The first time I restored a milsurp rifle, a carcano, I did the scraping technique by "accident." I was using a piece of stamped metal from an old PC to scrape off the cosmoline and grime. The process still retained all the stamped imagery, but the gunk was taken off. Now, I'm watching this video seeing an expert using the same process. Thank God. Thanks for the tutorial, the information you provide is beyond valuable.
thanks yet again for doing what you do. it seems at the time of my writing this, two of the "never sand a stock" gang have done their drive by poopings..
Good tip on the scraper. I do a lot of stock work (as well as restoration on other old wooden objects) and this is gonna come in handy. Many thanks. I'm of the same school of thought on the sandpaper. No point going above 320. Although i have been known to go down to 80 grit but that's only for my lack of scrapers.
Hey Mark, I followed your steps A through Q and wound up with a beautiful walnut stock that is still proud and yet 100% gunk free. Thanks for the education!!!!!
I'm so lucky to find these videos a few months back. Your videos are the best thing on youtube hands down. Even my wife watches them, good entertainment for the both of us.
@@ScottKenny1978 Clue for you! In the UK we call these cabinet scrapers... There was a time when, after you had done with the smoothing plane, it was this or the sharkskin...
@@davidpowell5437 yes, historically correct. I probably should have added the word "today" to my previous comment, because I don't know a lot of woodworkers that use scrapers today. Don't know any personally, and only know a few by reputation. The ones I do know of are all about using the traditional tools.
I picked up alot of my woodworking skills from an uncle who was an English cabinet maker, who had picked up gunsmithing as a hobby. In the UK they are much more common, and used much more extensive. But power sanders and plains have replaced cabinet scrapers in many professional cabinet makers tool kits today, even in UK. You can do a much nicer job with cabinet scrapers, and actually remove much much less material. But at the end of the day, the job a power sanders does in a commercial setting are good enough, and time is money.
I go to 1500 grit Silicon Carbide papers then raise the grain with 70 percent alcohol and when dry and fill with clear epoxy filler. After the epoxy cures I wet sand with the 70 percent alcohol which leaves the grain filled and the stock ready for oil polishing. Since I live in California and can't legally buy or use True Oil or JB Linspeed for many years, I have been using Tung Oil with dryers added for speed. I rub it in as I would Linseed Oils and use 1000 grit to 1500 grit Silicon Carbide papers. It takes time to very nicely finish stocks but it is worth the effort. I employ this finish on micrometer boxes and fine furniture also. As an aside, the oil finish allows for precise edge control of laser engraved lettering and graphics burned into the wood.
Thanks for another great video!! While i'm not a gunsmith, I too find going much past 320 grit on any of my woodwork projects is a hinderance to finish application and its not worth doing until the finish has been applied and cured. But once the initial finish has cured, the hardness the finish imparts to the wood does all kinds of magic in making things look even better when you go through the grits towards 800, after which diminished returns make it, not really worth the effort. Sadly while many people love the look and feel they just aren't willing to invest the time or money.
This may sound like a weird source, but Ed Feldman and Joe L' Erario had a show on PBS in Philly in the early 90's called "Furniture On the Mend" where they repair and refinish tons of antique furniture while making jokes and references to very obscure pop culture. But the refinishing and wood repair segments are invaluable, I have used their techniques more times than I can count to repair gouges and dents. And I learned french polishing from them, which is a misleading term, it's actually a finishing technique that involves applying finish, such as shellac, the polishing the surface using rags soaked with finish and solvent. It results in a shine that looks incredible, I used it on a Rigby double rifle that had seen better days and needed a complete refinish of all furniture.
I've got a stock that needs refinishing. I'm glad I watched this video before starting. Also, I'm afraid as soon as I start another video will come out showing some other example of my ignorance that this one did and I will regret a portion of the work. Maybe I need to just dive in and see what's what.
I’ve purchased a few firearms over the years that were good shooters , but nothing to look at and these were the firearms I learned on.. My first few stock jobs were roached out SKSs with cracked stocks . Stock work is so fun , the results are right in front of you when you are done, it’s pretty rewarding .
