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Advice on finishing a stripped carbine stock

majspud

majspud

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I just won on eBay a stripped SC-B (Sprague and Carleton, Inc.) IBM contract stock for $43. The stock has been stripped but not sanded, and the only metal remaining is the tang nut inside the stock. Metal is no issue; I just take it from the M2.

The issue is what would be the best way to refinish the natural wood, the small crack in the tang screw hole, and the small chip on the right side of the recoil plate.

My first thought is a little super glue gel in the crack, and multiple coats of BLO which hopefully will darken enough to match the hand guard.















MS
 
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Sand it down and try to collect as much wood dust as you can . You can mix it with the super Glue and it helps hide the glue lines.

I'd do this on bass guitars when I convert it to fretless. Instead of trying to inlay wood or plastic I'd use the saw dust trick.
There's 3 ways to do this .

Make a paste but you'll have to work fast .

Put some glue in the crack the push saw dust in .

Put saw dust in the crack then put super glue on top.

Google Stew mac guitar parts etc
They have types of super glue that takes finish vs standing out .


Any dents that are too deep lay a wet rag on top and use a hot a iron to steam it out .

Chips best way to fix those is with hide or titebond wood glue.
Buy some wood that's close to the color of the stock and cut section off . Stick it in the area . Glue . Then sand smooth.
 
I've recently read that the stocks were treated originally by dunking them in a vat of heated RAW linseed oil.

MS
 
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Take care with it. i started a fire with it trying to coat a bridge I made.

Stewmac has a good write up on useing it . You can add different things to it to make it a rock hard finish or a soft finish. After that one time I used it and set my yard on fire I stayed away.
 
Considering I have a gallon of BLO already and have no wish to have a visit by the FD...

Fixing the crack is easy.

I have some left over southern yellow pine that I found in the basement that was used when my house was built in 1879; that should (and just did) make some light shavings with a chisel.

MS
 
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I will say I prefer 100% pure tung oil. Even with linseed oil you may have to play with some stain or dye to match your hanguard.
As for cracks....I cant tell in the pic if that's a structural crack or just age...I have had a few stocks repaired by a furniture repair/restoration guy. He always used wood dowels or wedges of some sort.
There are several guys on cmp forums that do well with the stock work.
A few things the furniture guy mentioned was drilling holes near endcof cracks and plugging with simular wood with same direction of grain. This may require home made plugs. I don't have the stock for pictures any more but he used what looked like mini biskets used in joining two pieces of wood together.

I have been thinking of this on my next stock project Staining Wood | Dark Raw Tung Oil | Real Milk Paint ® .
Good luck work slow and post your experience and out come.

The last 3 stocks I did I took a lot of information from here. http://www.thecmp.org/Sales/askarmoreranswerwood_cleaning_article.htm
 
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Tung oil is what I use on my bass guitar necks. Love that stuff but it shows dirt.

Every now and then I rub bees wax on it with steel wool . Then every so often I redo the tung oil . It's not a hard finish just keeps the wood in good shape . So the wood will soak up sweat etc .
 
I have Howard's Feed and Wax to finish it off.

MS

I haven't had a good piece of fried dough in a good 6-7 years.

The pieces of yellow pine:

 
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in that pic it looks like the crack goes all the way through ? Can you spread the crack a little and get so thin strong glue in there and maybe use those wavy looking nails/staple i see holding cheap picture frame corners together ?
tough to describe but I would think about drilling a small hole into the stock passing through the stock and crack. use a counter sink bit. glue the crack and screw the halves together snugging it up. then use a face grain plug to fill the hole. done well you will hardly see it hardly see it.? I dont think that crack can really go anywhere because of the hole....

My computer skills are not well. but possible screw through like this.... m1carbine2.JPG red line being the drill and screw line ?
 
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condition it, stain it, tongue oil it. Tongue oil is easier to work with than BLO. Will leave a nice semi-satin finish if you knock the tack down with steel wool.
 
We'll see when the stock gets here. I don't think it's all the way through; but it won't see more than a few hundred rounds. I did a fix you describe on my M17 when the nose of the stock fell off. I really don't want to do a cross drill.

MS









 
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so MS you have the insight to repair already.....like to see your final solution. Nice job om the M17....Im just getting into "repair" a bit more. I just dont have many broken stocks to deal with...refinishing I learned a little from ny grandmother and pestering the furniture repair guy she took classes from, but this was 20 plus years ago.
 
What happened was that someone had just glued the nose on before me. Dealer didn't know; I got it for its perfect 12/17 Winchester barrel from it's 3 GM-K rebuild. But it was the original WWI Eddystone stock and all other parts are Eddystone, so I had to save it.

MS



 
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I've done several refinishes and the way to go is with BLO, mixed 50/50 with mineral spirits.

You can use it straight but it's pretty gooey and takes a long time to dry.

Use the mix, wipe it on with a rag, and let it sit for 24 hours. Then rub it down with 0000 steel wool. Wipe it down with a dry cloth and repeat for about 4 or five coats. Each coat will make it a little darker and each steel wool rub down will make it smoother, shinier. You can stop when you get to the point that you like it and after a couple of days for a real drying out, rub it with a good paste wax. I use butchers wax.

I don't have any pics to show the finish results, just overall pictures which I've osted here many times before. Ive done a Garand, Eddystone, Carbine and others.
 
majspud,

If you need some tung oil, let me know. I have plenty on hand.

I recommend using CA glue for the crack, which I also have. Let me know if I can help out.
 
Mix the first couple coats with thinner for BLO so it will soak in better. Then hand rub small amounts in and let it dry until you get sick of it and just have to put it on your rifle. it will turn more brown/reddish over time. I've even got some of the "orange" M1 stocks from the CMP to turn brownish after cleaning off the stain they used as best as I could.
 
Nice project, majspud! BLO-ing a stock and making her look pretty again can be very rewarding.

If it were me, I'd take the stock to someone who works with wood. Takes some fun out of it, I know. Personally, I'm not that comfortable doing repairs on these old stocks, and that crack looks like it could be trouble if not repaired correctly. On the flip side, if you're absolutely sure about fixing her up yourself, more power to ya.

Take your time with the coats of BLO or tung oil. I'm notoriously impatient, but this kind of project demands it.

If you think you could use some "Tom's 1/3 mix military gunstock wax" to finish up the stock, I'd be happy to send some your way. Just holler.
 

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