# Refinishing a Marlin 60 Gun Stock



## tocws2002 (Apr 5, 2018)

I've been wanting to make a stock for quite a while, but my shop time has been very limited as of late, so I decided to refinish a wood stock I picked up on the cheap. I've never refinished one before, so bear with me as I may have some questions along the way.

Anyways, the stock is off a Marlin 60, 22lr rifle and was in really good condition to begin with. One of the model 60's I have is the shorter barrel in stainless that I thought would look good with a black stock, but I didn't want synthetic. I am planning on ebonizing the stock using the "bark tea" recipe @Joe Williams showed in a previous thread.

Stock in as-found, original condition:


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## tocws2002 (Apr 5, 2018)

I've read online that most people will use stripper to remove the top coat and stain, but I went straight to my random orbit sander (ROS) with some lightly worn 220 grit sandpaper to keep from removing too much wood. Here is the stock after 10 minutes or so.


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## tocws2002 (Apr 5, 2018)

Here's where I've left off for the day, after about an hour of work. Sanded through 320 grit with the ROS, then hand sanded with 400 and 600 grit. I spent some time on the top of the stock as I have one spot that is still stained. I've sanded it with 60 grit, 200 grit, scraped it, and used a file on it. I don't want to remove too much wood, *so I'm thinking about bleaching that spot...something I've not done before, so I'm open to advice on how to address this.
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Here is the spot in question:

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Here is the stock hand sanded through 600 grit...it actually looks really nice, so *I'm having second thoughts on ebonizong versus a clear coat...thoughts or opinions?



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Reactions: Like 5 | Way Cool 1


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## Spinartist (Apr 5, 2018)

I vote clear coat!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Sprung (Apr 5, 2018)

I vote clear as well - but definitely something that won't yellow it.

Perhaps that spot that is still stained and won't sand out is some oil staining, where oil has soaked into the wood?

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## ripjack13 (Apr 5, 2018)

The old stockmaker's "whiting" method does a better job than any other and over several hundred years has proved not to be harmful to wood or metal...
You'll need a good solvent, preferably non-inflammable. The best is Triclorathane, commonly known as Clorathane.
Also a jar of "whiting", which is Calcium Carbonate. This is a white, flour-like powder.
You can buy whiting from Brownell's and from many local drug stores.

The actual method depends on whether your solvent is inflammable or not.

Mix the solvent up with whiting until you have a pancake batter consistency.

Apply a thick coat of the solvent-whiting to the wood.

IF the solvent is non-inflammable, apply heat with a heat gun, or hold the wood over an ELECTRIC stove burner.

The solvent will soak into the wood and dissolve the grease and oil, and the heat will cause it to "boil" to the surface, where it will be absorbed by the whiting.

Normal methods using solvents, soaps, or other chemicals can bring the grease to the surface, BUT they can't lift it ABOVE the surface.
As soon as the solvent evaporates or the heat is removed, the gunk is re-absorbed into the wood before you can wipe it off, no matter how fast you try.

The whiting actually wicks the oil out of the wood and absorbs it, where it's held. This turns the whiting orange and brown.

Simply wipe the dirty whiting off and re-apply. 
Usually 2-3 applications will return even a black grease soaked stock to it's natural color.

If you don't have a non-inflammable solvent, apply the whiting with whatever solvent you do have, then quickly wrap the stock up tightly in a black plastic trash bag, and lay it on a driveway or roof top in direct sunlight on a hot day.

Allow to stand for a few hours, then unwrap, brush off the dirty whiting and re-apply.

This method is much less damaging to the wood than using dishwashers, oven cleaner, or strong liquid cleaners, and unlike them, there's no chemicals or moisture to leech out of the wood later and damage the gun metal.

Reactions: Informative 6


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## ClintW (Apr 5, 2018)

Ebonize it! Maybe not quite pure black but darker grained would look pretty cool with stainless barrel.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 5, 2018)

Sprung said:


> I vote clear as well - but definitely something that won't yellow it.
> 
> Perhaps that spot that is still stained and won't sand out is some oil staining, where oil has soaked into the wood?



Yeah, may be oil. I thought about trying to bleach it, may study the method @ripjack13 posted above. Also read some previous posts about stock cleaning and the use of brake cleaner. Definitely want to do something to at least lighten it as it's in a very visible part of the gun.

