darkening a maple stock

[leppin]

Im a new member,have my first flintlock on the way and this is my first question of probably many ..is there any way to darken a curly maple,oil rubbed finished stock without stripping and refinishing it ?

 

[Zonie]

Welcome to the Forum.

I can't think of any way to darken your curly maple stock without it masking the curl of the wood.

After a stock is oiled with a drying oil, the oil will prevent any stains from reaching the underlying wood.

 

[Bill Hall]

What Zonie said. You can use darkened oil finishes, like dark Watco oil or different shades of Minwax, but it's going to make the outside of the finish more opaque, and obscure the natural wood grain. Might not look too bad with a stock made from plain wood, but for nice curly maple, it would be a sin (in my opinion) to hide that figure. I am guilty of doing just that to a nice piece of curly maple on a plains rifle I built years ago. I wanted the finish to be a little darker, so I used a dark watco oil, but the stripes just kind of blended away. I have plans to someday refinish it so the stripes will once again "POP", so I am not without sin. :idunno: Bill

 

[ebiggs1]

Is there an obvious reason for not wanting to remove the original finish? That of coarse would be best. But I would try Minwzx Tung Oil Finish that has been tinted with a few, very few, drops of Minwax Ebony stain. Most likely the tung oil will soften the original finish so I don't guarantee this will work but it just may. I would also use some 0000 steel wool to remove any unwanted “stuff” that may be present before applying. You will most likely need several coats of the tung oil mixture to obtain the results you seek. Again 0000 steel wool in between each coat.