Hi Mark. You are right about the grit. I just refinished the stocks on a brand new 1873 Winchester (Miroku). Up to 400 grit wet sanding with boiled linseed oil was filling the grain just nice. I went 600 then 800 grit still wet sanding and it was exposing the grain again instead of filling it. So from my experience if you’re finishing wet sanding with oil and want the grain filled, no higher than 400 grit.
hey Mark - thanks so very much for all of this information and light-hearted entertainment. I do not pretend to have any ability by comparison. I do make swords and knives. In the woodworking for them, I find that files are great and also keeping a couple that had parallel sides and grinding the teeth off gives great sanding backers. You can change the way it works by whether you wrap any paper around it. A few wraps of sandpaper and you have padding. No wraps, and it is good at keeping lines crisp. I sand to 800. I can't not
That is an amazing stick of wood on that Model 94. I'd love to see the rifle when you are finished. I recently bought a Model 94 made in my birth year, 1946. It looks virtually new, pristine bore, beautiful blueing. But the wood at the steel buttplate has the rollover that you show, even though the buttplate itself shows no sign of sanding. The rifle shows no sign of having been refinished, all edges are crisp.
The reason your stock is rolled off is probably the same reason your buttplate shows no sanding marks. The butt plate wasn't on the stock when it was sanded, that's my guess. Sounds like a nice find.
@@tubeonline629 I agree. I have a few other older rifles that exhibit the same characteristic, those also have steel buttplates. My rifles with non-steel buttplates all have properly contoured stocks. I don't know how that 94 made it through 74 years in such good condition. I actually walked away from it the first day I saw it, thought about it overnight and called the shop the next morning. Glad I did.
@@tubeonline629 Well, I dug out my 1937 vintage 52, the reason the stock is rolled is that it has about an inch and a half cut off of it, probably for a female shooter. I've been searching the interwebs for a replacement stock but so far no luck. I did find a new one from Gunville.com, it is close but I need to get a better picture from them. At $142.75 it is priced pretty nicely.
I have done my final sanding to 1000 and then finish up with a ton of BLO coats. (Even redid an old garden shovel that way) Found it makes the stock feel almost velvety smooth....
It "would" be so easy to make a tasteless jest right now, but I am so stunned by the look of that stock, that I will respectfully restrain my immature sense of humor.
I sand down to 320 also. I then give it two coats of boiled linseed oil. Next I sand those with 400 using tung oil and charcoal lighter fluid and a lubricant, once it is sanded I then rub that dry and leave to cure the repeat with 400 grit again, same procedure. Then I move to 600 with the same procedure, twice, then 800. The final coats are just rubbed in by hand, usually 20 to 30 coats and leaving it to cure for 24 hours between. That’s how the old masters used to do it.
I once repaired a stock from soaked oil with acetone bath and by pushing the oil out with small heat. You could probably do it a lot better than i can so it would be interesting to sometimes see your take on a common issue like that :)
Would a sharpened paint scraper work for scraping? Something like a 1 1/2 inch Red Devil scraper? I’m able to get a razor edge on one with a flat Nicholson file.
It wasn't but just two days ago that I thought to myself. I need a scraper. But not being a wood guy I thought I don't even know how a scraper is made. So I went too scrubbing away with a grit higher than I would have cared to. I have spring steel I have a heat treat oven, and now I have the know how. Now if you could instruct me on filing a good pole pruner blade, I would be so grateful.
That is a beautiful stock. I hope you put up some pictures of it with finish. When I've finished stocks in the past I tend to sand to 320 grit whisker the wood sand with 400 and apply a coat of oil. After 2-3 coats of oil I'll sand in coats of oil using 600, 800, and 1000 grit paper. I guess it just depends on how much time you have and what kind of finish you want.
I have had very oil soaked milsurp stocks I boil them for 4 or 5 minuets at a time let dry for 2 or 3 weeks and then scrape and sand any and all imperfections are revealed can make a bad bad stock into a very usable one. saw this a few years back and works very well yes he go's to the extreme but has a sound technique Vulcan Gun as close to perfection as possible
I like the scraping... I found out about that way of scraping by accident, years ago.. lol.. I just was young and messing around on some piece of wood... Not a gun or anything like that...
I learned something new, I will have to use this. I've refinished a half dozen stocks that took a weeks worth of sanding. Starting with 36 grit and ending with 2,000 grit.
Beautifully explained and my question is with my old stock some to use your words trained rat with a sharpened salad fork sanded the crap out of the stock and by the looks with something lower than 150grt and they applied a finish like shellac to it and again in your words it looks like arse
Will scrapping it from where it's at clear up the garbage complexion of the stock so that I could conserve the gun properly yes I have been paying attention when you get busy with a milsurp, or even a cool old rifle or shotgun and kill off the active rust and carry out the rust blueing process which I've always held an intrest
Hey, I have a question about an old Dutch Beaumont stock. At some point someone decided to put a thick layer of hard varnish on and it looks awful and pretty much glued all the metal parts into place. How should I go about removing the varnish? I am pretty sure the stock will need to be refinished. Regards, and love your videos!
