# staining walnut gunstock



## dondi (Mar 22, 2012)

i bought a walnut gunstock for my old 12 gauge. after sanding and rubbing with 0000 steel wool i applied formbys tung oil. well one side is a different shade. its really noticable.can i stain walnut on one side to darken it or am i stuck with it? thanks for any help


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If it were me I would clean the tung oil off with lacquer thinner, sand it again and reoil it without using the steel wool.


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## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

Steve Neul said:


> If it were me I would clean the tung oil off with lacquer thinner, sand it again and reoil it without using the steel wool.


ditto !


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## Midlandbob (Sep 5, 2011)

Steve, what is the problem with the use of steel wool? I avoid it around bare light wood or oak but what is the thought here?
I just did a couple of small end tables or walnut. One on the tops had a couple of slightly lighter and greenish areas. I used a very dilute brown aniline stain to even out the colour. You're right, it would not work on oiled wood. You can use a glaze in an oil base the same way but not as easily.
Curious.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Midlandbob said:


> Steve, what is the problem with the use of steel wool? I avoid it around bare light wood or oak but what is the thought here?
> I just did a couple of small end tables or walnut. One on the tops had a couple of slightly lighter and greenish areas. I used a very dilute brown aniline stain to even out the colour. You're right, it would not work on oiled wood. You can use a glaze in an oil base the same way but not as easily.
> Curious.


Sanding will smooth the wood and leave the pores clean and open. Steel wool will burnish the wood and some of it will fill and plug the pores of the wood preventing the oil to penetrate it correctly. I believe this is why he is having uneven colors on his gunstock. I don't use tung oil but I think perhaps after the wood was sealed a few times with the tung oil it could be buffed with the steel wool with wax. There is another wax that works pretty good. It's called Bri-Wax. I believe it's a European product that a lot of antique dealers are using as a the only finish on pine. The only oil finish I have used is Watco Oil Finish and boiled linseed oil but I avoid linseed oil because I can't stand the smell. After finishing with Watco I have used steel wool on it but as a pad to spread wax. I would imagine the tung oil would give a similar performance. Perhaps Chemmy or Cabinetman can give you a better answer on tung oil.


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## Midlandbob (Sep 5, 2011)

I'm not sure of the wisdom of picking up this issue but WTH.
What is the basis for this "burnishing" theory??
Why did it only affect one side of the gunstock?
"Burnishing is the plastic deformation of a surface due to sliding contact with another object." 
Wood surface can have the surface cells crushed by planned burnishing techniques or this can happen by accident if sanding is done to very high grits like 2000 and up. It can result from sanding with worn out sandpaper particularly at too high of a speed with power sanding or too much pressure.
Sharp sandpaper or sharp steel wool is unlikely to burnish. OOOO steel wool that is sharp is not likely to burnish wood. Steel wool can get caught in grainy wood like oak but not stuck in the pores especially enough pores to affect the absorption of finish??
Wood that is burnished will not stain uniformly and it may affect the take up of finish. I didn't think he had used a pigmented finish?
I'll check back later. Maybe some pictures of the gunstock would help?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Midlandbob said:


> I'm not sure of the wisdom of picking up this issue but WTH.
> What is the basis for this "burnishing" theory??
> Why did it only affect one side of the gunstock?
> "Burnishing is the plastic deformation of a surface due to sliding contact with another object."
> ...


Maybe burnishing was the wrong word but it was the closest thing I could think of that fit. The steel wool is not cutting like sandpaper. It is rubbing and polishing the surface of the wood crushing the open pores of the walnut in spots. I think probably he got one side of the gun stock rubbed more than the other is most of reason for the color difference. Then if you've ever rubbed a piece of finished furniture with a piece of 0000 steel wool it isn't long before the pad is a great deal smaller and your bench is covered in black dust. It would stand to reason that this dust would get into the pores of an open grain wood like walnut. I would not recommend sanding wood with 2000 grit sandpaper either. Sandpaper that fine is intended for automotive finishes where a person can rub out a nibs or minor orange peal in the paint and buff without having to recoat. I've never sanded wood with sandpaper finer than 400.


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## Midlandbob (Sep 5, 2011)

Steve Neul said:


> Maybe burnishing was the wrong word but it was the closest thing I could think of that fit. The steel wool is not cutting like sandpaper. It is rubbing and polishing the surface of the wood crushing the open pores of the walnut in spots. I think probably he got one side of the gun stock rubbed more than the other is most of reason for the color difference. Then if you've ever rubbed a piece of finished furniture with a piece of 0000 steel wool it isn't long before the pad is a great deal smaller and your bench is covered in black dust. It would stand to reason that this dust would get into the pores of an open grain wood like walnut. I would not recommend sanding wood with 2000 grit sandpaper either. Sandpaper that fine is intended for automotive finishes where a person can rub out a nibs or minor orange peal in the paint and buff without having to recoat. I've never sanded wood with sandpaper finer than 400.


I hope we're not losing track od dondi's gunstock.
How has it turned out?. No one asked if you like the colour differences. Sometime that's one of the attractive thing about real wood. ( One of my young cousins from the city once remarked that my walnut gunstock was almost as nice as real plastic).
Undesired colours can be changed a bit. It's easier to stain the bare wood but a glaze will subtly change a hue. Adding a bit of the right pigment to the finishing oil can darken or change the hue a bit.
-
Steve- Sharp steel wool is probably more like a lot of small cabinet scrapers. It will cut the wood. A lot of the new "wool" products that have abrasives bonded to plastics are more like sandpaper. Sharp sandpaper is also cutting with a lot of micro scrapers. Dull abrasive can risk burnishing or crushing the surface and changing its absorption of finishing products. Dulling abrasives of whatever type should be refreshed.
The wool/pad products have their place especially for complex curves like a gun stock. 
How far to sand keeps coming up in various threads. For film finishes sanding to 180 or so is enough. Objects of hard woods that are going to be touched do get a more tactile surface if sanded to higher grits. This is often done in the laters stages of finishing but the surface prep can make a big difference to oiled hardwoods. The pen turners are sanding well up into the car finish range with attractive results. Sharp 2000 grit papers etc still cut. 
You are right I just completed some small tables. The legs and apron parts got sanded to 180. The walnut tops got sanded to 330 bare then to 600 in the finish with a final buff with a car polish. Makes a beautiful finish for a small table that will be felt. It's like a guitar or piano surface.
Hope dondi's stock will turn out well.


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## dondi (Mar 22, 2012)

Midlandbob said:


> I hope we're not losing track od dondi's gunstock.
> How has it turned out?. No one asked if you like the colour differences. Sometime that's one of the attractive thing about real wood. ( One of my young cousins from the city once remarked that my walnut gunstock was almost as nice as real plastic).
> Undesired colours can be changed a bit. It's easier to stain the bare wood but a glaze will subtly change a hue. Adding a bit of the right pigment to the finishing oil can darken or change the hue a bit.
> -
> ...


 hey guys 

i am waiting to see what the gunstock co i bought it from does. trying to get replacement,(boyds) gunstck co.i will let you know if i do the stain on this one thanks

i would like to post some pics but cant figure how to as yet


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