stripping varnish

tom

Well-Known Member
Hi guys i have got myself a little project and wondered if anybody had stripped a wooden stock of varnish so i can oil it instead ?
thanks in advance ,What did you use to strip it ?
 
Hi, I touched the stock of my A bolt Browning on a barbwire point and within a week my stock looked as if I had injected milk under the varnish.

It took several days to remove the varnish completely using paint stripper, sandpaper, scraper, wifes toothbrush, wire wool etc. using finer grades as I went along.

The chequering was hardest, but I made haste slowly and finished with a super smooth stock

There seems to be dozens of fillers, colour enhancers to buy but I decided to just use Boiled Linseed Oil which I put into the palm of my hand and rubbed my hands together until the oil felt Hot. Then rubbed the oil into the wood, left for an hour and rubbed it all off with kitchen towel. Left to dry for 3 days and re-oiled. Kept this routine for 3 weeks.

I am very pleased with the result, I re-oil about twice each year. It is a lot of work but the finished gun is a pleasure to own.

Brianm
 
I was told to use a piece of broken glass to scratch off the old varnish. Well, I tackled my brand new Miroku when I was 18! Amazingly, it worked beautifully and now 26 years later it still looks great.

I simply rubbed the stock with walnut oil, polishing it with the heel of my hand until no more would go in. Just top it up once a year now. It's a vast improvement over the original varnish.
 
I've done a couple of stocks and have always used Nitro Mors stripper. It has always shifted the varnish with no problems. use a toothbrush to clear the chequering.
Some of the more stubborn finishes may require scraping with a blunt scraper try different shapes.
London gun stock finish kits from Napier do a good job, but there are others.
End result can be very satisfying, but you need to take your time!
 
Nitromors Green. Just stripped and refinished stock and forend of a Ugartechea sidelock. It helps if you DO follow the instructions!

Oddly enough I've splashed this on my skin and not found it irritating if washed off quickly under cold water.

The Nitromors can be cleaned off brushes with water and off the gun with white spirit so that no issue or raising the grain. I swear by it! And have used it for twenty years.
 
NOTE TO ALL!
Nitromors have changed their formula due to a ban on certain chemicals from,,,,,,,,,,,,,,you guessed it the E.U.

I brought some cheap varnish stripper from Wickes and frankly it was useless, but at £6 a litre what should I have expected?

Brought a tin of Nitromors for £16 for 500ml, and it too was useless. My advice would be either buy the cheap Wickes product and persevere, or use the glass/stanley blade to scratch the old varnish off.
 
In the distant past I did a couple of stocks - one with Nitromors which was slow & not very effective on the high gloss varnish on an American rifle and a product called Peel Off which worked much better - The problem is that I think that this better stuff is no longer available.
So probably Nitromors is the way to go these days after scoring the varnish first to let the chemicals get into the varnish & soften it.
I suppose these companies that strip doors & furniture must have some good stuff - It may be worth contacting them - they may even do it for you.

Ian

p.s. I just Googled & found that there is now a product called PeelAway - this may be the way to go - the advertising is reminiscent of the one I liked.
 
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Getting the stock to be dipped is probebly the best way forward. After spending a LOT of time with nitromors doing up my house. I can tell you it does work. BUT, dipping will really get into the checkering and lift the varnish. There's no scrubbing to do and the wood will look like its just been sawn.

There should be a place for dipping nere you. But if you like, I will give the guys we used a call and find out how much for you. For the price plus a bit of postage it could save you a lot of work.
 
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