You can use any piece of sheetmetal… the housing on a VCR, old computer and so on. Use a pair of tin snips to cut a square out. Using snips to cut will automatically put that kerf on the edge to scrape with.
If you don't have the tools to make one there are scraping cards available to purchase online. I can't remember the name but there is a channel I watch sometimes where a fellow refinishes a mid century (typically) furniture and he uses a scraping card often like Mark does here.
@@Psynova Definitely. Make sure it's a good strong blade. Not all razor blade can take lateral forces very well like that of scraping because they're heat treated to preserve the edge. which in turn can, and often does, make them brittle. I mean they're hardware store razor blades not a competition cutter or a huge Bowie knife.
Google his name. Mark Novak Gunsmithing services. There's an email address. If you suck in breath at the sound of $1000, you are probably wasting his time. I don't know his hourly rate, but I would expect he has a contract that starts with something along the lines of "$125/ shop hour. 3 shop hour minimum. send pics for an estimate of the low end of how many hours it could be." Since you called it "old double barrel" not "Holland and Holland, whatever" then the value of the gun is probably about a third of what it would take for someone like Mr. Novak to put it back into good repair. If yours is worth that kind of money TO YOU, then go ahead.
What did you put on it at the end? I have a Winchester 94 that the wood needs some love. And what a rifle, why shouldn’t it look absolutely as good as one can make it?
@@wolfmac3923 OK. I think need to research what they were using at the time or dive in with TruOil and get a large buffer wheel and convert my bench grinder.
Mark - love all of your videos and I am a multi year supporter on Patreon. I have a question - I just purchased and received today a very unique and rare .22 rifle. A French MAS Model 45 Training Rifle that I purchased in what I thought was "un-fired" condition... It may in fact be unfired but it is far from a new rifle. And, the biggest problem is the freight carrier somehow broke the stock at the wrist!!!!! Unbelievable. I have a wonderful friend who is a local gunsmith but I do not think this is the kind of job for him. This is a valuable collector rifle and I am curious how I would contact you to have you do the work please? I also believe this is a very cool and interesting rifle that may be a good candidate for a video. Please advise how I may enlist your impeccable gunsmithing services. Thanks so much Sir..... (I will send the rifle to and from your location at my expense - stating the obvious)
@@k9foru2 Contacted Mark Spaceman..... Thanks for the info. Mark e-mailed back and indicated he is really jammed up right now with work. That said - I implored him to take on the job as I want this beautiful rifle to be done RIGHT. We will see - I am surely not afraid to pay for the work. He is the best I have seen and should get paid.
Question: MAS Trainers go for around $600-700 online and generally $300-400 at gun shows. Why would you spend over $1000 to repair one? They're not rare or valuable by any stretch, even the unfired parade-grade St Etienne models that go for around $800 and number in the thousands. Not knocking your choices, mind you, just wondering why the fuss for something that has no sentimental value? It's like the guys that buy Yugo Mausers for $350 then spend $2000 sporterizing them, when they could buy a much better hunting rifle for the same price as a milsurp Mauser.
Mark, I know it’s not an exact science on your scraper but while looking for spring steel it looks like the two options are “hard” with a Rockwell rating of C45 and “soft” with a C33 rating? Which (in your opinion) is a better host for this tool?
Sand it down to 1500 or even 2000 and use Daly’s “ship-n-shore” and a clean polishing pad, you’ll end up with a glass finish that completely water proof.
@@endutubecensorship there’s two products that are very similar Benite and Ship-n-shore both can be used as a sealer in prep for a top coat. Shop-n-shore however can be used as a stand alone product and is water proof after two coats. It soaks in and doesn’t emulsify like you’d expect a lacquer or poly to build. I’ve done a couple gun stocks but mostly furniture, dining room tables and chairs and so forth. For tables and furniture I sand to 800 then apply a coat let it dry and the sand at 1000 and apply a second coat let that dry and then actually use the ship-n-shore and wet sand at 1200 using the product as the wetness not water. Then polish the snot out of the piece once that third sanded coat is dry. Yeah it’s labor as hell and if your customers like what you do then keep up the good work but maybe grab a piece of scrap and give it a go. If you show it to a customer and they like it and don’t mind the price tag they brag like crazy. After three jobs with the above method word got around and it’s basically all I do now. There’s another product called Osmo that I like very much for a matte finish but it’s not as requested. The other finish style folks find really amazing is benite (the sealer) then as a top coat I used automotive clear coat. It’s tricky to work with but is hard as a rock and super thin. It is very important to use the Benite as it prevents a lot of the expansion and contraction of the wood that is the primary enemy when applying the automotive clear coat to wood.
