Best Way to Remove Stock Checkering?

[Ben]

So with everybody around here talking about .30-.30s with the ammo shortage and all, I broke mine out to have a look. I mostly shoot my Marlin 1894 .44, but have had a Glenfield 30A that I bought used probably around 30 years ago. I don't shoot it too much, but it's a great shooting gun with a really fine action. I'm told the only difference between it and the Marlin 336 is somewhat cheaper sights and the birch stock.

Which leads to my question. I was thinking I'd like to refinish the stock with hand-rubbed linseed oil to a satin finish. I've done that quite a bit with some milsurps I have, so have that process down. None of those had any checkering though, and on this one, I'm thinking I'd like to remove the checkering. My 1894 has no checkering and I kinda like that.

I've never removed checkering. What is the best process to get the checkering off with absolute minimum change in stock dimensions? I have no specialized tools. When I've refinished other stocks, I've just used sandpaper and steel wool. If needed, I'm not opposed to buying the right tool for the right job if it's not way too expensive. Alternatively, if the stock dimensions would end up changing appreciably with checkering removal, does anyone have a good way to remove stain and get down to bare wood within the checkering? Image of checkering is below. The forend has the same pattern. Thanks for any tips!

[Ex-MA Hole]

Can you fill it in?  Putty?  No idea....

[Ben]

Pretty much needs to be removed. I should mention if it's not obvious in the pic, that it's pressed checkering. If it was hand checkered and didn't have the stupid deer image, I probably could have sanded a little bit and then just cut the checkering a little deeper. I was also thinking of sanding and swelling the wood with water, but don't know how well that would work.

[tokugawa]

You will sand a long way to get rid of that impressed checkering. ending up with a nice smooth stock is gonna be near impossible, if you have any care at all about wood to metal fit.

Here is what I would do to dress up that rifle. 
Strip the stock of all finish.
Decide if you want to go "tactical" or classy.  If tactical, fill checking with epoxy putty and spray with bedliner, or camo colors.

If classy, think of an interesting material to inlay to fill the checkered areas.
 Like rayskin. (available dyed to different colors and with polished or un-polished nodes.) Or polished cherry bark.  or engraved silver plates. Or?

[Doggy Daddy]

Pretty much needs to be removed. I should mention if it's not obvious in the pic, that it's pressed checkering. If it was hand checkered and didn't have the stupid deer image, I probably could have sanded a little bit and then just cut the checkering a little deeper. I was also thinking of sanding and swelling the wood with water, but don't know how well that would work.

I remember reading somewhere, quite a while back, about refinishing a Mosin by stripping what could easily be removed and then running the stock through a hot cycle in the dishwasher.  The poster said that pulled out all the dents and depressions.  Might it work for you?  I dunno, and I take no responsibility for any damage done should you try it.  If you try it and it works, I will accept all the praise and accolades that come.  

[lee n. field]

That's what I was thinking.  If it's pressed, no wood has been removed, right?  I've heard of a steam iron being used to raise accidental dings.  Perhaps something like that would work here.

[zxcvbob]

If you can't steam it out, how about inlaying a contrasting piece of wood or brass? (or Bondo  )

ETA: I just noticed Tokugawa beat me to it.

[Ben]

I definitely don't want to go tactical on it. Oil finish for sure. I'm not a big checkering fan, but if I can't remove the impression, I wonder if I can deep checker over everything, including the "artwork"? I also like the idea of a simple inlay, but I'm a pretty crappy artist - I'm lucky to keep checkering lines straight. :)

If I can't get rid of the checkering, I want to keep whatever stays there as simple looking as possible. Or again, if there is a way to strip the current finish from the tiny nooks and crannies in the checkering, just leaving that there is an option too. Maybe hand checkering over the checkered part of the impression to at least make it look cleaner.

[Brad Johnson]

Your choices are pretty much limited to an inlay or a new stock.  Getting deeply pressed patterns out of wood, especially dense woods like walnut.  Even if you could, it would leave a noticeable blotch on the stock.

A woodcrafter could easily do a simple inlay.  Heck, so could you given a little practice and a steady hand.  You could go with contrasting wood, or even brass or copper, left unfinished so it can patina.  The inlay could be anything from a plain square to any variation of a scrolled design.

