Any stock/wood workers?

S

spfld

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I recently bought a Fajen Aristocrat rifle stock (the real Fajen not the Midway stuff) 95% inletted and unfinished. Have been working on the outside sanding and having a devil of a time because sandpaper keeps filling up. After I sanded with medium coarse to get the machining marks off I wet the wood and it showed up a very reddish brown with nice grain figure. I do not think it has been stained or had some sort of coating put on it. Is there any type of wood that clogs sandpaper that might be found in a stock? Would Cherry be a possibility? I have an old Fajen catalog and I see Walnut,Maple,Myrtlewood, and Mesquite offered but they did say customer wood could be machined. There are some types of wood that are oily by nature but I do not know what ones if any are used in stocks.
Thanks for any advice!
 
If it was a customer supplied piece of wood it could be almost anything. But the reddish brown and oily reminds me of tigerwood (brazilian cherry) that has those characteristics. Many south american woods have a natural silicone in them & will clog sandpaper. You can try wiping the stock down with a soaked cloth of acetone & sanding immediately. This will help pull the surface oils out temporarily. What finish will you be using? If this wood is a south american wood with silicone you won't be able to use poly for the 1st coat. It will never dry and stay gummy forever.
 
Rflshootr, thanks for the input.I have finished a few Fajen Aristocrat stocks. I like them and they handle well for me, they just feel right. I am certainly not a pro stock worker and have worked with Walnut only, aside from my Enfield rifles with Beech stocks which require Linseed oil treatment. I use raw linseed with about 30% turpentine for a drier.
I was hoping to use Linspeed for the Fajen project. I will try a coat inside the barrel channel to see if it will dry. Cleaning the surface just before applying is a good idea and I will do that too. Here is what it looks like at present. Has a rather open grain similar to Walnut but that's where the similarity ends. Believe it or not the wood has a light scent of leather to it! My wife has verified this as her sense of smell is super keen (as I know all too well!)
 

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Spfld if it is in fact a wood with a natural silicone, just about any good oil finish will work (tung, linspeed, danish etc). If you'd like to use poly, it is possible but only if your first 2 coats are an oil finish to seal the wood before an oil based poly is applied. Be sure to rub the stock down with the acetone just prior to
the 1st coat of oil. After that you should be fine just applying additional finish coats.
 
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