Repair knot/finish on Ron Wharton stock?

[JMH123]

I’m not sure if this is a knot in the wood or what, but you can see the finish has moved/lifted I think, in a ‘dog tooth’ shape between the trigger guard and the bolt recess. Maybe just damage to the finish somehow.
Grateful for thoughts on what has caused it?

Thinking I’ll send it off to someone who could sort it and refinish the stock in general, including new butt pad etc. Based in North Yorkshire but could remove the stock and post it anywhere. Any recommendations?

Thanks

 

[Lancaster]

Have a chat with Chris Caine at W Richards Pocklington, they build guns and do restocking. Chris uses Ex Purdey, H&H etc smiths so I'm sure he can do a good job of it.

 

[deerstalker.308]

@AdamBragg

 

[olliehopes]

Ian Sweetman does awesome work with wood!

 

[Klenchblaize]

Remove action from stock and determine with aid of a torch if this defect knot is visible. If it is the making good will need to be from both sides to ensure there is no further corruption of the soft and ‘vulnerable’ material that surrounds the hard black hole-like centre.

K

 

[AdamBragg]

Happy to help. Feel free to get in touch.

 

[deerstalker.308]

Happy to help. Feel free to get in touch.

This man does incredible work…. Done two jobs for me, amazing craftsmanship

 

[Dunwaters]

That looks like an insert or plug used to fill a flaw in the stock.
Rubbing it flush should be easy enough, the finish will be a traditional oil based one, but it looks like the glue has sunk below the surface.
Getting a perfect match with the rest of the wood could take a bit of time

 

[HonestJohn]

It’s a knot breaking apart, you can see several pins have been inserted to stop the splits running further. It’s not a stock death sentence, and it can probably be polished over with refinishing; however, don’t expect that stock to last forever with that condition happening. You would probably be better off using and enjoying as is, until the eventual happens, and then having it restocked in the same shape and wood quality. You could spend £500 ‘fixing’ it now, and have it come apart in a few months, or wait until, and then spend £2k on a nice fancy new stock.

This has most likely happened if the magazine box rear has been impacting on the RHS corner of the inletting under recoil over time, and slightly relieving that stress point should also stop further splits - it will be clear if you take it out of the stock and see if that part inside has become blacker on the wood from rubbing.

 

[Bowland blades]

Its well saveable ! It doesn't look like an inlet section to mejust some knarley grain and re-finished well by someone who knows it will become a nice feature not a fault when made stable and finished up nice.
follow the grain and you should see what i mean

 

[User00044]

There's a guy who used to do stock work for Davey and Son at Wykeham , I wash shown some of his fixes . Given your location, may be worth a phone call .

 

[Lancaster]

There's a guy who used to do stock work for Davey and Son at Wykeham , I wash shown some of his fixes . Given your location, may be worth a phone call .

It might be John who used to be the Smith at Humberside Guns, he retired from there and now does a bit of work for Marcus.

 

[JMH123]

It’s a knot breaking apart, you can see several pins have been inserted to stop the splits running further. It’s not a stock death sentence, and it can probably be polished over with refinishing; however, don’t expect that stock to last forever with that condition happening. You would probably be better off using and enjoying as is, until the eventual happens, and then having it restocked in the same shape and wood quality. You could spend £500 ‘fixing’ it now, and have it come apart in a few months, or wait until, and then spend £2k on a nice fancy new stock.

This has most likely happened if the magazine box rear has been impacting on the RHS corner of the inletting under recoil over time, and slightly relieving that stress point should also stop further splits - it will be clear if you take it out of the stock and see if that part inside has become blacker on the wood from rubbing.

Thanks- there are no pins, that's just a little 'bead' of reflected light that has come out in the photo for some reason.

 

[JMH123]

Few more photos:

 

[Klenchblaize]

The cheapest (£8) fix:

Liberon Shellac Filler Sticks - Wood Finishes Direct

Liberon Shellac Filler Sticks for filling holes and cracks in finished and unfinished wood prior to applying a French polish, wood lacquer or varnish.

www.wood-finishes-direct.com

K

 

[HonestJohn]

Thanks- there are no pins, that's just a little 'bead' of reflected light that has come out in the photo for some reason.

Ok, it looked like pins. If there are none, you might be lucky it’s just a knot starting to ‘lift’ out of its seat.

 

[Dunwaters]

The more I look at the photos, the more it looks like 2 separate pieces shaped and inset to fill a void in the stock.
Common enough with figured wood.

 

[User00044]

It might be John who used to be the Smith at Humberside Guns, he retired from there and now does a bit of work for Marcus.

I know John and it's a guy I met prior to his move . Possible also called John

 

[Heym SR20]

In the old days shellac would be melted into the cracks to seal up knots etc. These days some thin epoxy - possibly dyed black would be applied. If you heat up the wood first the epoxy is sucked in as it cools. Then stock is refinished.

I would be surprised if Ronald Wharton had laid out a stock with a knot under the bolt handle. He was very much an old school gunsmith choosing grain with strength through the grip and action. From the photos this doesn’t look like a knot, more like damage to the stock that has been repaired at some point. Just part of the rifle’s character - any gun is only new once.

 

[tim@tcs]

If you do replace it can I have first dibs on the old stock? Pretty please