Reddit mentions of Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil Stock Finish 3 Ounce

I've done this a few times, if you put some patience into it you can come out with some really nice stuff.

Chemically stripping it is by far the best way to get rid of the old finish, like /u/anti-apostle said clean it with stripper and steel wool until you get all the old finish off. A tooth brush you no longer want gets all the nooks and cranes.

Then sand it with increasingly finer sandpaper until you have it as smooth as you like. One trick when you get to really fine grit (220 or 320), run a damp cloth over the stock then sand again, the water will raise the grain and make the end result smoother.

Tru oil is by far the easiest to refinish, it's quick, looks really nice and is a tough durable finish: http://www.amazon.ca/Birchwood-Casey-23123-Finish-3-Ounce/dp/B001I14QUU/ref=pd_bxgy_s_text_z

The other way I've had success is to stain (minwax has all kinds of colours, check out home depot) it then seal it with some exterior poly: http://www.minwax.ca/wood-products/exterior-clear-protective-finishes/minwax-helmsman-spar-urethane I've got some of that stuff on a savage 24 and it's never given me any problems, and the gun routinely gets covered in mud while quading.

With any DIY project there is going to be some margin where your skill as a maker determines the quality of the end result. There is also some extent where a project like this is worthwhile for the fun you have in the building. I almost think of it like buying a ticket to go to a football game. You spend some money to get an enjoyable experience. For example, I recently built a tele using some free 2x6 boards from a left over deck remodel. Video here. I had a very enjoyable time doing all the research and fumbling my way through building a guitar body from scratch for the first time.

Now with these types of kits though, my main issue is that the parts are just really low quality. Especially the pickups, tuners, bridges, and electronics. So even with some skilled luthiery, your headroom for creating a quality instrument is pretty limited. The neck will probably need a fair bit of fretwork, which is difficult without proper tools.

For my purposes I've found that at about $200-$300 is the cheapest I can go in building a partscaster that will be a pretty quality instrument. I built this tele. I documented the build here and have an explanation video here. From memory my expenses were:

• Body - $50 mystery Warmoth body on eBay that someone had started to finish and abandoned. I sanded it down and refinished over top.
  
• Neck - $115 Allparts tele neck from eBay. You can get a new one with no finish or tuners here for about the same.
  
• A $5 can of Tru Oil is the simplest and easiest to work with finish I know of. I used it on the neck for this build, but have used it on bodies in the past too.
  
• Pickups - This can range a lot. GFS makes good stuff for maybe $50.
  
• Hardware - Things like tuners, bridges, and electronics. Maybe another $70.
  
  So rough total is about $300. If you scrounge around on eBay or places like TDPRI or TheGearPage's Emporium you can find used stuff for pretty cheap.

I've refinished 3 stocks- 2 rifles (10/22, and Mosin M38 w/laminated stock) and a beat to hell Chipmunk single shot .22 pistol.

LINK to 10/22 pics, will update with better pics this evening.

I'll do my best to write up my entire process start to finish. Bear with me, it may get long, but I hope it will answer some of your questions. Feel free to ask if you have anything, I've gotten my routine down pretty good now that I'm 3 stocks into it (and looking to do #4 soon- an old shotgun being handed down from dad...)

You've stripped the shellac. Excellent. I would recommend before doing ANYTHING else, get a rag (or old white hanes undershirt is what I use...disposable) and soak it, then wring it out and wrap the stock with it. Then get your iron (maybe grab a cheapo if you don't want to risk ruining your good one) Fill that bad boy with water, and put it on high steam setting.

Go over the entire stock a few times with full steam. Don't stay on any one place too long, and be sure to keep the damp cloth between the iron and the wood. This will accomplish 2 things: it will remove the last bits of finish from the wood that you may have missed, and more importantly, it will pull out most of your dents.

Once you've done that, you'll likely have some whiskers pop up in the wood...get some 200 grit and smooth them down.

Now for the stain. Do what you want, you can mix/apply all you want. I like to do light coats multiple times. Especially with Birch (same wood as my 10/22) because the wood absorbs it rather interestingly. I like Minwax stains. What I do is get a rag (generally buy a bag from lowes of the cloth strips) and dip into stain, then rub all over until full coverage is achieved. Let it sit to soak, or wipe it off quickly. Avoid runs. You can do this as much as you want with as many colors as you want to achieve desired color. I like to let each coat dry overnight to ensure it's good and dry. May want to hit it with 400 grit in between coats just to knock back any whiskers that pop up.

So, fast forward: you've got it stained, and are satisfied with the color. Hit it all over with 600 grit once you've made sure everything is dry.

Now, get a damp, lint free cloth, and wipe away ALL dust, and clear your workspace. For the next step, you want NOT A BIT OF DUST around. Yeah, it's a pain, but you'll soon find that it's totally worth the attention to detail.

Now, go throw away that polyurethane, and get some Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil This stuff is incredibly durable, and is THE standard for gunstock finishes.

This is where the real fun begins. The oil is applied in thin layers over and over again. I stress thin layers. Thick layers will run, and that's a serious pain to fix. This part will be the longest part of your entire process, but I say again- it's worth it.

First layer: go a TAD (but only a tad!) heavy. Rub it in small patches all over. Don't try to do an entire length of the stock in one shot, you'll quickly regret the decision. Rub a few square inches, and do your best to fill the pores in the wood. Do this for the entire stock, let it sit (AT A MINIMUM) overnight.

Once you come back to it, MAKE SURE IT'S FULLY DRY. NO TACKINESS AT ALL. Do the whole process over again. You'll find that you begin using less and less to cover larger and larger areas. I did 15 coats on my 10/22. By the end I was using a few drops to cover nearly 1/4 the stock.

After coat 4 or 5, this is where you'll begin seeing a glimpse of what's to come. get some 800 grit sandpaper (some prefer 0000 steel wool, but I hate it- too much dust) and wetsand the stock. Not too much, and not too much pressure, but build up a mud and work it into the pores. Do it again after a few more coats. Then after a few more, step it up to 1000 grit, then 1500, then finally 2000 for a few coats, then one final coat, being VERY careful, because I don't sand the final coat- it's time to cure.

NOW, once you've decided "This is it, I'm not putting any more coats on." Let it cure for AT LEAST a week, more if possible. Then, if you want a glossy finish, leave it be, if you want to knock it back a bit, NOW is when you hit it with the 0000 steel wool for a bit (and you can use decent pressure since the finish is mostly cured) and you will have a strong finish that isn't shiny (more of a satin/matte finish), but still looks damn good.

I know this seems like alot of work (and it kind of is) but this will get you a finish that pretty much can't be beat. I've attached pics of my 10/22, and will post pics of my Mosin and Chipmunk pistol later this evening when I get home.

Feel free to ask away if you have any questions!!! I LOVE helping folks do stuff like this.

Does this not work for you? https://www.amazon.ca/Birchwood-Casey-23123-Finish-3-Ounce/dp/B001I14QUU

And yeah, it will darken it a tiny bit over time. Nothing crazy though