@@endutubecensorship if you get into the trend of epoxy tables for some reason I recommend going all the way up to 5000 grit (sold at automotive paint supply houses) then polish. The real trick at the higher grits is being absolutely certain you got the swirl gone from the previous stage. You also go through progressively more pads or sheets as each step is about 15-20% less efficient than the last. But that’s what billing “time and materials” is for. The kind of customer that wants this kind of thing is also fortunately the kind that can afford it...usually.
@@endutubecensorship glad to. Side note, for contour sanding I do use the scotch bright pads which go up to the equivalent of about 320 grit. Be fastidious about removing the little hair that might shed. The Osmo clogs sandpaper damn quick. If you try the Osmo be certain to follow their instructions re sanding. For the first application if I remember right it’s 150 grit then apply I’ve had it fail before when I figured “stupid manufactures, what do they know?” After the first application you can go higher grit.
Learning has occurred.
Agreed. I always learn something watching Mark.
The first time I restored a milsurp rifle, a carcano, I did the scraping technique by "accident." I was using a piece of stamped metal from an old PC to scrape off the cosmoline and grime. The process still retained all the stamped imagery, but the gunk was taken off. Now, I'm watching this video seeing an expert using the same process. Thank God. Thanks for the tutorial, the information you provide is beyond valuable.
“It looks like ASS”
You sir, are my hero.
Now I wreckon, depending on the Ass, that could go either way.
Thank you for teaching me just how many mistakes I have made
That woodgrain is so damn good.
What a beautiful piece of walnut
Agreed, that last scene with the stain was 🤯
Was thinking same thing. "Damn, that's pretty."
thanks yet again for doing what you do. it seems at the time of my writing this, two of the "never sand a stock" gang have done their drive by poopings..
Insights! This is the kind of stuff a sorcerer's apprentice is allowed to learn after wet mopping the workroom for 6 months. Thanks.
In this case wet mopping the workroom is more like rearranging and organizing all the sandpaper by grit and type
Good tip on the scraper. I do a lot of stock work (as well as restoration on other old wooden objects) and this is gonna come in handy. Many thanks. I'm of the same school of thought on the sandpaper. No point going above 320. Although i have been known to go down to 80 grit but that's only for my lack of scrapers.
"And it LOOKS LIKE ASS."
Subbed.
Hey Mark, I followed your steps A through Q and wound up with a beautiful walnut stock that is still proud and yet 100% gunk free. Thanks for the education!!!!!
Winchester really had some stunning wood. Some of the really good stuff even ended up as M1 Garand stocks in WWII. Those are amazing.
Amazing work as always, look forward to your videos every time!
Thanks
I'm so lucky to find these videos a few months back. Your videos are the best thing on youtube hands down. Even my wife watches them, good entertainment for the both of us.
I can't get enough of your videos.
While attending woodworking college i never saw a use for scarpers, seeing them used in this context is very interesting.
hi scrapers are extremely good at taking off raised grain and flattening a surface, much better in fact at that bit than sand paper.
Gunsmiths seem to be the primary users of wood scrapers (edit) _today._
@@ScottKenny1978 Clue for you! In the UK we call these cabinet scrapers...
There was a time when, after you had done with the smoothing plane, it was this or the sharkskin...
@@davidpowell5437 yes, historically correct. I probably should have added the word "today" to my previous comment, because I don't know a lot of woodworkers that use scrapers today. Don't know any personally, and only know a few by reputation. The ones I do know of are all about using the traditional tools.
I picked up alot of my woodworking skills from an uncle who was an English cabinet maker, who had picked up gunsmithing as a hobby. In the UK they are much more common, and used much more extensive. But power sanders and plains have replaced cabinet scrapers in many professional cabinet makers tool kits today, even in UK. You can do a much nicer job with cabinet scrapers, and actually remove much much less material. But at the end of the day, the job a power sanders does in a commercial setting are good enough, and time is money.
A cabinet scraper is definitely a beautifully simple tool that's indispensable.
They're great and you get a better finish than what non-obsessive sanding gets you.
I go to 1500 grit Silicon Carbide papers then raise the grain with 70 percent alcohol and when dry and fill with clear epoxy filler. After the epoxy cures I wet sand with the 70 percent alcohol which leaves the grain filled and the stock ready for oil polishing. Since I live in California and can't legally buy or use True Oil or JB Linspeed for many years, I have been using Tung Oil with dryers added for speed. I rub it in as I would Linseed Oils and use 1000 grit to 1500 grit Silicon Carbide papers. It takes time to very nicely finish stocks but it is worth the effort. I employ this finish on micrometer boxes and fine furniture also. As an aside, the oil finish allows for precise edge control of laser engraved lettering and graphics burned into the wood.
