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Burnishing/Boning a stock

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bptactical

Not a Pilgrim
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The sanding thread got me thinking- how many here burnish/bone a stock as part of their stock finishing regime?
At what stage of the finishing finishing process do you do it?
How do you do it?

Discuss in a civil manner.
 
I bone the stock after I stain it, and before I put finish on it. Seems like the stain might not take if it is boned before staining.
 
I tried the outside of a spoon, but it seemed to groove the wood. I guess the radius was too tight. A piece of deer antler worked for me.
 
The handle of the spoon (convex side) should work better than the bowl part, but old antlers (small ones, like from a spike or fork buck) are really made for the job as you said.
 
I have a small highly polished cow horn once intended to become a day horn. Worked so well for boning (after stain) that it's found residence in my smith box. Used to use a deer horn, but this works a lot better for me.
 
Fly,

It pushes down any remaining wood fibres, and gives a polish to the surface.
Go the way of the grain, and firm but not too hard is best.
I do the stock with nitric, then linseed oil, and the nitric raises the grain
DSCN2427.JPG
a bit, but the oil and burnishing forces the wood fibres down and they Stay down.
I was very hesitant to try it the first time, (no sanding) but was encouraged to try it by Mark Silver, and it worked just fine.
I use polished antler, or even hard wood, polished smooth.
The one above was just scraped and burnished, not sanded. Iron furniture made from scrap.
 
Fly,

It pushes down any remaining wood fibres, and gives a polish to the surface.
Go the way of the grain, and firm but not too hard is best.
I do the stock with nitric, then linseed oil, and the nitric raises the grain View attachment 9161 a bit, but the oil and burnishing forces the wood fibres down and they Stay down.
I was very hesitant to try it the first time, (no sanding) but was encouraged to try it by Mark Silver, and it worked just fine.
I use polished antler, or even hard wood, polished smooth.
The one above was just scraped and burnished, not sanded. Iron furniture made from scrap.
Thanks.
 
Google paper bone and you should find links to actual bone paper boning tools. They are shaped in ways to bone wood nicely. Bones are used to sharply fold paper. A round screwdriver blade makes a good boning tool. Once i used a large serving spoon to burnish the end grain of a 6X6 cedar post. It worked very well.
 
Some folks " bone " Around in letting to close any gaps from wood to metal.

So I've heard.:(
 
I never did it, just used 0000 steel wool. Using nitric acid and not getting rid of it with baking soda leads to rust on parts. That wash will raise grain like nothing else. Best to cut whiskers off.
 
I have used natural bone and antler, plus wood over the years to bone a stock after staining, but finally settled on rubbing the dickens out of the stock with a terrycloth towel/rag. That way I don't put additional flats or different curvatures on the stock from the boning process.

Gus
 
45 Man,

No, You do not get rusting of metal parts if Nitric is used.
You may ask me how I know if you wish. :)

Now if you use steel wool and Nitric, you Will come to grief.
No problems with Not using baking soda. Been doing this for decades.
Theory and practice are in theory, the same, but in practice, very different!

All the best,
Richard.
 
I'm kind of with Gus on this as I use an old piece of burlap to burnish my stained stock. I do sometimes use a piece of polished deer antler to smooth out very small areas (like around the tear drops behind the lock plate) to make those areas look more natural.
 

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