Birch Stock Refinishing

[havegun]

First let me say that by no means am I an expert at wood refinishing. This is just the method that I used, and in know way am I implying that this is the best or only way to refinish a birch stock set.
I would also like to mention Will77 who is a forum member here and got me pointed in the right direction.

Some of the items needed:
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/IMG_2558.jpg
You will also need 0000 steel wool and a screen coffee filter.

As Received: Chocolate colored Springfield.
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/002-1.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/001.jpg

First step was to strip off the existing finish with Formby’s. Follow the directions on the can. Make sure you use it in a well ventilated area, preferably outside and wear heavy duty gloves. It took me three different applications to remove all of the finish. I used a Scotch brite pad to scrub the wood.

After Finish Removal :
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/005.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/011.jpg
　
Second step was to let the wood dry. I used a hair drier to speed up the process. If some of the original finish starts to bleed to the surface, just wipe it off .
Sand the wood lightly with the sanding sponges. I used the medium and fine. They work great because they are rigid enough to help prevent the rounding off of edges, but are still flexible enough to get the contours, like around the pistol grip.

Third step was to prepare the dye. Make sure you use latex gloves so you don’t color your hands. I used Rit liquid dye (not powdered) from Wall Mart, dark brown and scarlet. This was diluted with denatured alcohol also from Wall Mart. I like a reddish tint to a Garand stock, so this is why the scarlet was used. If you did not want the red tint it could be left out. This is the mix ratio that I started with. Five teaspoons of the dark brown: one of scarlet: twelve of denatured alcohol. I tested a spot on the underside of the rear hand guard. It was not red enough so I added one more spoon of the red and two spoons of alcohol. Tested again. It was still not red enough so I added ½ spoon of red and one spoon of alcohol. I liked the color and this was my final ratio. 5 brown: 2 ½ scarlet: 15 alcohol. * ( Since the original post I have found that by increasing the alcohol in the raito makes it easier to apply. My new raito is 5 brown: 2 1/2 scarlet: 30 alcohol.) After I was satisfied with the color, I strained my mixture through a cone shaped screen coffee filter. *(I have also found that the straining is really not necessary if you buff between coats with the steel wool.)
It is important that you do test areas because different wood and grain patterns will yield different results. It will also give you some practice at applying the stain and an idea at how long to leave it on before wiping it down and how many coats will be needed.. The longer it is left on, the darker the color will become. If I had a piece of birch wood laying around, I would have practiced on it first.

Testing The Color (left to right):
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/016.jpg

Fourth step was to apply the stain. I used a foam paint brush to get all of the spaces inside of the stock and hand guards. On the outside surfaces I used a piece of an old towel to apply the stain. I tried to apply it as quickly and as evenly as possible with a moderate amount of rubbing. If you do it slowly and in small areas, it will dry and you will not be able to tell how evenly it went on.
Allow it to almost dry and then wipe it down with paper towels. I then lightly rubbed all of the wood with the 0000 steel wool. This helped even out the finish and removed any traces of residue. I repeated this process three times. Some of the areas on the stock, especially the end grain areas tend to get darker. I used the steel wool with a little more pressure to buff/ lighten these areas prior to the final stain application.You may or may not have to buff the final stain application with the steel wool. When buffing with the steel wool, be careful of the edges. Too much rubbing will easily remove the color and will leave a light spot. If you think that the stain is overall too dark, you can wipe down the wood with a clean rag soaked with the denatured alcohol to remove some of it.

Final step: Allow the wood to thoroughly dry for a few hrs.
I used Fairtrimmers for the finish. I applied it by hand on the outside and used a small foam paint brush to get all of the spaces inside the stock and hand guards. Some of the stain will come off, so don’t rub too long or hard. Let it dry for a few hrs. then wipe it down. You will notice that every time that you wipe down the final finish, some of the color will come off so you may end up with a slightly lighter color than before the Fairtrimmers was applied. I gave it one more coat and allowed it to dry overnight. The next morning I wiped it down with an old towel. The rifle can now be assembled and used. It actually took about 5 days before the finish was totally cured.

Completed:
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/042.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/031.jpg

This was a HRA orange stock set that I just did using the same procedure. However, I did increase the scarlet in the mix ratio from 5 : 2 ½ : 30 to 5 ; 3 ½ : 34 This dramatically increased the red color of the wood.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/IMG_2587.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q55/m1forme/IMG_2577.jpg

The actual procedure is relatively easy but it is somewhat time consuming.

Good luck.


Added 3/2/12

My most recent project was this H&R M12 stock. I don't have any before pictures, but this stock was real plain like a Ruger 10/22 stock an had some dents and scratches.
When the barreled action was removed from the stock, I noticed that it had been bedded. I did not want to damage the bedding material so I sanded off the existing finish rather then use a chemical stripper. Whatever the finish was, it came off easily.
The cool thing about Birch stocks is the striping that they could have. As I mentioned earlier, this stock was real plain with only a hint of striping on one side of the butt stock. After the dents were steames out, I decided to get a little daring and use a method that I had previously read about to see if I could give the wood a little more character. I got a propane torch and started to carefully heat the wood to darken it to try and duplicate striping. You have to be very careful doing this because it is very easy to burn the wood. If it does happen, you will have to sand the area to remove the charred wood. I think that a torch that burns cooler than propane would work better. Maybe butane? After The striping/darkening with the torch I gave the stock a light final sanding.
The stock was stained using the same method and ratio as above.
For the final finish , Formby's tung oil satin finish was used. It's also available in gloss.

