Beechwood stock ...Never fear !!!

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JoeWayneRhea

JoeWayneRhea

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Apr 5, 2015
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I know a lot of guys are hesitant to try an refinish a Beech Stock .They soak up factory stain and varnish VERY unevenly and are hard when stripping to get the old stains out without turning the stock into a toothpick...Never fear , there are options that can still work .
Here's a few I've done . I wish I had good pictures from more of them

This is my original FWB mini that I refinished . It had a pretty honey color so I just sanded till smooth and refinished. The remaining finish just added to its unusual look .

Here's the same stock after setting it on fire ...Yep on fire :). When I scraped off all the ash I simply brass brushed it clean and sealed it . Came out nice and unusual .

Nice dark chocolate finish I got by using black dye and sanding . I was very proud of the luster the stock had . It didn't photograph well but looked great in person .

Here's the one I did the relic finish on .Just stripped and stained with dark oak and then sanded deeply so it would have a barn wood type look .

This is the black cherry finish I did with a combination of black stain laid down , then sanded back , the red dye laid on top and then whole stock wet sanded back flat . Then finally about 12 coats of TruOil.
As you can see the possibility of a cool finish is endless . And the beauty of it is if it turns out badly ...Spray it black and walk away. Lol
If you've made some cool Beech stocks post pics so we can enjoy . And give my old butt an idea for my next stock .
Here's a Marauder stock I just completed. I'm digging the blue
 
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Here is a beech stock I just finished using Joe's process that he has graciously shared with AGN. This stock started out with heavy layers of varnish from the original owner 40 years ago. At first I was nervous because I think this is only the second stock I have ever finish the first was back in the 80's and it did not turn out half as good as this stock. I started with Joe's oven cleaner trick and I have to say it saved a ton of sanding for sure. Once I had removed all the varnish I started sanding with 120 grit being careful not to sand to much in one spot. I then moved to 220 grit smoothing and removing all of the old stain that I could. This stain like Joe has said can be deep into this beech so there are a couple of spots I just didn't feel comfortable sanding so deep to get all the stain. I then went to 400 grit and smoothed out all the stock and wiped it down with an alcohol rag to prepare it for stain. I the used a walnut stain and left it on for just a couple of minutes and wiped it off. I very lightly sanded with 400 grit again to knock down any raised grain that may have occurred from the stain application. I again wiped the stock down with a alcohol rag and let it set over night . The next day I started applying tru oil and letting the stock dry for 4 to 6 hours. I used 00 steel wool to smooth the very small high spots each time always finishing with a alcohol rag before another layer of tru oil. I lost count how many layers but I must have 6 or 7 layers on the stock. I have not wet sanded the stock but the beauty of this process is I can go back and scuff it with 00 steel wool and continue on with another layer. I have to thank Joe big time for his help that lead me to finishing this stock to this beautiful stage.











 
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Long way to go, but it is coming along. This is after 2 coats of boiled linseed oil. Just got home from work took these pics and then rubbed on another coat after hitting with some 0000 steel wool.

This is a Discovery stock I bought from Crosman to put on one of my Maximus's. It was stained/dyed almost black. I sanded for hours and the stain was so deep that I was wearing out trying to get to clean wood. I finally gave up and decided the streaky look kinda resembles Joe's stock burning.

 
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"ajshoots"Does anyone have any experience with stippling tools? I was thinking about stippling the grip area of this stock, but unsure if simply using a nail or pin punch will take too long and be too hard to keep straight lines versus a tool like sold at Brownells? Anyone have any homemade stippling tool ideas?
Click to expand...
I've used a checkered screw head affixed to an automatic (spring loaded) cener punch for years. Works well.

My most recent "stippling" was more of a "Dremel'ing" job...

 
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