Dear God! Tru oil is illegal in Kalifornia?
I'm glad I live in Georgia. Take Care friend, greetings from free America, John
Thanks for another great video!!
While i'm not a gunsmith, I too find going much past 320 grit on any of my woodwork projects is a hinderance to finish application and its not worth doing until the finish has been applied and cured.
But once the initial finish has cured, the hardness the finish imparts to the wood does all kinds of magic in making things look even better when you go through the grits towards 800, after which diminished returns make it, not really worth the effort.
Sadly while many people love the look and feel they just aren't willing to invest the time or money.
This is about rifle stocks, but it certainly applies to any woodworking. Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
This may sound like a weird source, but Ed Feldman and Joe L' Erario had a show on PBS in Philly in the early 90's called "Furniture On the Mend" where they repair and refinish tons of antique furniture while making jokes and references to very obscure pop culture. But the refinishing and wood repair segments are invaluable, I have used their techniques more times than I can count to repair gouges and dents. And I learned french polishing from them, which is a misleading term, it's actually a finishing technique that involves applying finish, such as shellac, the polishing the surface using rags soaked with finish and solvent. It results in a shine that looks incredible, I used it on a Rigby double rifle that had seen better days and needed a complete refinish of all furniture.
You always do amazing work
That stock is freaking gorgeous !!!!!
I've got a stock that needs refinishing. I'm glad I watched this video before starting. Also, I'm afraid as soon as I start another video will come out showing some other example of my ignorance that this one did and I will regret a portion of the work.
Maybe I need to just dive in and see what's what.
Dive...Dive....Awooooooga Get to it, and I mean that
I’ve purchased a few firearms over the years that were good shooters , but nothing to look at and these were the firearms I learned on.. My first few stock jobs were roached out SKSs with cracked stocks . Stock work is so fun , the results are right in front of you when you are done, it’s pretty rewarding .
Hi Mark.
You are right about the grit. I just refinished the stocks on a brand new 1873 Winchester (Miroku). Up to 400 grit wet sanding with boiled linseed oil was filling the grain just nice. I went 600 then 800 grit still wet sanding and it was exposing the grain again instead of filling it. So from my experience if you’re finishing wet sanding with oil and want the grain filled, no higher than 400 grit.
hey Mark - thanks so very much for all of this information and light-hearted entertainment. I do not pretend to have any ability by comparison. I do make swords and knives. In the woodworking for them, I find that files are great and also keeping a couple that had parallel sides and grinding the teeth off gives great sanding backers. You can change the way it works by whether you wrap any paper around it. A few wraps of sandpaper and you have padding. No wraps, and it is good at keeping lines crisp. I sand to 800. I can't not
Love this channel! Learning so mych already. Thankyou mate!
Glad you enjoy it!
A old Handsaw blade works fine as scraper material.
My father used to use a piece of glass as a scraper. About 2"x4". Worked great.
Until you drop it. How would I know that?!
Thank you for these great videos.
I would sacrifice a mosin nagant to a corn fed bubba to get a 94 stock that pretty.
I would sacrifice a corn fed bubba to get a stock that pretty...
@@monkeyship74401 hahahahaha
"Trained rat with a sharpened salad fork"?? Where do you get these quips from Mark. Priceless!
Man, Oh Man. Now I know why I'm trying to improve...
Nothing prettier than walnut and blue steel!
another great video Mark
That is an amazing stick of wood on that Model 94. I'd love to see the rifle when you are finished.
I recently bought a Model 94 made in my birth year, 1946. It looks virtually new, pristine bore, beautiful blueing. But the wood at the steel buttplate has the rollover that you show, even though the buttplate itself shows no sign of sanding. The rifle shows no sign of having been refinished, all edges are crisp.
The reason your stock is rolled off is probably the same reason your buttplate shows no sanding marks. The butt plate wasn't on the stock when it was sanded, that's my guess. Sounds like a nice find.
@@tubeonline629 I agree. I have a few other older rifles that exhibit the same characteristic, those also have steel buttplates. My rifles with non-steel buttplates all have properly contoured stocks.
I don't know how that 94 made it through 74 years in such good condition. I actually walked away from it the first day I saw it, thought about it overnight and called the shop the next morning. Glad I did.
