I Need Help On A Musket stock

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Bushido101	I Need Help On A Musket stock	Lead	[-]
Posts: 44 (05/20/09 08:33 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Tags : None I am cleaning up a old original P-1853 Enfield that is in very good condition. The stock is very nice condition not beat or cracked or scared up. The stock is a nice mahogony color with what appears to be the original linseed oil finish. The only thing wrong it has a chip that is about the size of a quarter that has been filled with wood filer it is even and smooth with the surface of the wood, but it is a good bit lighter in color than the original surrounding wood finish. You can see where they put a dab of stain on the spot but the filler didn't take the stain very well and didn't darken the filled area very much. Is there anything that I can do to even the color out in this area I know wood filler is hard to cover I really don't care to try digging the filler out for fear of causing any further damage to the spot or making it more obvious. Thanks Last Edited By: Bushido101 05/21/09 07:26 PM. Edited 2 times.
Cabinetman		#1	[-]
Posts: 5330 (05/22/09 09:14 AM) Host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Good question and one that I hope I can help you with. First off you're most probably correct leaving the filler in there. Removing it would be exposing that area to more damage. So, that means we have to figure out a way to color it. You can't simply use stain. Stain has very little color in it. Rather you need to use a color pen that is predominately color with a little finish in it. Since I don't have a photo to go by I'll just tell you how to proceed. Go to your local well-stocked paint store or home center and see if you can find "finishing pens". These look for all the world like magic markers and usually come in an assortment of three colors from a lighter brown to a dark brown. These markers can be dabbed, drawn with, and combined. You swipe them on and off the repair so you can't see where you started or ended with the line. Also always work with the surrounding grain. But, just mitigating the bright color to mimic the surrounding wood won't finish the repair. Next you've got to locate what called a "graining" pen. These pens are also just markers, essentially but come in an assortment of widths. Find one that looks as wide as the grain that abruptly ends near the repair. What you want to do with the graining pen is draw the missing grain so that it matches the original in directionality. The goal here is to remove the 'edge' from the repair. If the grain continues through the repair material your eye will be tricked into not seeing that edge. I hope I'm making myself clear. Now, will this magically make that repair disappear? Well, not entirely but it will help camoflauge it to the point where you won't see it as much. Well, you'll see it because you know it's there but others won't notice it as much. There are other techniques you can also use which incorporate dyes and other techniques. I've done them all. This is an art form and it takes experience to get it right. If you're unhappy with your results, just wipe it down with some lacquer thinner (you won't harm the oil finish at all!) and begin again. Hope that helps. If you can put up a photo. Rome A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.
Bushido101		#2	[-]
Posts: 47 (05/22/09 10:32 AM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Rome here is the repair before I worked with it a bit last night and here a couple after working with it a bit What do you think ? The old repair is still a little lighter Last Edited By: Bushido101 05/22/09 01:18 PM. Edited 1 times.
Cabinetman		#3	[-]
Posts: 5331 (05/30/09 10:47 PM) Host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I would appear from your photos to be a very good attempt and pretty invisible to me, at least from the photos. Can you tell us what you did? Rome A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.
Bushido101		#4	[-]
Posts: 48 (06/01/09 08:23 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	First I masked off the filled areas with black electrical tape then it was slow going using 600 grit I worked the damage down that you see filled at the back of lockplate until it was flush with the wood. Then I shaped the rounded edge under the lockplate a bit, the filler was to high there also. then I used several of the finishing pens you told me about to get the shade as close to the wood as possiable then I let it dry and sealed the area with a simi gloss poly on the spot and lightly rubbed the spot with 0000 steel wool to knock a little bit of the shine down. the photo was taken of the repair before I brought the shine down.