Refinished All 3 of my Walnut Stock Airguns... Impressed myself!

[JoeKool]

Hello Airgun Nation Peoples,

There are three Minelli Walnut Stock air rifles in my collection. The FX Crown, Streamline, and the Air Airms Pro Sport. All have beautiful Walnut stocks, they even smell great. I wondered though? Why do these beautiful Walnut stock guns come without a finish, only bare wood? Probably due to the additional costs. Well, I thought that a clear gloss finish would do much to protect, preserve, and beautify the natural walnut woodgraining. I watched my father refinish a couple old shotguns as a kid (30 years ago), but never took on this type of refinishing task myself. So, the research began. Thanks to YouTube and the internet I determined and decided that Minwax Wipe On Poly was the seemingly easiest way to reach the clear gloss look desired for my rifles. Six coats, one week later, and a polish with Renaissance Gun Stock Polish, I cannot believe how absolutely gorgeous they have turned out. Show off pictures below. Not bad for a amateur!!! My, my, my!!

 

[jking]

Photos won't open Joe..

 

[ddransoml]

They're not showing. 

 

[JoeWayneRhea]

Beautiful !!!

 

[Saltlake58]

NICE, my compliments to the finisher!

 

[intenseaty22]

I see them just fine, nice job, very nice!

 

[JoeKool]

"JoeWayneRhea"Beautiful !!!

Take credit you showed me Joe, with your video!

Thanks All!

 

[stinkajames]

Very nice! Mouth watering!

 

[Locker50]

Nice job. Love the tiger striping on the FX and AA. Reminds me of my CZ 527.

 

[stoti]

The photo's opened for me, it just took a long time. The stocks look great !

 

[Stefanjan]

Absolutly stellar job. Makes my black synthetic stocks a huge embarrassment.

 

[bfd136]

Great job

 

[JoeKool]

Many thank you’s and every compliment is taken with graditude! Love these airguns!

 

[fe7565]

Great job, looking very elegant! What was the process? 

Renaissance Wax is also used almost exclusively by the largest museums around the world to preserve valuable coins.

 

[JoeKool]

"fe7565"Great job, looking very elegant! What was the process? 
Renaissance Wax is also used almost exclusively by the largest museums around the world to preserve valuable coins.

Well, I hope Joe doesn’t mind me referencing his YouTube video but I followed his instructions to the letter. And found other tips from other wood finishing media, mostly on YouTube using this same Minwax Wipe On Poly product. A lot of the learning was just sanding and redoing certain areas. Wiping away all dust. Now, I did find that dry times are very slow. So I researched some tips on speeding up this process. It consisted of hanging the stocks in a closed door closet with a electric space heater and a fan blowing on them. Lol! Cut dry times by more than half.

Video link:

https://youtu.be/xlQ0uaTtS_A

 

[hollowpoint]

Joe, those look great!!

Do you have a picture of what they looked like before? I was wondering if the poly ended up "lightening" the color of the stocks or not. I love my walnut stock FX and I'd say my favorite part is the deep brown color. It would be nice to have a more durable finish on my own rifle as well, but I didn't know how much the appearance changes.

 

[Greenarrow]

Pretty cool... JoeKool! Well done.

 

[JoeKool]

Here are some before pics, I used to wipe everything; action and wood with Ballistol which absorbed in an darkened the stocks but after light hand sanding.... Well you can see the differences. Under direct light they appear lighter but in normal light they look like a traditional brown walnut color... Except having a deep shine.

 

[blacksword]

awesome gun dude I like how varnish it well done and even coats 

 

[eodman]

Did you mask over the checkering or did you chase the checkering after the stock dried. I've seen some refinishes and the finish filled in the checkering and it wasn't sharp any more. I like the blond finish but cant see the checkering.

Looks good how long did you have to wait for the finish to harden.