[Taroman]

Beautiful work. Almost makes me wish my M1 had come with birch!

[irishsteve]

Came out super! Ive got a birch carbine stock thats badly in need of a make over.

[dpd3672]

Wow, an amazing improvement!

Thanks for the walkthrough, yet another stock finishing method to add to my "toolbox," great job.

[will77]

Nice looks better than mine, forgot to tell ya the charge for the info is you have to do my next birch stock ,i'll just need your addy so i can ship it to ya just kidding yours turned out very nice i need to get a bottle of fairtrimmers and give it a try

[Quicksilver]

Beautiful work. Almost makes me wish my M1 had come with birch!

Thanks for posting this...very thorough and good photos...Good Job.

Birch stock sets are heavy and fit-up very nice and tight...it's just that the grain...well it isn't walnut!

I find that after I spend so much time on a stock I really don't want to take it to the range and shoot it...I guess it's all about whether you want a 'shooter' or a 'wall-hanger'/'safe queen'...

QS

[easyv]

I'm in process of doing this to one of my M14 stocks...wanted to bleach it blond, but the underlying birch was too red, so I figured, sod it, lets make her a red head...

It started out as a GI non-marked M14 replacement stock. It had a very dark, chalky in texture, chocalately brown finish originally, completely flat.

I stripped it down, and the base wood had a reddish tinge to it afterwards.

My base stock though has too many oily dark blotches in the grain, so it won't be as purty as yours, but the color looks spot on. I just used the foam brush for the whole stock, was easy enough. Waitng a few hours before I tongue her with tung oil now...

[lapriester]

The best way is with alcohol based leather dye. Conventional oil based stains have little effect on Birch due to it's density. Lincoln or Fiebing dark brown dyes have a reddish tone to them when applied to Birch and Walnut. Applied and immediately wiped gives a lighter finish but still dark. Leave it on to dry and it's very dark. Follow up with BLO or Tung.

Here is a Birch Carbine stock done with Feibing dark Brown dye:

Before (note the Walnut handguard):


After:



After applying oil they lightened up to about the right tone and the Birch matched the Walnut almost perfectly. As havegun said...you must wear gloves or expect to have yellow fingers for the next month or more.

Larry

[smallguy7]

Will applying BLO to a stock using either method remove the stain finish, or will it just darken the color?

[Short Round]

Will applying BLO to a stock using either method remove the stain finish, or will it just darken the color?

yes and yes.

Stain or alcohol dye are both solutions with particles in them. They penetrate the wood via the solvent to varying degrees, the alcohol and smaller dye particles go deeper due to small size. Anyways I have found if you wipe the stock down with most solvents (or finishes) you will lift the particles sitting on the surface. You will really notice it if you're applying finish with a white clothe.

ETA- the longer it sits the less it will be able to come off. Just a few moments and you might get 1/3 lightening. I've done it, especially more on birch over walnut due to pore size. Just 10 minutes later with an alcohol dye and you'll get substantially less able to be removed.

Also if you find your dye stain job too dark for your liking if you act fast wipe it with a alcohol or mineral spirit soaked clothe to deliberately lift as much of the dye/stain as you can before it penetrates and is unreachable short of sanding.

You can also tint your BLO with a touch of dye and do touch up to areas that didn't take dye like you wanted, blend it in as you work, letting it dry. Seal over it with more BLO to lock the top coat/spit coat color in place. I've done this right over the top of BLO too.

and to answer the second part of your question, BLO will darken up the finish a bit. Raw linseed oil will keep oxidizing over time. At least that's my belief.

[jthurman]

If one uses the Lincoln leather dye do you still cut the solution with denatured alcohol like you did with the Rit? Also, can you explain the Fairtrimmers? What kind of finish is this vs the linseed or tung oil?

[havegun]

Not sure about the Lincoln leather dye. The Rit dye is made to be mixed with water, and it is my understanding that it can be mixed with water and applied to the wood but the water takes longer to evaporate and it might raise the grain. If the Rit dye is mixed with alcohol, it will still penetrate the wood but it will dry faster and there is less of a chance of the grain being raised.
Fairtrimmers will give the wood a dull oil finish. I've tried a product called Formbys tung oil satin finish and like the way it looks and you can also get it in gloss. I don't use tung or linseed oil because I don't have the time or patience needed to apply them.

[stape1188]

Can you explain the coffee filter? And Can anything other than fair trimmers be used? I dont know where to buy it locally. I was going to just use blo on my. Ew birch but your pics have inspired me to try this.

[hammonje]

Strain out the large particulates. The smaller the dye particles the further they will penetrate the stock. This is the cheap way to do it. I purchase TransTint wood dyes in a dropper bottle instead of using Rit. Small dye particles designed for wood, not cloth. Either will work. The coffee filter is just a quality measure and is an excellent addition to the staining protocol using the desribed methodology.

[wickyD]

Here is a couple I have worked on ,one Birch and one Beech.The Beech one has a arsenal repair is destined to become a lamp. The Birch has a heel repair I have about six more to work on, a fun pastime.Used alcohol based leather dye.
Darrell