@@tubeonline629 Well, I dug out my 1937 vintage 52, the reason the stock is rolled is that it has about an inch and a half cut off of it, probably for a female shooter. I've been searching the interwebs for a replacement stock but so far no luck. I did find a new one from Gunville.com, it is close but I need to get a better picture from them. At $142.75 it is priced pretty nicely.
Why the customer is usually not correct.
Customer hires expert to do job.
Customer starts questioning Expert on how to do said job.
Beautiful piece of wood. Good tips. Working on a 94 project myself. Nowhere near as nice of wood though.
I like how the end noise is the intro noise reversed.
What a great looking stock! Nice work! In Germany a stock like this would sell for around 900,00 EUR-- just the butt stock itself!
Nice wood. Thanks for the video.
I lien so much just watching your videos I love all your videos
I have done my final sanding to 1000 and then finish up with a ton of BLO coats. (Even redid an old garden shovel that way) Found it makes the stock feel almost velvety smooth....
Great video
It's the little things that make or break it.
👍👍
great wood restoration
Thanks my friend...!
puts up video of sanding s stock...almost 20000 views later, damn fine content carbon based life-form!
Im going to take a run at cleaning up my late father in laws Mauser. Thank you for the inspiration and knowledge base.
Oh god, as soon as the oil hit that stock. That's a better money shot then you can find a pornhub.
I could send you some links that would change your mind... 🤣
It "would" be so easy to make a tasteless jest right now, but I am so stunned by the look of that stock, that I will respectfully restrain my immature sense of humor.
I woodn't go there..........
omg, that thing is gorgeous.
.
Now THAT is art.
I sand down to 320 also. I then give it two coats of boiled linseed oil. Next I sand those with 400 using tung oil and charcoal lighter fluid and a lubricant, once it is sanded I then rub that dry and leave to cure the repeat with 400 grit again, same procedure. Then I move to 600 with the same procedure, twice, then 800. The final coats are just rubbed in by hand, usually 20 to 30 coats and leaving it to cure for 24 hours between. That’s how the old masters used to do it.
Guessing that’s for a high gloss polished looking finish? And ting oil everything past those 2 coats of linseed oil?
Learned about card scrapers in college when we made Windsor chairs
Great stuff
I once repaired a stock from soaked oil with acetone bath and by pushing the oil out with small heat. You could probably do it a lot better than i can so it would be interesting to sometimes see your take on a common issue like that :)
Thank god I never argued gun smithing with this craftsman .🙂
I Love It I’ve Got a Model 94 In Need of That fine Wood Mark 😮😐😀
GOOD SHOW THANK YOU
*sees a wood stock on another TH-cam channel*
Me: wow that’s a nice finish
Mark: that looks like ass!!
Me: yea ! Like ass!!!
That’s a great piece of wood.
Would a sharpened paint scraper work for scraping? Something like a 1 1/2 inch Red Devil scraper? I’m able to get a razor edge on one with a flat Nicholson file.
I watched this more than once --I'm a wood guy and that stock just makes me drool..
That's dope bro
Interesting bit of tool making.
Lovely!!!!
It wasn't but just two days ago that I thought to myself. I need a scraper. But not being a wood guy I thought I don't even know how a scraper is made. So I went too scrubbing away with a grit higher than I would have cared to. I have spring steel I have a heat treat oven, and now I have the know how.
Now if you could instruct me on filing a good pole pruner blade, I would be so grateful.
Sharpen the pole pruner as if they are a standard set of scissors. Glad I could clear that up for you....
@@marknovak8255 Thanks Mark!
I do greatly appreciate your channel.
That is a beautiful stock. I hope you put up some pictures of it with finish. When I've finished stocks in the past I tend to sand to 320 grit whisker the wood sand with 400 and apply a coat of oil. After 2-3 coats of oil I'll sand in coats of oil using 600, 800, and 1000 grit paper. I guess it just depends on how much time you have and what kind of finish you want.
I sand in with 400, then buff back with a scotchbrite. As you said, I only have the time the customer buys
I typically go to at least 400-600 depending on how nice the grain is, for that piece 800 minimum. That's some sexy wood
I have had very oil soaked milsurp stocks I boil them for 4 or 5 minuets at a time let dry for 2 or 3 weeks and then scrape and sand any and all imperfections are revealed can make a bad bad stock into a very usable one. saw this a few years back and works very well yes he go's to the extreme but has a sound technique Vulcan Gun as close to perfection as possible
I can report that this does work now that I've done it, concur with this.
Great ending.
Suggestions on bringing the luster back on a,walnut stock,anything I can watch?
You made sharpening a scraper look way too easy...I always struggle.
