The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Dropped the stock during refinishing, now what?

Coomba · April 27, 2009, 01:09 PM

I was poking around theboxotruth.com and decided I'd refinish my Chinese SKS.

On the site, they talked about using oven cleaner to strip the original varnish. Did that, don't think I screwed that up. I sanded the stock lightly with 100 grit sandpaper, then 150, then 220. So far so good.

One of the methods on Box O' Truth is using a mix of 50/50 mineral spirits with polyurethane before adding layers of 100% poly. I liked how that came out, so I went ahead and tried this method.

I applied 3 light coats of the 50/50 mix. Stood the stock up on its butt. Watch helplessly as it fell over on the concrete. Now it's got dings on one side of it. They are numerous and very small, but noticeable in sun light as the color of the dings are of the wood below the 50/50 coats.

Where should I go from here? I have even considered continuing on with my project, coating it in poly and keeping the marks as a reminder of my first project.

Should I sand the coats off, if that's possible, and then smooth out the dings with steel wool or sandpaper and use the hot-iron-damp-cloth to raise them?

Maybe they can be raised out without sanding?

I am hoping i can sand it, I noticed after it was all dry that on one side of my stock, there are a ton of these little dark gray specks, as if there was water damage. Only thing I can figure out is that I didn't sand down far enough and some of the old finish is still on there. How I missed this is obvious, I'm new.

Damn my clumsiness. I don't even know what the hell a 50/50 mix of poly and mineral spirits is supposed to do (help the poly to absorb into the wood?).

April 27, 2009, 01:09 PM	#1
Coomba Member Join Date: May 27, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 62	Dropped the stock during refinishing, now what? I was poking around theboxotruth.com and decided I'd refinish my Chinese SKS. On the site, they talked about using oven cleaner to strip the original varnish. Did that, don't think I screwed that up. I sanded the stock lightly with 100 grit sandpaper, then 150, then 220. So far so good. One of the methods on Box O' Truth is using a mix of 50/50 mineral spirits with polyurethane before adding layers of 100% poly. I liked how that came out, so I went ahead and tried this method. I applied 3 light coats of the 50/50 mix. Stood the stock up on its butt. Watch helplessly as it fell over on the concrete. Now it's got dings on one side of it. They are numerous and very small, but noticeable in sun light as the color of the dings are of the wood below the 50/50 coats. Where should I go from here? I have even considered continuing on with my project, coating it in poly and keeping the marks as a reminder of my first project. Should I sand the coats off, if that's possible, and then smooth out the dings with steel wool or sandpaper and use the hot-iron-damp-cloth to raise them? Maybe they can be raised out without sanding? I am hoping i can sand it, I noticed after it was all dry that on one side of my stock, there are a ton of these little dark gray specks, as if there was water damage. Only thing I can figure out is that I didn't sand down far enough and some of the old finish is still on there. How I missed this is obvious, I'm new. Damn my clumsiness. I don't even know what the hell a 50/50 mix of poly and mineral spirits is supposed to do (help the poly to absorb into the wood?).