290 
FOREST AND STREAM 
May, 1918 
THE FINISHING OF GUNSTOCKS AND RODS 
AN EXPERT OF TWENTY YEARS’ EXPERIENCE GIVES SOME SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THE PROCESS 
OF PERFECTING AND RE-FINISHING THE WOODWORK OF HUNTING AND FISHING EQUIPMENTS 
T O a great many people, wood finish¬ 
ing is more or less a mystery, and 
the mystery idea is encouraged by 
experts in this line; in this article I will 
try to dispel this idea and give you some 
of the benefit of my twenty years of va¬ 
ried experience. 
Woods arc 
grouped hy finish¬ 
ers under two 
heads. First: 
Close grained 
woods, such as ma¬ 
ple, bamboo, pine. 
Second: Open 
grained wood s, 
such as mahogany, 
walnut, ash, and 
oak. Each requires 
a different treat¬ 
ment, so I will give 
both; these direc¬ 
tions will also ap¬ 
ply to house-fin¬ 
ishing or any nat- 
u r a 1 wood-finish¬ 
ing. Gun-stocks are 
usually of walnut, 
which is an open 
grained wood; for 
new work before 
you begin finishing, 
be sure your wood is dry, free from 
grease or oil, and sand-papered smooth, 
then procure some high-grade Walnut 
Paste-Wood Filler; thin this to the con¬ 
sistency of cream with benzine; brush 
on a good heavy coat, and allow to stand 
about twenty minutes; get a piece of bur¬ 
lap and rub it hard across the grain of 
the wood till all the pores of the wood 
are filled. You may find it necessary to 
apply a second coat after twenty-four 
hours. If so, proceed as before, then 
allow to dry for twenty-four hours, then 
sandpaper lightly until smooth. Now 
you are ready for the varnish. After the 
most exhaustive tests on auto trucks, 
aeroplanes, boat-work, and with guns 
and rods, I have found that Valspar is 
the best all-around varnish in the world, 
and I think I know them all.' It will 
stand more abuse and ill-usage than any 
other varnish. It will not scratch or mar 
white, or turn white in hot or cold water, 
and is not affected by oil, grease, alcohol 
or ammonia. These superiorities will be 
appreciated by men who give their hunt¬ 
ing and fishing gear hard usage. Now 
that you have your varnish, get a good, 
clean varnish brush, a flat bristle brush, 
an inch or inch and a half wide. Be sure 
it is clean and has no loose hairs. Whip 
the brush over your hand to get rid of 
them; now apply a coat of Valspar, going 
over all of the stock, including the cut¬ 
out portions, where the locks are let into 
the wood. Only one coat should be put 
on the parts in which the locks and other 
metal parts are let in. This is to keep 
the oil and grease from penetrating the 
wood and discoloring it. The cut-out 
By f. t. McCarthy 
parts are not to be filled with the Paste- 
Wood Filler, however. Allow the Val¬ 
spar twenty-four hours to dry, and then 
sandpaper lightly with a fine sandpaper. 
Now give it another coat of Valspar and 
allow it thirty hours to dry. Sandpaper 
this coat the same as the first coat, then 
apply another coat of Valspar. Allow 
thirty-six hours to dry. Now get a piece 
of rubbing-felt or a piece of. Brussels 
carpet that is clean. About two by four 
inches is a nice size. Dip this in some 
water and then in some finely powdered 
pumice-stone, and rub the length of the 
wood. This will take some elbow-grease, 
and you must be very careful on edges 
and ends or you will cut through the var¬ 
nish coats, which will spoil your job. As 
you rub, from time to time wash off the 
pumice-stone so you can see how your 
work is progressing. The object of this 
rubbing is to get a clean, smooth, even 
surface. After this is obtained, you will 
have a nice, dull finish. Remember a var¬ 
nish coat is not very thick, so be sure not 
to cut through the outer varnish coat 
while rubbing. If you do not care for so 
dull a finish, clean the work carefully and 
.apply a good polishing oil of some 
sort; even furniture polish will do. Rub 
over lightly and then wipe off clean. 
Polish lightly with your bare hand. This 
will give you what is called an egg-shell 
•gloss. If a high polish is desired, after 
you have finished with the pumice-stone 
rubbing, allow six days for the work to 
harden. Then polish by rubbing with 
finely powdered rotten-stone and crude 
oil, using a piece of Brussels carpet to do 
the rubbing with. , After getting as high 
a polish as you can with this, clean off 
the work and wash your hands. After 
your hands are dry, dust a very little of 
the dry powdered rotten-stone on your 
hands, and rub briskly. This completes 
a hand-polished job. 
Re-finishing is done by the same pro¬ 
cesses, with the exception of cleaning off 
the old finish. This is usually accom¬ 
plished by applying a coat of good var¬ 
nish-remover, which will loosen the old 
coats and can then be scraped off. You 
may have to apply more than one cant 
of remover. If you use varnish-remover, 
after you have re¬ 
moved all the old 
finish, wash well 
with gasoline or 
benzine and allow 
twenty-four hours 
to dry. The old 
coats can also be 
removed by sand¬ 
papering, scraping 
with a piece of 
glass or steel 
scraper. When 
you have removed 
all the old finish, 
you may find some 
dents in the wood. 
If you are going to 
do a “bang-up”job 
on some old friend 
of many a hard 
day’s shooting, 
moisten a couple 
of thicknesses of 
blotting-paper with 
water, lay over the dent, and apply a-hot 
flat-iron. Watch it closely to see that it 
does not char or discolor the wood. It 
will take some time, but you can raise 
the dent up even with the surrounding 
surface. After this is done, sandpaper 
smooth and proceed as with a new stock. 
Dents and cracks can also be filled by 
getting a Walnut Shellac-stick. Apply 
shellac by heating a thin-bladed knife and 
applying it to the end of the shellac-stick 
till it softens and runs, then you can 
transfer it to the place you wish to fill, 
and then force it in till it is all even with 
the surrounding surfaces. Allow this to 
harden again, then sandpaper smooth. If 
you do this neatly, no one will be able to 
detect the camouflaged part. 
I F your gun-stock should happen to be of 
maple or other close-grained wood, just 
omit the paste-wood filler, using only 
the Valspar. All finishing work should 
be done in a clean room; there should be 
no dust or dirt around to get in the fresh 
varnish. It used to be necessary to have 
a hot room for varnishing, but using Val¬ 
spar, this does not make any appreciable 
difference, as it' will dry' anywhere with 
any ordinary temperature. 
In wood finishing, do not be in a hurry 
—take time and take pains; it will pay. 
The labor of all finishing or painting jobs 
is the most costly item, so it is very' fool¬ 
ish to skimp or try to save on tools or 
material. 
An amateur, by following these direc¬ 
tions, and using some brains should pro¬ 
duce a very presentable job. 
(continued on page 307) 
