! So, I did this to all my gunstocks.
 
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Looks good. Personally I would have worked it down with finer grades of sandpaper. I usually use w/d go 180-220-320-400 before starting any finish.
I have been working on an old, probably 50-60 year old Freeland palm rest. It has a couple of dings that I decided to leave. I have a 1/2" drill chuck mounted on the end of the shaft of a belt driven grinder, so chucked the shaft of the palm rest of that and sanded it with increasing fine grits then started with a tung oil/turpentine mix. I have end grain on two sides so it tends to soak up rather fast, leaving one two sides shiney and two dull, the end grain. I'll probably let it cure a couple of days then steel wool and another oil application until I get a smooth even gloss.
 
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BradAir said:
Benjamin sent me a stock with scratches. I used a razor blade to scratch off the thin & terrible looking finish and then followed up with sandpaper 180g. (It was this dry method vs Citristrip. Glad I did this dry)

This process revealed a beautiful beech wood stock with the tightest grain I’ve seen on a piece of wood. I did 3 100% Tung oil applications, doing a UV open air cure on the last thin coat of tung oil. This produces the hardest finish I’ve discovered with just a nice glow sheen.
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Man that's a Beautiful stock great job. (y)
 
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jkingrph said:
Looks good. Personally I would have worked it down with finer grades of sandpaper. I usually use w/d go 180-220-320-400 before starting any finish.
I have been working on an old, probably 50-60 year old Freeland palm rest. It has a couple of dings that I decided to leave. I have a 1/2" drill chuck mounted on the end of the shaft of a belt driven grinder, so chucked the shaft of the palm rest of that and sanded it with increasing fine grits then started with a tung oil/turpentine mix. I have end grain on two sides so it tends to soak up rather fast, leaving one two sides shiney and two dull, the end grain. I'll probably let it cure a couple of days then steel wool and another oil application until I get a smooth even gloss.
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Thanks! It was so tight grained it looked and felt like 800g finish. I had to 180g in an attempt to open it up so the tung could get some hold. I doubt it would take stain or evenly. It didn't take the finish Benjamin used as it was blotcy and swirly and came off easy. I like the lower sheen finish on guns. Most of mine are milsurp finishes with a bit of egg shell, so this is as shiny as I want.
 
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marflow 777 said:
i think this solves making Beech look like Walnut, just let it be what it is
Feinwerkbau has had blonde stocks for years in Laminates or solids
i like the way the stain left highlights the checkering
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A pro for using all dry stripping technique. The citristrip would have taken everything off. I like the contrast it leaves too!
 
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BradAir said:
Thanks! It was so tight grained it looked and felt like 800g finish. I had to 180g in an attempt to open it up so the tung could get some hold. I doubt it would take stain or evenly. It didn't take the finish Benjamin used as it was blotcy and swirly and came off easy. I like the lower sheen finish on guns. Most of mine are milsurp finishes with a bit of egg shell, so this is as shiny as I want.
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One of my old FWB 124d rifles got scratched years ago so I did similar. It was already finished with I guess a tinted lacquer over some stain. I sanded and sanded. and had to go with one of the ultra fine sandpapers to get it smooth enough to take stain and oil and not look muddy in spot. That was probably over 40 years ago, It stll looks good. Beech can be made to look good, but it does take a lot of work. I have one Swiss K31 with a beech stock, that is blond like your Benjamin, looks good also. I also have another couple of blond stocks, A Swedish Mauser and a Yugoslav Mauser, but those are both elm stocks.
 
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jkingrph said:
One of my old FWB 124d rifles got scratched years ago so I did similar. It was already finished with I guess a tinted lacquer over some stain. I sanded and sanded. and had to go with one of the ultra fine sandpapers to get it smooth enough to take stain and oil and not look muddy in spot. That was probably over 40 years ago, It stll looks good. Beech can be made to look good, but it does take a lot of work. I have one Swiss K31 with a beech stock, that is blond like your Benjamin, looks good also. I also have another couple of blond stocks, A Swedish Mauser and a Yugoslav Mauser, but those are both elm stocks.
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My New in wrapper & cosmo Enfield No4MK2 Irish contract blonde beech!
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I've made a lot of furniture and at least half a dozen gunstocks. I always finish with 220 grit. Nobody has ever seen scratches. I use a random orbit sander but still no visible scratches. When you go finer I've read it affects absorption of the wood. I don't know but I know it is not necessary with respect to scratches. I would not be surprised if scratches are also invisible with 180 grit, particularly if the final sanding was by hand.

Beech is a hard somewhat heavy wood a lot like maple but often with a little bit more interesting grain. I like cherry and walnut more but a beech stock will be very durable and if you like the look there is nothing wrong with it. I think the subject stock is well done and attractive but I like darker woods more.
 
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JimD said:
I've made a lot of furniture and at least half a dozen gunstocks. I always finish with 220 grit. Nobody has ever seen scratches. I use a random orbit sander but still no visible scratches. When you go finer I've read it affects absorption of the wood. I don't know but I know it is not necessary with respect to scratches. I would not be surprised if scratches are also invisible with 180 grit, particularly if the final sanding was by hand.

Beech is a hard somewhat heavy wood a lot like maple but often with a little bit more interesting grain. I like cherry and walnut more but a beech stock will be very durable and if you like the look there is nothing wrong with it. I think the subject stock is well done and attractive but I like darker woods more.
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Like this?
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I did something similar to my Gen 1 Mrod, though I used BLO instead of Tung oil. So mine is a little yellow, but still looks pretty good to me. It doesn't jump out at you unless the light is right, but there's some nice fire in the wood that could benefit from some contrast. Sure, it isn't walnut. But frankly, I haven't seen much in the way of walnut lately that looks any better. I have a vinegaroon I made for leather that I've found does a nice job of staining fair woods to a deep brown (though it turns leather pitch black). I am considering refinishing my Mrod stock using the vinegaroon and tung oil as a winter project this year.
As she currently looks:
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rcarlisle said:
I did something similar to my Gen 1 Mrod, though I used BLO instead of Tung oil. So mine is a little yellow, but still looks pretty good to me. It doesn't jump out at you unless the light is right, but there's some nice fire in the wood that could benefit from some contrast. Sure, it isn't walnut. But frankly, I haven't seen much in the way of walnut lately that looks any better. I have a vinegaroon I made for leather that I've found does a nice job of staining fair woods to a deep brown (though it turns leather pitch black). I am considering refinishing my Mrod stock using the vinegaroon and tung oil as a winter project this year.
As she currently looks:
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Thats gorgrous! There is a dark tung made by Real Milk Paint Co. that will turn a slight brwown hue. Or you can use a coffee ground rub, like the real fine ground stuff thats about like powder. The vinegar thing sounds interesting.
 
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