I have a butt stock that is in need of refinish. But the wood is dead even with the metal. Anyway to swell the wood for me to sand lightly to not have the wood below metal?

If you strip the finish chemically, you might be able to swell the wood a bit with a damp rag and a steam iron. It won’t swell much.

It’s a oil finish. I’ll soak in acetone.

I once had a forend machined in the Pacific NW. When I got it back in Alaska [dry air] what formerly fit well had dried and twisted. I soaked the forend in a damp cloth and it returned to shape. Then I applied some stock finish on all sides and it stayed in the proper original shape.

Battle
You should refrain from sanding those areas, always respect the edges of the wood when sanding.

If its even now, that's good, it most likely stay that way.
If you "swell" the wood and sand it flush, with time it will most certainly shrink back and you'll be below the metal

See it all the time.

CJ

What he said. Swelling gains you nothing in my opinion.

This is what I’m dealing with...

I agree with the above posters, these days on most of my restoration work I hardly use abrasive paper. I usually soak in solvents, whisker with very fine paper and build my new finish leaving most of the character marks in the stock. Sometimes you have to sand things but I avoid it whenever possible. You do not have enough material there to sand and re-finish, proceed with caution.

Steve

battle,
This is not a recommendation, but an observation; I have known of people "lowering" the edges that stood proud of the wood. This would be difficult when engraving is involved. My personal vote goes with the "stay away from the edge" crowd.
Mike

This gun is a Darne rotary breech. The stock is bolted with a through bolt. This would be a easy re-stock, may be my best option.

Even if there was wood to be had, it seems that the loss of age and character patina might not come out looking right. It may not come down to what can be done, but who gets to decide what it needs?

It looks like an interesting gun. More pictures would be great to see.

This is exactly how I feel. A proper complete wood refinish isn't going to look correct if you leave the part butted to the metal untouched.

Someone suggested epoxying a layer of veneer around the stock head. This seems like a shade tree mechanic repair to me.

It's sort of a swivel breech, like a Boyd and Tyler. Probably from the 1890s. I'm with a lot of fellows in that a refinish might not look good on that old gun. I see lots of bruises that might be raised. That's the most I'd do, then add "raw" linseed oil , several applications over time. You might get a proper look with that.

That's the understatement of the year!

CJO gave you excellent advice. The quality of his work is all you need to know that his advice should be followed.

I like Daryl's advice too... except "Raw" linseed oil as a finish. It takes far too long to cure or crosslink, and remains gummy unless used very sparingly between coats. Just a guess, but I'd guess the original finish contained other resins.

If you decide to proceed with refinishing, I'd stay away from any prolonged solvent soaks. Organic solvents will damage and weaken the cellulose and lignin structure of the wood. Soaking should only be used as a last resort when other methods of removing oil were not sufficient. Personally, I wouldn't think of restocking unless the rest of the stock has severe damage, or has been cut too short to be usable.

Why not a re-stock?

That stock will look like shit with a re-finish. Deep gouges that cannot be fixed without sanding. Put some Timberluxe no.2 on it and,
Leave. It. Alone.
JR

Best advice so far. All, or none.

Is that a Darne rotary, or, a Francisque Darne rotary? The opening lever should tell you.

Best,
Ted

Yes Darne rotary breech.

Can you post a photo of the name, on the opening lever? I’d love to see a clear shot of the proof marks on the barrel flats, as well, if you could.

Thanks in advance,
Ted

No name on the lever. But stamped Darne on top of breech.

Just repaired a SLE splinter forend where the junction of the wood and forend iron were about .015 different. I made a batch of garnet shelllac and applied several coats until the finish height and metal were the same height. It took about 6 days of coating, sanding , slectively coating. Before it was right. The garnet shellac finish matched this medimum grade British gun. Be ready to spend a lot of time!

bill

Did it match the rest of the refinish? Can you show a pic?