New Finish on My .54 Virginia Flinter

[pegesus59]

I just finished stripping and refinishing my .50 Caliber Virgina. The original finish was to light for my liking. The darker color brings out more of the curl. I spent about 10 hours stripping off the 10 coats of Tru Oil and stain. I then applied a fresh mix of Chromium Trioxide and let it set for an hour,after which I buffed it out to the color that suited me. It now has 12 coats of hand rubbed Tru Oil and was smoothed with 4X Brass wool. A lot of people have seen it in the blonde at some Rendezvous' and liked it. It will make it's day view with the new finish at The St. Joe Rendezvous in Farmington, MO on the 8th of September. Here are a few pics of the before and after. Some of you may remember seeing my origional post back in January. For those of you who didn't see it then, this is my first build and I did all the relief carving and 5 1/2 feet of Brass and German Silver wire inlay myself. This is my Pride and Joy. Should be in the family for some years to come. Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

 

[torn moc]

I really like the new finish...much nicer..
and you done real Nice! Lovely work.....
......

 

[PitchyPine]

Either way it`s beautiful but i agree the darker looks nice. :thumbsup:

 

[wtilenw]

I really like the dark finish much better. What a beautiful rifle. I would be very proud too.
Idaho PRB

 

[Kentuckywindage]

wow is that beautiful now. I dont really like light colors either. How in the heck you could sand the finish out of all the carving is a mystery. Looks great! :thumbsup:

 

[shootemup]

Just gorgeous :bow:

Nice work

Spot

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Very well done, nice flinter as well

 

[bob1961]

like the brown better :hatsoff: :v ...........bob

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Great work Pegesus59. You're absolutely right about the darker brown looking better than the blonde. It shows off the detail much better and certainly provides a much better contrast for your inlays.
:bow: :bow:

Twisted_1in66

 

[paulvallandigham]

Sorry, but I liked the lighter finish on the gun much better. It makes all the carving details much easier to see and appreciate. With the darker finish, it just looks like all the other guns in the racks.( even when it is not!) :nono: :shocked2: :hmm:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I agree with you pegesus, I like the dark color, but light looks good too.

 

[MikeChapin]

I like the darker color much better. It brings out the grain better and makes the carving flow more.

A word of caution about using Chromium Trioxide. If just Chromium Trioxide is used the rifle may take on a green tint with time. When I used CT for a stain I would put a coat of reddish stain on top of the CT. The rifle would be a little redder at first but as the CT broke down to Chromium Dioxide, the green color would mix with the red to give a deeper brown color.

 

[hawk]

I like it ,the darker stain lets the wire work stand out...very nice.
you've got a winner! :thumbsup:

 

[Fullstock58]

Me too, I like the darker look, you build a very nice looking rifle.

 

[Parzifal]

Thats a true beauty for shure, fine fine job sir!

Rob

 

[rsblack]

Beautifull rifle!!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: