[Traptinkansas]

I had two old project guns in my closet that I needed to work on last commencement season in order to reward two of my grandchildren on the cheap. I had purchased an early model Marlin 39A through Armslist that was in need of repairs to the action. The metal finish was worn and covered in light corrosion. The stock was damaged and the finish on the wood was cracked and peeling:

The damaged area of the stock was located in a straight-grained area of the tang. The grain runs diagonally from the top rear inletting to the bottom front inletting on this particular gun.

The wood-to-metal fit along the top was terrible, to begin with. So I decided to use a few drops of Rustoleum 1 hour stain in some Acragles gel to butter up the backside of a few strips of walnut laminate edge banding material and spiral wrap them to match the underlying grain. I held them in place until they were cured with rubber bands.

I was only interested in making temporary repairs and figured that we could bide our time and buy a decent used OEM replacement set whenever one became available on Ebay or Gunbroker.

I was working on a Winchester for the other grandson at the same time. I killed two birds with one stone by using the same stain and batch of Acraglas gel to make the repairs on the other stock:

 

[GladesGuy]

Very artful repair! The guns look great!

 

[Traptinkansas]

Very artful repair! The guns look great!

Thanks! I'll be posting some pictures of the Winchester gallery gun over in that forum later today.

 

[Traptinkansas]

I posted the pictures of the Winchester that appears next to the Marlin above over here:

Winchester 62A Repair and Refinish

I had two old project guns in my closet that I needed to repair and refinish last commencement season in order to reward two of my grandchildren on the cheap. Unlike many others here I don't need to make "pawn shop finds". The FFL that I've been using for many years is a local pawn shop. The...

www.rimfirecentral.com

 

[67R/T]

Good job sir. Now you need to find two more projects to get you through the winter.
They look very nice.

 

[Traptinkansas]

Good job sir. Now you need to find two more projects to get you through the winter.
They look very nice.

No worries, I have a storage closet full of project guns that caught my eye at one time or another.

I've continued to stay busy working on my friend's flood damaged guns too. I posted pictures of a few of them here a while back. I finally got started on another of my Winchester project guns this fall. It was a model 63 that I bought last February before my friend needed help. I'll probably get some pictures of it posted next week along with some Stevens 520 shotguns I repaired and refinished as a favor.

 

[WalnutBill22]

Outstanding work. It's always good to see a neglected or abused gun brought back to most of its former glory.

 

[Traptinkansas]

Outstanding work. It's always good to see a neglected or abused gun brought back to most of its former glory.

Thanks Bill. I guess that's as close to its original condition as it's going to get for now. I gave the rifle to my grandson in June. Since then I picked up a couple of stocks and forearms. But he doesn't like the looks of either of them. You can lead a horse to water....

 

[Pandy2]

Very nice. What was your wood finish/stain material?

 

[Traptinkansas]

Very nice. What was your wood finish/stain material?

I use TruOil thinned with mineral spirits for filing pores, and for everything from high gloss to matte top coats. If I want the grain to pop I blacken the TrueOil with a little rottenstone let it dry and sand it off the surface. I just leave the final coat as is for high gloss and rub it down with wet or dry and buff it with Briwax steel wool to get a satin or matte finish. In this particular case I just needed a light coat of Rustoleum 1 Hour Cognac for the stain and a couple of drops for the matching Acraglas.

 

[JimHnSTL]

Any chance of a picture showing the veneer strips being glued in place?
very interested in your meth

 

[mmsb27]

I’d like to see too please

 

[Traptinkansas]

Any chance of a picture showing the veneer strips being glued in place?
very interested in your meth

No, I didn't take any. I usually use a rasp or sandpaper to take off enough wood to allow the resin and laminate to set almost flush or just a little above the surrounding surface, so it can be sanded and stained. I usually cover any metal with Kiwi neutral shoe wax and use an exacto knife to take the iron-on adhesive strip off the back of the veneer. I wear latex gloves when I'm handling the strips with the Acraglas and any parts, because it gets messy. That makes it difficult to use a camera or smartphone during the procedure.

When I work on horizontal cracks in the tangs or toes of old guns I do the same sort of thing. Here the crack didn't need any laminate filler layers:

On worn pump action handles, I use the adhesive strip on the laminate and apply it with a heat gun, then Acraglas it in, and re-inlet it after it cures:

 

[Traptinkansas]

I’d like to see too please

On this Marlin, I was laying down laminate in the direction of the underlying grain which happened to be running diagonally from the top rear of the tang to the bottom front. So I spiral wrapped them side by side. Then wrapped them with rubber bands, wiped off the excess resin, and let everything cure. I did it in two stages of two strips each applied next to one another, five hours apart. Then I shaped, sanded, stained them, and finished them along with the rest of the stock. This is just for illustration. You would need to use enough rubber bands to hold down the ends of the strips.

 

[mmsb27]

Thank you. Very nice work

 

[jabber6]

Nice work, thanks for sharing some of your tips and tricks!

 

[M2HB]

You sure did a great job with the repairs.
Your grandchildren will be proud of those rifles.

 

[JimHnSTL]

Thanks those photos help clear up the process to me. As they say pictures can speak a thousand words.

 

[Traptinkansas]

Nice work, thanks for sharing some of your tips and tricks!

You can buy 50 feet of the 3/4 walnut, birch, mahogany, or oak edge banding material for under $10. For example:
Walnut Wood Veneer Edge Banding Preglued Iron-on with Hot Melt Adhesive Edgebanding Flexible Wood Tape (3/4"×50')
https://a.co/d/2gWwtuA

I only use it occasionally. But once you learn how to stain Acraglas gel or liquid to match the surrounding wood or metal you'll find it's useful for a lot of things like: bedding a barreled action; for installing a new barrel liner (dyed black); and making nearly invisible wood repairs.

 

[Traptinkansas]

Thanks those photos help clear up the process to me. As they say pictures can speak a thousand words.

You're welcome.