Popping the grain in a Maple Gunstock

[djwarner]

Not to drudge up an old topic again, but......

I'm in the process of making a custom gunstock out of quilted maple and I'm to the point of seriously planning the finish. The more I work on it, the more the beauty of the grain strikes me and I would like to preserve as much of this as possible.

I had planned on using Lin-speed "Gunstock Finish and Care Oil" which is a highly refined linseed oil. Then I saw the "Popping the Grain" video.

Bill White at Lin-speed said using Shellac to fill the pores will stop the action of their product. He even did a test mixing Behlens Walnut Dye with Lin-speed. He said that he preferred Lin-speed alone as it did a better job of preserving the reflectance in the wood. He suggested that if I wanted to pop the grain to use Lin-speed with dye for the base coat and then continuing will pure Lin-speed after that.

An alternative process might be applying Transtint Antique Maple with water and sanding back before finishing with Lin-speed.

Linseed oil finish is usually preferred over a surface finish for a gunstocks because it is easier to repair normal wear and tear.

Any suggestions?

[Sac]

As a fellow gun nut, and woodworker, I must say nice job on that stock!!! I am in the process of building a rifle or two myself. But not making the stocks. But to answer your finishing question, watch this video. I think it will answer your questions. Make sure that you post some pics of the finished product. Good luck.

[djwarner]

Thanks for the quick reply Sac. That is the video I referred to in my first post.

[Sac]

Thanks for the quick reply Sac. That is the video I referred to in my first post.

Sorry about that.. I broke out my "Jump to Conclusions Mat" and did just that. I didn't quite read all the post. My bad.

[djwarner]

I experimented with applying Transtint Dark Vintage Maple with water before sealing with Lin-speed. From left to right, the samples are:

Stained and then sanded with 220 (left of the string)

Stained without sanding (half right of the string), and

Without Staining on the smaller second sample on the right.

Sanding after staining appears to lighten the peaks in the quilt and will probably be what I use.

[Boatworks Today]

For what it's worth, I'd rate these top to bottom as #1, #3 then #2.. Keep in mind that they are ALL beautiful, but #1 seems to have the most contrast (popped grains) and that's more my taste.. Great job on the gunstock

[djwarner]

Just to update those interested, I finished the gunstock with Lin-speed after staining with Antique Maple Transtint:

[tdale51@yahoo.com]

Djwamer,

WOW!!! Awesome! did you do the transtint, then sand with 220 then use the Lin-speed as you were thinking of doing?

[djwarner]

Actually, the samples pieces I did came out pretty light for a gun stock, sorta like Dogg the Bounty Hunter's blonde hair. So I decided just to stain it with Antique Maple mixed with water per the instructions. Brushed it on and let it dry. All the rest is Lin-Speed.

[Eric.]

Absolutely gorgeous.