Brad

[RoadKingLarry]

I'm thinking the wood on the Glenfields and other model 30s was birch. I've got one that looks pretty much identical that I bought new in '79, mine has a goofy medallion inset in the stock on the right side At 17 I thought it was pretty cool. Other than the wood and possibly the sights it is a 336.
If I wanted to do something like what you are talking about I think I'd start looking for used wood. The fore end may be hard to find since I think the 30s were a little different from the 336s as to the barrel band/cap. I just don't think you could get the impression out but you might be able to checker over it.

[Ben]

Definitely birch, and as you said RKL, it has a cap instead of a forend band. I actually started looking at potential replacement wood, but apparently the forend is the problem. The Marlin forum seems to indicate a forend that's cut for a cap is hard to find.

I remember years ago I ordered a stock from some company with an unusual name that had stocks for just about anything, and at reasonable prices. I'm thinking like a Scandanavian name or something. It was pre-Internet and I can't for the life of me think of the name. I think the rifle would look pretty sharp with a nice oil finished walnut, if I could find walnut to fit. Though I'm sure a couple of the milsurps I've refinished are birch, and they actually came out pretty nice as well.

[Triphammer]

The stock company was probably "FAJEN'S". I've bought a couple semi-finished over the years but not in the last twenty.
  An oil finish will give you a very light colored stock. If you want to stain it, use an aniline (SP) dye like used for leather. An oil stain won't penetrate birch.

[Ben]

Fajen's is exactly who it was. I just did a search and it looks like they now only have a few different kinds of stocks. Damn. In their heyday they had wood stocks for every gun you could possibly think of.

[lee n. field]

http://www.boydsgunstocks.com/

They list the Glenfield 30a

[tokugawa]

google rayskin images for pics- the stuff was widely used on sword handles and is not too $$$ today as a cured skin.

[Scout26]

Try Steam and see what you get.  I've always heard/read that was the best way to get the pressed wood fibers to expand.  Once that's done then you can re-finish it.  And if it doesn't work, you can always get a new(er) one.

[tokugawa]

You might be able to steam the checkering close to flush, or close enough to sand it flush. But you will not be able to steam it enough to get rid of the visible pattern- those fibers are crushed and the stock stain has taken into the fibers- 
 

[kgbsquirrel]

That is press checkering. It was a cheap mass-produced way to checker stocks.

Since all they really did was compress the wood you can try to raise it using a damp cloth and an iron, which is the method used for removing most dings from wooden stocks. You will likely need to strip the finish (think water sealant) first as what you're doing is more or less re-inflating the wood cells using steam.

If that works, put the stock up and let it's humidity equalize again before refinishing.

If that doesn't work, you'll need to sand it down to remove it.

[Ben]

Thanks for that link Lee!

Given that I now have a source for a replacement stock, maybe I'll try the steaming to see if between that and a little sanding, I can get the pressed stuff gone, or gone enough that I could break out my Jim Carmichael gunsmithing book and try my hand at hand checkering over what's left. If I screw it up I can go to Lee's link. :)

[Ben]

Oh yeah, for the "minimal work" alternate solution of just removing the finish and keeping the crappy pressed checkering, I'm still in the market for suggestions on removing the current finish with something that will get rid of the finish in the little nooks and crannies of the pressed areas, if that's possible.

If I can't get the finish out of those areas as completely as on the rest of the stock, I'm thinking they'll show up looking "off" and possibly darker than the rest of the stock, even if I apply stain after finish removal.

[geronimotwo]

a quality stripper should do the job.  apply the stripper and wrap with saran wrap.  follow the directions on the can!  after the finish softens (could be an hour or a day depending on the stripper/finish used), use a fine brass or nylon brush to get in the detailed areas. repeat if needed.

i have used an iron to get dents out of wood. the trick is to get the wood fully saturated with water first, as it is the steam in the wood that expands it.

[Tallpine]

I just don't understand what is the problem with the checkering 

If you really don't like it, I would try to find replacement wood (or synthetic?) and keep the original wood original.  Heck, it might be worth a bunch of money someday in original condition. 


Old Marlins are wonderful by the way   

[Ben]

I just like the way a plain stock looks on a lever gun. Just seems to fit. Plus if I went for checkering, I would prefer real checkering versus machine pressed. As I said, I wouldn't be against just leaving that there if I could cleanly refinish the wood.

Not to be a gun snob, but I don't at all like synthetic stocks on lever guns. I totally see the practicality, and like them fine on bolt hunting rifles, but seeing them on lever rifles just screams "wrong" to me. :)

[Scout26]

So you're not going to put rails on it with a couple of flashlights, lasers and red dots sights?


 

[bedlamite]

I'd go for a walnut replacement from Boyds and leave the original stock as-is.