-jason


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## tocws2002 (Apr 5, 2018)

ripjack13 said:


> The old stockmaker's "whiting" method does a better job than any other and over several hundred years has proved not to be harmful to wood or metal...
> You'll need a good solvent, preferably non-inflammable. The best is Triclorathane, commonly known as Clorathane.
> Also a jar of "whiting", which is Calcium Carbonate. This is a white, flour-like powder.
> You can buy whiting from Brownell's and from many local drug stores.
> ...




Thanks, gonna read up on this method and supplies needed. I definitely want to clean that spot without having to remove any wood.

-jason

Reactions: Like 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 5, 2018)

ClintW said:


> Ebonize it! Maybe not quite pure black but darker grained would look pretty cool with stainless barrel.



Yeah, I think the black with wood grain still visible would look really good with the stainless. I was all set on going that route until I saw how pretty the raw wood was, now I'm debating which way to go. May just have to look for another stock and do both.

-jason

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 6, 2018)

Being a little impatient, I went ahead and tried the brake cleaner method. It worked to some degree, didn't completely remove all the oil, but I felt it was good enough to proceed. 

@Sprung @Spinartist 
I decided to put a clear coat (Tru-Oil) on this stock. Below are a couple of pics after the first coat. 



 



 

 

 

 



Don't worry, @ClintW, I have another stock that someone refinished in the past, but didn't do a very good job, so I am sanding it down and will try the ebonizing process on that one. The factory "checkering" was sanded pretty smooth by the previous owner and didn't look or feel right so it's getting completely sanded off before ebonizong and finishing.Here are pics of that one as-found.

Reactions: Like 3 | Way Cool 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 8, 2018)

Here's the first stock with 6 coats of Tru-Oil. Didn't get a chance to work on the second stock any more yet, but hopefully will this week, will keep you all posted.

Reactions: Like 4 | Way Cool 2


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## rocky1 (Apr 9, 2018)

Oh My!! Thou art not sposed to use mechanical sanders on gun stock refinishing jobs! They tend to alter lines in the stock, make things not fit so well. Not that you ain't doin a beautiful job with it. But... the errors of your ways won't show up until you reassemble and the butt plate is too large, parts don't seat as deeply as they used to, and such. Hell you aren't supposed to hand sand without the butt plate on, to prevent altering fit and rounding the edge of the stock over. But, butt plates can be sanded and polished too!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 2


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## Lou Currier (Apr 9, 2018)

Would have loved to see the ebonizing effect.

Reactions: Like 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 9, 2018)

@rocky1

Appreciate the info. As for this stock, you are correct, the butt plate is a little larger than the stock now (maybe 1/16"), but I will be sanding and polishing it, as well as adding a spacer for aesthetics. I've test fit the barrel and everything is fitting well. As for the lines, yeah, they've probably changed a little, but I think anyone would be hard pressed to point them out, especially without an original stock next to it for comparison. I purposefully started with some worn 220 grit sandpaper to avoid being aggressive and removing too much wood. Keep in mind, this was an inexpensive extra stock on an inexpensive rifle, if things go south, I'll pick up another stock or make one from scratch (something I've been wanting to do any ways).

The other stock I have was previously worked by someone else, but the refinish job wasn't very good at all. Again, I'm not overly concerned with some minor changes to the lines of this one and will watch the critical areas to ensure a good fit.

Once I finish it and reassemble, I post pics of it all put back together. The proof will be the fun part....target practice!

Thanks,

-jason

Reactions: Like 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 9, 2018)

Lou Currier said:


> Would have loved to see the ebonizing effect.



I have another stock I'm working on that will get the ebonizing treatment, still have to do some work on the stock before it'll be ready to put a finish on.

Thanks,

-jason


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## rocky1 (Apr 9, 2018)

. Yeah I know. Most popular gun in the world there too, so stocks are abundant. 

Side out of a clorox bleach jug makes a nice clean white spacer on the cheap to Jason. Used to be a little thicker, but they make an easily trimmed fine white line still.

Reactions: Like 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 9, 2018)

Thanks for the bleach jug tip, I've seen people use PVC before. Heat it, flatten it, heat it, flattening, etc until they have a nice flat peice of white plastic. I'm contemplating gluing up various veneer to create a one of a kind spacer, but who knows, may go the bleach bottle route.

Thanks again,

-jason

Reactions: Like 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 21, 2018)

Here are a few of the latest pics, I took off the hardware and applied another coat of Tru-Oil, rubbed in with 600 wet/dry sandpaper after I took the pics. The pics do show the spacer I made and fit to the stock (along with the butt pad) to add a lil something. It's three layers, yellow, white, yellow.

