Dr: Tim: If you really want to moot that finish some, while not destroying that view, you can buy liquid pumice, in a very fine grad, and use a clean patch or cotton cloth to gently rub the surface. The fine pumice will dull the shine on that surface, while leaving the look alone. This is how fine furniture is done after either lacquer or varnish finishes are applied. Look for the liquid pumice in hareward and furniture stores. Some ar actually sold as " cleaners ", because they will dig out and remove built up dirt on old pieces of furniture. You may have to read the bottle contents to find this, as it is sold under different names.
The other method that works, that i have used on one gunstock, but requires a very light touch, and care attention to detail, is to coat the wood finish with a lot of motor oil- the thicker the better, and then dip OOOO steel wool into the oil and lightly rub the stock finish with the steel wood. You have to renew the oil in the wool often, and you want to do this lightly enough that you don't see much if any broken bits of steel in the oil. When you have done the entire stock, then you remove the oil and any steel wool with liberal amounts of alcohol. Rubbing alcohol works, and a bottle of this costs less than a dollar. You want to flush off the oil and steel bits, NOT RUB it off, which can scratch the finish.
I remembered these two techniques after my first post. Frankly I would rather use liquid pumice on the next project, rather than do the motor oil and steel wool technique again. It made me too nervous! But, it will work. A friend asked me if some of the additives in motor oil may not be responsible for chemically dulling the stock finish rather than my steel wool? I don't know the answer to that, as I am a bit short on knowledge when it comes to chemistry.
