On with the show. Where was I on the Haenel anyway? It's been so long that I had to go back through old blogs to see exactly where I'd left off. Oh, yeah, I was about to refinish the Haenel a few weeks ago then took a break to do some "research" that involved mainly looking at old guns. I wanted to add some extra detail to the plain stock, but I wasn't sure what direction to take. Spent some time browsing through old Anschutz brochures from the early 80's as well as viewing lots of online images of vintage target rifles. The style I tried to copy is similar to what Anschutz used on the old 250.
Strypeeze and some masking tape. Exercising caution as I wasn't sure if the old finish on the stippling would bleed into the wood and make a bigger mess to remove.
Didn't notice any color bleeding, so I did the right side--sans tape.
Didn't like the border of the grip stippling curving downward at the top.
Wanted it to run parallel to the top of the forearm, so I sanded it out and penciled in a higher line.
Like so.
Then continued the line on the forearm. A machinist's ruler and a scratch awl.
Doubled the line to match the outline on the grip and used a v-shaped cutter to deepen and define the lines. Also re-cut the border that I'd just sanded off at the grip. This gave a rough approximation of the basic Anchutz 250 stock style.
Wasn't sure I could exactly duplicate the factory stippling on the grip, so most of it was sanded off, too.
Some stippling punches. They work OK, but don't produce as fine a texture as my single punch does. They do allow for relatively fast coverage of large areas.
Stippled the grip on both sides.
Then stippled the forearm.
Tried to get some shadow here to show the stippling details.
Deepened the rear stock mounting hole with a forstner bit. Later, I'll make a screw cup and swap the flat head fastener for a socket head cap screw.
A stiff nylon welding brush makes a good cleaning tool to remove sawdust from the stippling and border lines.
Stained the stippling with Minwax ebony.
Needs another coat as well as some delicate work at the edges.
Two coats later.
This is where it all went wrong. I opted to dye the stock.
Mixed with denatured alcohol. The two test boards I dyed looked good.
Wiped on a thin coat...
Uh, where did the grain go? It just disappeared. The color was nice though.
Sanded out the dye. Had some really choice words about my selection. The dye wasn't the problem, it was just a poor choice for this particular project. I didn't realize how the grain would tone exactly the same as the surrounding wood. Oh well, I'll never claim to be a woodworker. This is all trial and error.
Switched to a stain. Varathane American walnut from the Daisy 717 grip project.
Almost looks like I added some French red.
After it dried, I topped it with a red mahogany stain.
Burnished the stain into the wood with nitrile glove covered hands.
I like the reddish hue. Almost reminds me of the Weihrauch guns.
This is working for me. It has a retro look that should be a good match for the action.
While the stock dried, I pulled the buttplate and polished the sides on the buffer.
More soon. Now I'm on a roll.
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