Pistol Restoration

[exMember]

Got this in today from forum member Matthew. This one needs a lot of work and ive already got the stock almost stripped down.

Horrible inletting,

Cracks,

The Goods news is that its a Maple stock with very pretty grain!

I'll fix one thing at a time until its ready to ship back to Matt!

 

[Matthew_h1]

i would like to state for the record that i an not the one who butchered that .... :lol: i thought there was some nice grain hiding under that mess . how is the bore ? my bore light did not fit that .44 cal bore . thanks man .

 

[exMember]

Pretty Maple!

 

[d5nuke]

coming along fine

 

[Matthew_h1]

wow that stock is gonna look nice ! do you thing the ramrod can be stained a similar color to the stock when finished ?

 

[exMember]

Ramrod may not match completely due to most ramrods being made of Hickory. I'll do my best though.

Stock is completely finished, sanding wise. I have 2 coats of birchwood casey rusty walnut on it right now. I may stop at 5 coats depending on how dark the wood looks after #3 goes on.

Will post pics as soon as i have the right color on it.

 

[Matthew_h1]

sweet . the ramrod dose not have to be a perfect match . in fact if you can think of another way to finish the ramrod that will look better go for it .

 

[exMember]

Well this is with 3 coats. It looks darker in the pictures due to the poor lighting. 2 more coats aught to do it and then i will work with filling the gaps.

 

[Matthew_h1]

looks like its getting there ! that barley looks like the same gun , and it ain't even done yet . the grip also looks much more comfortable now .

 

[Rick1]

Looking good, almost makes me want to go out and get another pistol.

 

[Matthew_h1]

any updates today ? i hear you cast your own round balls . can you do .430 ?

 

[exMember]

no updates yet. I did 2 coats of truoil to make sure the color was right and its perfect! Im going to get some info on the best way to fill the gaps and then get to work on that.

The lock/hammer has been antiqued and looks great.

 

[Matthew_h1]

that sounds like an update to me .have you decided on a finish for the barrel ?

i have heard of some folks using stain-able wood filler and making it match the grain with paint and staining it . also for small gaps i have used super glue filled with sawdust . it looked ok . i will see if i can find the info for you about those methods .

when ya get a chance i would love to see the lock and hammers finish .

 

[d5nuke]

When you think you might need to fill areas on wood projects its always good to save all the wood you sand off during the process. It stains the exact same color when mixed with wood glue. I build my own furniture as a hobby and have done it hundreds of times. There are also some fillers out there that do well with stain but you will have to test with different amounts of your stain to get the exact color you need. Bye the way great job on the gun.

 

[Matthew_h1]

any news ?

 

[exMember]

well ive been asking and people are telling me to inlet a new section for that gap area but i am not talented enough for that kind of work. I am going to look at paint and see about doing that as a filler. Others are saying to just leave it alone and go with the way it is.

Still adding tru oil coats for now. I need at least 5 on it before i wet sand and apply more.

 

[Matthew_h1]

leaving it as is would be ok with me it still looks a LOT better than it did . it dose not have to be perfect . just a nice looking shooter .

 

[d5nuke]

wood filler putty that furniture repair men use is easy and cheap.Stains well and sands down smooth as glass. Here is a link to the stuff. You could even do a nice accent around the metal area you need filled.

http://www.amazon.com/Minwax-Stainable-Wood-Filler/dp/B001GT8C7M

 

[exMember]

ok awesome that certainly is an option! I'll check some local stores out

 

[d5nuke]

Just test it out on like a2x4 with several mixes of your stain to get the closest possible color. I ussually do that since it takes a little while to dry. You could fill the area with the metal in place give it an hour or so to get stiff them dissasemble and let it dry hard,and sand it smooth. I like to mix my stain seperate so you can sand down with no color change. Some people stain it after it is hard you see shadow differences then. Good luck on it