Clear coating a stock

L

leadfarmer

New member
Does anyone have any suggestions on someone to clear coat a stock or two? I've got two Dima's id like done up. Nothing fancy just clear.

Also, what would you consider a reasonable price for such work?


Thanks!
 
Swing by your local body shop. Ask them if next time they shoot a clear coat, how much and if they'll shoot your stocks at the same time. That's what I did but got mine for free.
The Body Shop was part of our towing and repair shop business.
You could also use Urethane spray can. I've used it on a few stocks. Works great. On a hot day, dries in nothing flat and looks good.
 
 
Nor Cal Mikie said:
Swing by your local body shop. Ask them if next time they shoot a clear coat, how much and if they'll shoot your stocks at the same time. That's what I did but got mine for free.
The Body Shop was part of our towing and repair shop business.
You could also use Urethane spray can. I've used it on a few stocks. Works great. On a hot day, dries in nothing flat and looks good.
Click to expand...
That was a thought I had, but does it matter what clear coat they use? I just want to make sure it slides in the bags well. Thanks!
 
There's only a couple of Automotive Clear Coats that I know of. All will protect and not thinking there will be any issues with the stock sliding in the rest.
Got one stock done at the body shop and did a couple with spray on Poly. Body shop finish came out much better due to professionals spraying it. The Poly is nice and easy to apply and no worries of it not protecting the stock. My first was a laminated wood stock that I had done a Beechwood Casy finish. Maybe a few years old that needed something new. Sanded it down and took it to the body shop. The old sanded off finish acted as a filler. When shot with the Automotive Clear, things popped out that I had never seen before. :cool::cool: Had a friend build a small lighted spray box to shoot a stock. It came out OK but not like a pro shooting it. Still a tough as nails finish.
Most Auto finishes now are 2 stage, flat color then clear top coat. Shouldn't be a problem finding a shop doing a clear coat.
It has been mentioned that Poly Spray will turn yellow over time? My stocks don't lay out in the sun so no concerns of that ever happening.
Auto Clear is pretty tough stuff. Care is used when spraying cause it's pretty potent stuff.
It has been known to make your babies be born neked!! :eek:;)
 
It's all in the prep work and wood has its own challenges. I strongly encourage you to let someone do it with experience doing them. It should not be as simple as dropping it off by a body shop and them shooting it with leftovers. I speak from experience here in saying, that just pisses the body man off right from the start...unless he's a good buddy. Wood takes more work, time and materials than a typical fiberglass with gel coat stock. If you just shoot clear on wood, it's gonna be full of pin holes and whatever you do, don't try to accelerate the cure under heat lamps, which is pretty common in body shops. Frankly, you have a high end stock and if you want a good finish, anything less than about $350-$400 is a bargain, yes, even just for shooting it with leftover clear. Lol!

I do a few stocks. Here's a couple that I've painted or cleared. The wood stock had. IIRC. 13 coats on it. You can get by with less and the right sealer helps tremendously.

The red one, I tinted the clear with "brandywine". The stock was a bright red with black and tiny silver metal flake in it. You can see how it darkened the red and the metal flakes turned from silver to red. I considered it a big improvement.

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Well that's a lot to consider. I know of a guy on accurate shooter who does em for like $600, and they say he's the best, but I'm not ready to drop that kind of money on a clear coat. Plus the cost of shipping to the other side of the country. I may just do an oil finish, which I really like the look of. Probably have to add oil every year or so if imagine. Been talking to another fella who does oil finish stocks and he took me through the whole process. I talked with Dima, and for them to do the clear coat ($350) they have to bed the action as well, which I want my smith to do for me.

So decisions, decisions.
 
When I had a couple of Richards laminates finished and fitted the gent doing the work had a body shop do the clear coat. At least one had a thisrt for the clear coat as it took 3 or 4 times to get enough on and had to be sanded between coats. So you were at the mercy of the body shop and when they would need to do clear coat for a customer.

Anyone suggest a best way to remove a scratch? Really fine steel wool or lens polish?

No really good pics, but here is them. If twas me I think I'd do the laminate layer arrangement differently. You can see in the thumbhole how they are layered. The purple sapphire came out better than the electric blue.



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You can purchase automotive quality 2K clear coat in an aerosol and pretty easily do it your self. The quality of the nozzle lays down a nice smooth finish. The trick is good clean prep work and then wet sanding/polishing post curing. It’s really not that difficult to have a nice durable finish.
 
Found a guy on accurate shooter who said he will clear coat it for $300. I asked what the process was or if I need to do any work to it beforehand. He said this.


"I do 3 coats let it cure then do 3 more coats. And it’s usually good. But you can send me some pictures of it and I can usually tell if it needs work. If it’s a porous wood then usually it will need epoxy out in it then sanded before clearing. What kind of wood is it ?

So I think I might give him a try. He's on the same coast as me, and does a lot of painting with cabinetry.

Edit or long rifle inc. appears to do oil finishes for 175 and they look great. Just not sure on the durability.
 
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