New walnut for an old classic

[6mm Remington]

Thanks for taking us along for the ride. That is a beautiful rifle you have put together. I cannot wait to see if after it is checkered. The rifle is just begging to be hunted with.

 

[Castle Rock]

Spectacular work

 

[ozyclint]

I always admire the work of a skilled craftsman regardless of the craft.

Splendid work.

 

[Kenny Hart]

Man, that's beautiful.

And such a cool process, nice work!

 

[Decker9]

Thanks guys! Delivered to its owner a couple weeks ago. It’s out looking for black bears now

 

[RoaminTexan]

Looks great!

 

[Kontaktscheu]

This looks incredible. Looking forward to seeing the checkered final product!

 

[TacticalSquatch]

That looks great! Awesome work!!

 

[RandalH]

That looks awesome, you’ve got skill…

 

[Decker9]

Thanks fellas! The rifle got put to work on a nice black bear a week or two ago. Sounding like I’ll have another old model 70 to re stock this winter for a good friend of this rifles owner.

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

If the blank is the proper moisture when it's cut and the finished stock is properly sealed there is no reason for it to move.

 

[Breddoch]

@Decker9 sorry to hijack the thread.

I have a buddy that has refinished several stocks using the pilkington sand in finish but is no longer able to get it. Does anyone know a good substitute to recommend?

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

That's a beautiful piece of walnut!

 

[Macintosh]

@Decker9 sorry to hijack the thread.

I have a buddy that has refinished several stocks using the pilkington sand in finish but is no longer able to get it. Does anyone know a good substitute to recommend?

Colored or clear? If clear, theres dozens of alternatives. Any satin or matte tung-oil based finish can be thinned to mostly penetrate and not build up so much to +\- get the same look as that finish. Everyone has their favorite, there are as many options as there are stock builders and woodworkers. If your friend used the colored variety then theres also options. @Decker9 did it the old fashioned way with alkanet, which is super cool and a LOT more involved, but is what everything else is trying to recreate (although not clear if that was used on this stock). He can detail what goes into it, which is highly appropriate for this thread. Theres also a zillion colored finishes and dyes and stains and fillers all designed to mimic either that alkanet look, or the early 20th century red that you see on older winchesters, brownings, etc. Arts and Laurel Mountain Forge are two brands focused on guns that make colored finishes specifically to mimic alkanet or the old gun red finish look. Watco Danish oil is a hardware store finish that comes in colored varieties that is very similar. Theres also lots of colored fillers designed to do the same and then put a clear finish over. Arts and LMF makes those as well, and Velvit oil is (was?) a commercial one Ive used. Then there are a zillion other dyes and stains you can get from specialty woodworking places—you really need to experiment to get the look you want on a high$ blank if thats what youre after. Ive used behlens solar-lux with very good results.
Depending on the wood you dont need to add color—it does potentially add a lot of complexity.

 

[Breddoch]

Colored or clear? If clear, theres dozens of alternatives. Any satin or matte tung-oil based finish can be thinned to mostly penetrate and not build up so much to +\- get the same look as that finish. Everyone has their favorite, there are as many options as there are stock builders and woodworkers. If your friend used the colored variety then theres also options. @Decker9 did it the old fashioned way with alkanet, which is super cool and a LOT more involved, but is what everything else is trying to recreate (although not clear if that was used on this stock). He can detail what goes into it, which is highly appropriate for this thread. Theres also a zillion colored finishes and dyes and stains and fillers all designed to mimic either that alkanet look, or the early 20th century red that you see on older winchesters, brownings, etc. Arts and Laurel Mountain Forge are two brands focused on guns that make colored finishes specifically to mimic alkanet or the old gun red finish look. Watco Danish oil is a hardware store finish that comes in colored varieties that is very similar. Theres also lots of colored fillers designed to do the same and then put a clear finish over. Arts and LMF makes those as well, and Velvit oil is (was?) a commercial one Ive used. Then there are a zillion other dyes and stains you can get from specialty woodworking places—you really need to experiment to get the look you want on a high$ blank if thats what youre after. Ive used behlens solar-lux with very good results.
Depending on the wood you dont need to add color—it does potentially add a lot of complexity.

Thank you, I will pass this along. I believe he plans to go clear. He is refinishing a late 60s browning safari.

 

[Decker9]

Sweetman & co has been saying they’r going to put on an online finishing course. It would be worth getting on their mailing list if anyone’s interested in that type of finish. I’m waiting patiently for it to come out!!

Will be ordering a couple nice blanks here next week from Yurttas, another donation rifle build coming this fall/winter