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 3


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## rocky1 (Apr 21, 2018)

Very nicely done Jason!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 21, 2018)

rocky1 said:


> Very nicely done Jason!



Thank you, sir! 

For the butt pad spacer I used a laundry detergent bottle for the yellow pieces and a piece of plastic binder for the white. Thanks for the suggestion.

-jason

Reactions: Like 1


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## pinky (Apr 21, 2018)

Kevin would have loved this thread... 4 pictures with toes included!

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 2


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## pinky (Apr 21, 2018)

I stand corrected, make that 6 toe shots.

Jason, stock looks great.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## tocws2002 (Apr 21, 2018)

pinky said:


> Kevin would have loved this thread... 4 pictures with toes included!



Not just for the feet shot, but Kevin would like the Marlin 60 also, we had a conversation or two about them when I picked up my first one and he said how much he liked his (3 of them, if I remember correctly).

-jason

Reactions: Like 1


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## tocws2002 (May 4, 2018)

Made a little more progress on the second stock that I plan on ebonizing. I have it sanded through 220 grit, the butt pad spacer cut, shaped, and fit to match the stock, and my vinegsr/steel wool mixture soaking. Will be raising the grain on the stock and sanding again.

As mentioned above, this stock was refinished by a previous owner and the original (pressed) checkering was inconsistent and flat after the PO sanded it. I opted to completely remove it as can be seen in the pics below. 

Will be ordering some Quebracho powder to do the ebonizong. Anyways, here is the stock as it sits this morning.

Thanks,

-jason



 



 



 



 


These last 2 pics are for @rocky1 as I took his advice (at least partially) and sanded with the butt pad installed to keep from rounding over the edge. I did, however, use my ROS to do the sanding, followed by some hand sanding.

Reactions: Like 2


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## ClintW (May 4, 2018)

If you have a test piece try a test with some really dark coffee. I found this worked quiet well and was even able to bring some darkness into pine with it. But from what I saw of the Q bark it may not be nearly as dark.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tony (May 4, 2018)

Jason, @Joe Williams had some of that powder he was selling, might still have some.


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## tocws2002 (May 4, 2018)

Tony said:


> Jason, @Joe Williams had some of that powder he was selling, might still have some.



I tried to get some from Joe, but he's been unresponsive to PMs as well as his original thread. Figured I could order some and distribute to others here if they wanted to give it a try.

Thanks,

-jason

Reactions: +Karma 1


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## tocws2002 (May 4, 2018)

ClintW said:


> If you have a test piece try a test with some really dark coffee. I found this worked quiet well and was even able to bring some darkness into pine with it. But from what I saw of the Q bark it may not be nearly as dark.



I just ordered some of the Q bark and will be giving that a try. From what I've seen online, it appears as though using the Q bark will give me the black I'm looking for, but still allow the grain to show through. Will post results after giving it a try.

Thanks,

-jason

Reactions: Like 1


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## tocws2002 (May 20, 2018)

Finished up the original stock, which I ended up ebonizing using the Quebracho Extract Bark Tan from Van Dykes. Below are a series if pictures from start to finish.

Original Stock in as-found condition. A PO attempted to refinish, but it wasn't the best and the factory checkering had been sanded very smooth, though it was still visible.











I made the decision to sand off all the checkering and go with a smooth stock.







 

Here is the stock with a generous amount of the Q tea solution on it (still wet). It soaked in pretty good and didn't really change the color of the birch.







Here it is after brushing on the iron oxide solution (still wet).





And after it dried.




And after another coat of the Q tea solution.





After several coats if Tru-Oil.

Reactions: Like 2


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## tocws2002 (May 20, 2018)

The assembled rifle with a white butt pad spacer added.



 


 

Here are the two completed refinished stocks.

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 2


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## ClintW (May 20, 2018)

Nice! It turned very black! Can't tell from the photos, does the wood grain still show through, or is it just jet black?


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## tocws2002 (May 22, 2018)

ClintW said:


> Nice! It turned very black! Can't tell from the photos, does the wood grain still show through, or is it just jet black?



You can still see some of the grain, but it wasn't very pronounced to begin with. I'm thinking about buffing it with wax to take a little sheen off of the stock so it's not so shiney, but I am happy with this first attempt.

Thanks,

-jason

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Strider (Oct 4, 2018)

Sweet re-touch! I love that rifle- shot the hell out of it in Knoxville in June. Man, that thing made clean holes in everything I placed in front of it and far beyond what I intended to decorate. God bless America.


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