TC Hawken stock re-finish

[RIDE-RED350R]

Apologies if this isn't the correct category to post this thread.

A week ago, I went to the LGS and brought home what seems to be an early 1980s TC Hawken 50. It's been well cared for, but used. The metal finish is about 95% by my layman's estimation. The stock is still overall in very good condition but has a few honest nicks and dings. So I've decided to re-finish the stock and have already picked up the complete Birchwood Casey stock refinishing kit.

The nicks and dings aren't really a big concern. But that coupled with my taste for color and final finish is why I'm going to move ahead with this. This Hawken has a bit more "orange-ish" tint to it than my mid 1990s vintage Renegade and it has a glossier finish than the Renegade which is more satin as I prefer.

Today I just stripped it down to bare stock. All of the brass, lock, trigger assembly, etc are bagged up seperately with their associated hardware. I'm also going to bring back a nice shine to the brass bits with some Mother's polish during this project. Having the brass bits removed will make this a bit easier.

So this probably just another of many threads like this. I'll post pics of progress as I go, but it will take awhile because I can't devote the time to properly strip the original finish during the week due to my work schedule. Any helpful tips and tricks will be much appreciated.

Here is a pic of the rifle as I brought it home.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

Here is how she sits now.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

About 5 minutes with some Mother's and already see my reflection in it

Might have to try polishing with a Dremel and see if that can yield a deeper shine.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

And finally a coat of Renaissance Wax in hopes of protecting the shine. I think it brightened it up just a bit more.

 

[necchi]

Please be careful while "sanding" the wood. There are a few areas to be watchful of, don't remove too much.
, It's important to maintain the shape of and the raised line/edge of the lock panels,, use some kind or round shape on those edges and light flat block sanding of the panel
, other areas are the top of the wrist where the tang mounts, the very edge of the butt where the butt plate fits and up front at the nose cap.

Rapid hand sanding, (aka; just holding a sheet of sandpaper in your hand) usually ends with rounded edges.
Those rounded edges show up in a very bold manner to anyone that knows what it's supposed to look like.
When building rifles, many times the metal items are left installed while final sanding of the stock begins providing a seamless match of wood to metal,, then the metal is cleaned and polished off the stock.
(it's very easy to do with the soft T/C brass you can file and sand that brass and still bring it to a bright polished appearance)
Just Don't be "ham handed" with the sandpaper.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

Thank you Sir.
I've decided to use an appropriate chemical stripper to remove the old finish precisely to reduce the amount of sanding required in an effort to preserve the original lines, shapes, and fitment with the steel and brass components. If all goes well I'm hoping that the only sanding required will be to just re-polish the wood in preparation for stain and Tru-oil finish.

I'm definitely going to take my time and be careful with this project.

 

[JamesA]

I would like to do a similar project with my Hawken. The finish looks like plastic and although beautiful, I would love to make it look a little more authentic. What stripper do you use to get down to the base wood? I would prefer to do as little sanding as possible as I know it can ruin the looks of a piece. Thanks in advance.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I am redoing a Hawken stock right now with a bunch of upgrades, the stock was pretty rough and I never liked a TC Hawkens over built stock profile so I am changing a few things.

Here are a few pictures of what I am working on and one kit stock I did the same shaping on in the past.

I stripped the stock with Kleen Strip from Lowe's, it took several applications. It was below 30 degrees so I had to make a black plastic tent to get the stripper to work.

Pretty good strip job, I even found some curl under the TC plastic finish.

I plan to make lock panels like these;

Shape the ugly TC cheekpiece like the slender one in the picture.

This stock needed some repair so I fixed a crack between the lock bolt hole and the sear hole and added a hickory dowel to the lock bolt hole for strength where it cracked. The two lines from the lock bolt hole are replaced wood where it was cracked.

The tang screw holes were wallowed out so I replaced them with a hickory dowel and treaded bushings in the trigger inlet so I could use regular tang bolts.

With all that done I started working on the stock, yesterday I inletted the wedge pin escutcheons down to the surface of the wood.

OOPS! left out a biggie, I used an old thrift store steam iron to pull out all the dings and dents in this stock and there were many.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Here is the one I did earlier, I reinletted almost everything to be tight and flush with the wood as well as rounding all the slab sided parts like the wrist and forearm which made these parts slimmer and more graceful.

Here is what I did for the transition of wood from alongside the tang to the barrel.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

I would like to do a similar project with my Hawken. The finish looks like plastic and although beautiful, I would love to make it look a little more authentic. What stripper do you use to get down to the base wood? I would prefer to do as little sanding as possible as I know it can ruin the looks of a piece. Thanks in advance.

I went to my local hardware store and asked for a stripper that wouldn't cause any harm to the wood underneath. I'm at work right now and don't remember the name of the product. I'll post up what it is tomorrow. It will be my first time using a chemical stripper on wood.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

That's some first rate work Eric!

There are a couple minor areas I may smooth and contour a little bit on my stock. Haven't made my mind up for sure yet though.

 

[leadhoarder]

Looks good. I know I would be trying to patina the brass myself but shiny looks good too.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

Looks good. I know I would be trying to patina the brass myself but shiny looks good too.

Yessir. I only recently learned that some folks like to age their brass and steel. It's not my taste but that's totally ok. I can see the appeal of an "aged" rifle too. But I like shiney and clean

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have used both Citristrip and the Klean Strip, they don't damage the wood. I used both on TC factory stocks, it took three applications for both products to completely strip the wood of the thick plastic TC finish. The Citristrip was in a spray rattle can, the Kleen strip was a spray bottle. I used the Kleen strip this time because the Citristrip cost twice as much and I am frugal(cheap). I have enough Kleen Strip left to strip several more stocks if I need it.

I would spray the stripper on, let is sit for 1/2hr, scrape off all the jellied up finish that I could with a putty knife and re-apply. On the last application I scraped off what little finish was left and gave the stock a good washing with a water hose then let it dry.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

I'm not sure what to expect with the stuff I got. I was told it works very well. But I don't think I dare apply it and then leave for work and leave it unattended for close to 24 hours. Seems like it is something that I should be there to pay attention to?

My plan is to peck away at cleaning and polishing the brass with the little bit of time I have each morning before I have to leave for work, saving the stock stripping for the weekend when I can be there

 

[necchi]

Here is the one I did earlier,

Thank you for sharing here @Eric Krewson ,
Your shared experience in this matter is very helpful, and hopefully used by others that come along wanting to see the correct techniques.

 

[necchi]

My plan is to peck away at cleaning and polishing the brass with the little bit of time I have each morning,,
saving the stock stripping for the weekend when I can be there

Don't fret about the brass,, you've already learned that part is easy.
Making sure the brass fit's the wood, is what makes the finished task look good.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

Don't fret about the brass,, you've already learned that part is easy.
Making sure the brass fit's the wood, is what makes the finished task look good.

Absolutely. I've never worked on inletting and whatnot before. I think I will give it a try.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

So here is what I got for stripper.

Strongly recommends to use outdoors. Also says if it must be used indoors to de-energize all outlets, turn off all pilot lights and elminate any other source of ignition as the vapors are highly combustible and heavier than air causing it to intensify on low lying areas. Sounds like nasty stuff

 

[necchi]

Ok,,, and then ??
I didn't see a question,, or request,,
Uhm? Follow the directions? It's a commercial stripper,, use it.(?)

p.s. Follow directions.