HW80S Stock Finishing - Sycamore Wood

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SpiralGroove

SpiralGroove

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Oct 20, 2020
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Washington, United States
Hey Guys,
Bought a HW80S stock from Jim Macarri (ARH) a few years ago that was just lying around. This was Jim's prototype stock used for copying on his machine.
It's made of Sycamore which can stain blotchy if your not careful. Decided to finish it and have done most of the heavy sanding to fit me just right.
Added a Walnut pistol grip cap to try to make an otherwise plain stock look fancier.

Was thinking of using Tung Oil or Watco (light walnut) Danish oil to give the grain more pop. Likely will hit it with two coats of wood sealer to prevent blotchy staining if I go with the Watco Danish Oil.

Also, may stipple some kind of a hand grip, which along with being functional would add nice contrast the stock probably needs.

HW80S Stock - Sycamore Wood2.JPG


HW80S Stock - Sycamore Wood.JPG
 

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It's buttonwood. Makes good paint brush handles. You can even boil the sap and make syrup. Usually the last tree to get it's leaves in the spring and the first tree to shed them in fall. Beautiful trees. We had one on our farm about 500 years old when it fell 3 years ago.
Use BLO for a month and a half
Or get the same results (or better) with Minwax Antique oil in two days.
Several videos show how
 
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SpiralGroove said:
Hey Guys,
Bought a HW80S stock from Jim Macarri (ARH) a few years ago that was just lying around. This was Jim's prototype stock used for copying on his machine.
It's made of Sycamore which can stain blotchy if your not careful. Decided to finish it and have done most of the heavy sanding to fit me just right.
Added a Walnut pistol grip cap to try to make an otherwise plain stock look fancier.

Was thinking of using Tung Oil or Watco (light walnut) Danish oil to give the grain more pop. Likely will hit it with two coats of wood sealer to prevent blotchy staining if I go with the Watco Danish Oil.

Also, may stipple some kind of a hand grip, which along with being functional would add nice contrast the stock probably needs.

View attachment 286772

View attachment 286773
Click to expand...
Just wow, you did a fantastic job thank you for letting us see your work !
 
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This is the 500 year old Buttonwood or Sycamore that fell on our farm. Hollow inside. Was that way when Dad bought the farm almost 60 years ago, 10 people could stand inside easily. I was saddened when it fell. It was awesome. Kids always called it the Keebler tree. On holidays a whole bunch of us would go down to see it. The farm includes 100 acres of woodland
BTW nice lookin buttonwood stock. Honestly ;)
IMG_1803.JPG
 
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Finally got the stock done yesterday, just need to add Bisley adjustable butt pad and drill the holes on the fore-stock:).
Doesn't look great, but it's sycamore and doesn't display much grain. Also, lighter weight than beech. I added dark walnut stain to my tung oil, but it didn't darken the finish as much as I had hoped.


I think beech is very good, dense wood for a Springer even though it doesn't look like much.

HW80S Stock - Sycamore Wood Finished2.JPG


HW80S Stock - Sycamore Wood Finished.JPG


HW80S Stock - Sycamore Wood Finished5.JPG
 
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Very, very nice Monte Carlo. Nothing over exaggerated as most of the custom guys are doing. I like yours better. Traditional. Excellent!
You do know the Monte Carlo was originally designed to be a shotgun stock? Yes.
BTW, Why did Batman run to the Batcave????................................................He had to go to the BATroom. HA ha!
 
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Thanks Guys,
Keep in mind this was an ARH templete stock made by Jim Maccari when he made custom stocks. He used Sycamore because it's cheap and solid.
He sold me the blank a few years back because he's not making HW80S or R1 stocks anymore.
The Batman decal cover two holes drilled by Jim to hold the stock in his jig. I filled them, but the decal gives me the chance to forget their there :).

Also, the stippling is a new thing for me instead of checkering. I bought checkering tools a few years back, but my eyes can't stay focused long enough to do good work:confused:.
I'll probably drill the forearm stock holes freehand with a forstner bit after measuring about 50 times ......
 
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KWK said:
That's funny, I thought it resembled my HW50 walnut stock I got from JM. I kick myself for not buying more of his stocks.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how long ago Jim stopped making the HW80/R1 stocks, but I would have loved to buy one - in rough (in-letted) form and then refinished it. Likely could have bought one of those (walnut stock) years ago for $100 -150. He's only offered the HW50 or FWB-124 stocks for the past few years.

I was able to get two of his (walnut) HW50 stock finished for $180/$190 a few years ago. Because I'm anal, I still refinished them to make look nicer.

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Your gun looks good
I didn't even have an HW50 when I bought the JM stock. From what I read I knew the '50 was inevitable. When I got my '50 it came with what I consider to be a pretty nice for beech stock. Except the lazer cut billboard. I could almost live with the original. But I won't.
I'm not going to refinish my JM stock per se. Just going to add some finish as he suggests.
I haven't had time to put this gun together yet. I've had it over 6 months.
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