Beeswax to fill a barrel pin chip?

[mtmshieldshotmail.com]

I have a new-to-me custom that had a chip out at a barrel pin when I bought it. The stock is a very dark finish, and the bare maple really stands out. The pin seems to have enough purchase, so there's enough wood remaining to keep it in place. The chip is about 1/8 by 1/4" in size at the surface, and perhaps 1/16" deep.
I've been thinking about using beeswax to fill the chip and protect the bare wood, but I've also been thinking of ways to "dirty up" the beeswax to make the chip less obvious. Perhaps melting in a bit of dark brown crayon wax? Thoughts?
I don't want to try and stain the exposed wood, just protect it and make it less obvious.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[rijerolmon]

Your local hardware/paint store will have Minwax color sticks in many shades. These are wax "crayon" type sticks made for filling nail holes etc.

 

[matt denison]

add brown shoe polish

 

[Patocazador]

Why not stain it?

 

[bpd303]

I have used them and they work fine for filling small oh manure's like that.

 

[Len Graves]

When I build a rifle with pins I usually round the ends of the pins slightly to help prevent tear out. It can still happen. I also usually make the pins just short of being flush on both sides and fill the hole with crayon wax. The furniture scratch crayon works very well, but I find a regular kids crayon the closest color to the wood works just fine. I warm the crayon slightly and smear it into the hole, then just wipe off the excess. I have a couple guns that have had the pins covered this way for a few years. It is easy to just punch out if the barrel needs to be removed. I think crayons are some degree of bees wax anyway.

 

[crockett]

Well, in my experience with similar situations I've tried about all the various solutions and I for one have never found anything where the "patch" disappears. You will always see it. Since a lot of areas darken with age, a darker repair seems less noticeable. I'd try one of the furniture repair wax type sticks. You can mix two colors to get the closest match.
BTW: some gun makers years ago used brown shoe polish for stocks (Foxfire Books, I think it was vol. 5- Hacker Martin). Might want to try that before putting in the fill.

 

[ZUG]

The suggestions from the crowd is all good and the crayon method is what I have used on the pin ends because that is what my kid colored with. The Minwax color sticks is also very good if you don't have crayons :thumbsup: .

 

[Col. Batguano]

You could gouge it out and splice in a similar type of wood and finish it if you really want to make it disappear.

I suggest practicing on some scrap a few times before you get to the real piece however.

 

[mtmshieldshotmail.com]

add brown shoe polish

Thanks! I hadn't thought of that. Buying a tin of brown shoe polish also makes more sense than buying a box of crayons to get one stick in the color I want.

Regards,
Mike

 

[mtmshieldshotmail.com]

To the rest, thank you for your replies.
The reason I'm not interested in repairing it, or making it "disappear" is because it's a Mike Brooks rifle that's already "aged" to look like a rifle that's seen many years of use. The chip out fits right in, and isn't large enough to hurt the structural integrity of the rifle. The wax remedy is a band-aid, if you will, that will fit right in with the rest of the gun, and protect the wood. Coloring the wax just makes the wax look old, too.
Regards,
Mike

 

[mtmshieldshotmail.com]

When I build a rifle with pins I usually round the ends of the pins slightly to help prevent tear out. It can still happen. I also usually make the pins just short of being flush on both sides and fill the hole with crayon wax. The furniture scratch crayon works very well, but I find a regular kids crayon the closest color to the wood works just fine. I warm the crayon slightly and smear it into the hole, then just wipe off the excess. I have a couple guns that have had the pins covered this way for a few years. It is easy to just punch out if the barrel needs to be removed. I think crayons are some degree of bees wax anyway.

Thanks, Len. These pins have a proper radius on the ends; I guess the previous owner still had a problem when he removed and re-installed the barrel. That's why I rarely (very close to never) remove a pinned barrel.
If I already had crayons of the proper color, I'd go with that method now that I know others have had success with it. Since I have to buy something, I'm going to try the brown shoe polish.

Regards,
Mike

 

[Len Graves]

Good luck with your repair. Even the old original smiths had this problem, so there are originals with chips. While I gave you a method that has worked for me I agree with your decision on listening to all the other folks. Even an old dog like me can learn new tricks ( I usually forget them right away) any way good luck. Shoot center. Len