He makes everything look rather easy but I know I'd muck it up. I think it's just a matter of more experience on his part
Its really not bad, if you have a hard time getting a square edge, you can make/get a jig that will hold the file at 90 degrees to the face.
Getting wood has never been so easy ;)
I like the scraping...
I found out about that way of scraping by accident, years ago.. lol..
I just was young and messing around on some piece of wood... Not a gun or anything like that...
Where can one find such finely figured wood for a Winchester 94?
The video is less than 8 minutes long and I've been interrupted at least five times before the halfway point. So I'm just gonna watch twice
You should watch it 3 times, Ya never know.... :)
I learned something new, I will have to use this. I've refinished a half dozen stocks that took a weeks worth of sanding. Starting with 36 grit and ending with 2,000 grit.
Mmmm ... scraper ... nice!
Beautifully explained and my question is with my old stock some to use your words trained rat with a sharpened salad fork sanded the crap out of the stock and by the looks with something lower than 150grt and they applied a finish like shellac to it and again in your words it looks like arse
This is where a scraper shines. the scraper will remove wood, but in broad swaths which avoids deep scratches.
Why are Phillips head screws not suitable for guns? Is it just an aesthetic thing?
Will scrapping it from where it's at clear up the garbage complexion of the stock so that I could conserve the gun properly yes I have been paying attention when you get busy with a milsurp, or even a cool old rifle or shotgun and kill off the active rust and carry out the rust blueing process which I've always held an intrest
Hey, I have a question about an old Dutch Beaumont stock. At some point someone decided to put a thick layer of hard varnish on and it looks awful and pretty much glued all the metal parts into place. How should I go about removing the varnish? I am pretty sure the stock will need to be refinished.
Regards, and love your videos!
If a scraper alone won't do it, try a heat gun to soften the varnish. Be gentle with the heat, grasshopper.
If youre altering a stock with a metal butt pad, or other metal parts inlet, is there anyway to sand without getting the grey into the wood?
Just use one of these white “wonder sponges” afterwards, slightly wet, gets everything out of the wood pores.
I want one of those on my 1885!
I'd still like to know where to buy the spring steel for the scraper. Brownell's doesn't seem to have stuff that wide.
You can use any piece of sheetmetal… the housing on a VCR, old computer and so on. Use a pair of tin snips to cut a square out. Using snips to cut will automatically put that kerf on the edge to scrape with.
Looking at my old h&R handi rifle after this then realized nah it didn't look that good new and I would just put dents back in it
I just use a carbide insert for a scraper.
"trained rat with a shafoened salad fork" humor and knowledge!
Sorry about my fat finger misspelling. Its sipposed to be sharpened salad fork. I just think those analogies are so funny and convey the knowledge.
@@tjo4087 OUTSPHANDING!
If you don't have the tools to make one there are scraping cards available to purchase online. I can't remember the name but there is a channel I watch sometimes where a fellow refinishes a mid century (typically) furniture and he uses a scraping card often like Mark does here.
Watch the furniture makers in Williamsburg Va. Use only scrapers since sand paper was invented during that time period
@@Psynova Definitely. Make sure it's a good strong blade. Not all razor blade can take lateral forces very well like that of scraping because they're heat treated to preserve the edge. which in turn can, and often does, make them brittle. I mean they're hardware store razor blades not a competition cutter or a huge Bowie knife.
Wow, just wow...
I have an old double barrel I would love to have you do some work on how could I get in touch with you?
Google his name. Mark Novak Gunsmithing services. There's an email address. If you suck in breath at the sound of $1000, you are probably wasting his time. I don't know his hourly rate, but I would expect he has a contract that starts with something along the lines of "$125/ shop hour. 3 shop hour minimum. send pics for an estimate of the low end of how many hours it could be." Since you called it "old double barrel" not "Holland and Holland, whatever" then the value of the gun is probably about a third of what it would take for someone like Mr. Novak to put it back into good repair. If yours is worth that kind of money TO YOU, then go ahead.
Sometimes the best tools, are the ones you make, to do the job at hand
What did you put on it at the end? I have a Winchester 94 that the wood needs some love. And what a rifle, why shouldn’t it look absolutely as good as one can make it?
That was just water. It replicates/simulates what the finish will look like in the end
@@wolfmac3923 OK. I think need to research what they were using at the time or dive in with TruOil and get a large buffer wheel and convert my bench grinder.
Somebody spent a couple of paychecks to upgrade to high-end wood on this "lowly" Model 94.
Mr Novak,how can clean 40 years of schmutz off a 20 in piece of walnut stock?
Mark - love all of your videos and I am a multi year supporter on Patreon. I have a question - I just purchased and received today a very unique and rare .22 rifle. A French MAS Model 45 Training Rifle that I purchased in what I thought was "un-fired" condition... It may in fact be unfired but it is far from a new rifle. And, the biggest problem is the freight carrier somehow broke the stock at the wrist!!!!! Unbelievable. I have a wonderful friend who is a local gunsmith but I do not think this is the kind of job for him. This is a valuable collector rifle and I am curious how I would contact you to have you do the work please? I also believe this is a very cool and interesting rifle that may be a good candidate for a video. Please advise how I may enlist your impeccable gunsmithing services. Thanks so much Sir..... (I will send the rifle to and from your location at my expense - stating the obvious)
markfixesguns@gmail.com
https: //candrsenal . com/gunsmithing/ is the place to go
@@k9foru2 Thanks so much - will follow up accordingly... What a bitch - this is such a cool rifle and it is a shame to see the stock cracked..... DAMN
@@k9foru2 Contacted Mark Spaceman..... Thanks for the info. Mark e-mailed back and indicated he is really jammed up right now with work. That said - I implored him to take on the job as I want this beautiful rifle to be done RIGHT. We will see - I am surely not afraid to pay for the work. He is the best I have seen and should get paid.
Question: MAS Trainers go for around $600-700 online and generally $300-400 at gun shows. Why would you spend over $1000 to repair one? They're not rare or valuable by any stretch, even the unfired parade-grade St Etienne models that go for around $800 and number in the thousands.
Not knocking your choices, mind you, just wondering why the fuss for something that has no sentimental value? It's like the guys that buy Yugo Mausers for $350 then spend $2000 sporterizing them, when they could buy a much better hunting rifle for the same price as a milsurp Mauser.
Woodworking ASMR
Mark, I know it’s not an exact science on your scraper but while looking for spring steel it looks like the two options are “hard” with a Rockwell rating of C45 and “soft” with a C33 rating? Which (in your opinion) is a better host for this tool?
Lee Valley or Leigh Neilson make great cabinet scrapers for $20. You can’t make them for less
Hard is better
Sand it down to 1500 or even 2000 and use Daly’s “ship-n-shore” and a clean polishing pad, you’ll end up with a glass finish that completely water proof.
Thanks for the info, it says this product is for prep before painting/varnishing.
Is that how you use it or do you prefer it on it's own?
@@endutubecensorship there’s two products that are very similar Benite and Ship-n-shore both can be used as a sealer in prep for a top coat. Shop-n-shore however can be used as a stand alone product and is water proof after two coats. It soaks in and doesn’t emulsify like you’d expect a lacquer or poly to build. I’ve done a couple gun stocks but mostly furniture, dining room tables and chairs and so forth. For tables and furniture I sand to 800 then apply a coat let it dry and the sand at 1000 and apply a second coat let that dry and then actually use the ship-n-shore and wet sand at 1200 using the product as the wetness not water. Then polish the snot out of the piece once that third sanded coat is dry. Yeah it’s labor as hell and if your customers like what you do then keep up the good work but maybe grab a piece of scrap and give it a go. If you show it to a customer and they like it and don’t mind the price tag they brag like crazy. After three jobs with the above method word got around and it’s basically all I do now. There’s another product called Osmo that I like very much for a matte finish but it’s not as requested. The other finish style folks find really amazing is benite (the sealer) then as a top coat I used automotive clear coat. It’s tricky to work with but is hard as a rock and super thin. It is very important to use the Benite as it prevents a lot of the expansion and contraction of the wood that is the primary enemy when applying the automotive clear coat to wood.
@@endutubecensorship if you get into the trend of epoxy tables for some reason I recommend going all the way up to 5000 grit (sold at automotive paint supply houses) then polish. The real trick at the higher grits is being absolutely certain you got the swirl gone from the previous stage. You also go through progressively more pads or sheets as each step is about 15-20% less efficient than the last. But that’s what billing “time and materials” is for. The kind of customer that wants this kind of thing is also fortunately the kind that can afford it...usually.
@@charleshetrick3152 Thank you very much for the detailed reply! I look forward to trying it out.
@@endutubecensorship glad to. Side note, for contour sanding I do use the scotch bright pads which go up to the equivalent of about 320 grit. Be fastidious about removing the little hair that might shed. The Osmo clogs sandpaper damn quick. If you try the Osmo be certain to follow their instructions re sanding. For the first application if I remember right it’s 150 grit then apply I’ve had it fail before when I figured “stupid manufactures, what do they know?” After the first application you can go higher grit.