Re: Project Mauser B7

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Here's the pine tar set up.
b7pinetarset.jpg
George Foreman signature grill from the flea mart, set on high, with a can of pine tar mix: 50/50 pine tar and mineral spirits.

I've gotten one coat on, and it's curing. In the morning I'll see what it looks like. I might put another coat, might not. It darkened up real nice. Not much figure in the wood--in other words, very straight grain, very stable over the long term. I pine tarred the inside also. Pine tar is a preservative and protective slurry that gets down in the pores and prevents rot and fungus. When the the pine tar coat/coats is cured, I'll start with the BLO 50/50 cut with mineral spirits. Don't know how many coats I'll need to insure the pores are plugged.

The pine tar did not at all bleed into the paint. I used a boar bristle brush to apply, which was just fine. When the pine tar is hot from George's grill, it penetrates the wood nicely. Maybe it will be photogenic on Sunday. We'll see. Right now it's wet, so a photo would give a false impression.

CDFingers
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Re: Project Mauser B7

52
Some pics.
b7color1.jpg
b7cleo1.jpg

The top pic is an effort to capture the subtle gradations of color. The paint is highly reflective, so there's a glare--pic is more about the wood.

The bottom pic was made with Cleo's help. The only real figure in the wood is right behind the mag well. When I begin the BLO today, that, and its brother on the opposite side, we should see a bit more definition there. The color of the pine tar in this walnut brings out the reds in the wood.

The Minuteman, having quite a bit more white, reflects very much. Here is a pic from Sunday morning in dim light.
b7white.jpg

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
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Re: Project Mauser B7

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I carved an upside down pentagram into my thigh with a broken 7x57 case. 8-)

Just put the second BLO coat on. Nothing so far has discolored or harmed the paint. I didn't get much on, a few bits of pine tar and so on but it wiped right off. Came in for the Space X launch cast.

Interesting political statement now that it's in my hands with the Minuteman on the other side of the fascist killer quote. As I was rubbing in oil I was thinking on it.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
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Re: Project Mauser B7

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That looks really lovely..

After the pine tar are you using steel wool or sanding to help bring the grain of the wood out?

I'm taking notes for when I'm ready to start the assembly work on my argie after rebarreling..

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Re: Project Mauser B7

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Bob3 wrote:So... tell us about that peep sight...
Marlene's right, it's just a normal old Williams. What's important to me is the concept of the peep sight here.

The sight itself is solid, and it is mounted with pins to the receiver and it's screwed. It has replaceable apertures. The sight is adjustable for altitude and windage. But for my old eyes, a peep is a really nice thing. It's fairly close to my eye, and I see it really well.

drigeba, I stopped sanding at 100 grit, and I've done no steel wooling between coats, as I want some texture to the stock. One place I might take a green kitchen scrubby to is right at the trigger, on the right side, I hollowed out a little place for my trigger finger to more easily access the trigger. After these few coats, the grain has risen a bit there. I will assess it, and maybe green scrubby that little section to match the rest of the stock.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
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Re: Project Mauser B7

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CDFingers wrote:
Bob3 wrote:So... tell us about that peep sight...
Marlene's right, it's just a normal old Williams. What's important to me is the concept of the peep sight here.

The sight itself is solid, and it is mounted with pins to the receiver and it's screwed. It has replaceable apertures. The sight is adjustable for altitude and windage. But for my old eyes, a peep is a really nice thing. It's fairly close to my eye, and I see it really well....

CDFingers
I hear ya; those ramp/ leaf sights aren't hacking it for my poor tired eyes; the 10/22 we got for the grandkid needed to be outfitted w/ aftermarket "M-14 style" peeps that lets it reach way out very easily. (a kid's gotta learn on iron sights) :thumbup:

We've got a "lightly sporterized" straight bolt Chilean Mauser (7mm, of course) that I've been wondering what to do with; about all that's been done to it is the wood trimmed down.
I'm not a huge fan of the pistol scopes on the rear sight mount but it's not usable (for me) in its current condition.
I'm a fan of the 7x57 so swapping isn't going to happen.
Got any idea if that Williams will fit on a Chilean? :roll:
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Re: Project Mauser B7

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This is what happens after eight coats over seven days of 50/50 BLO/mineral spirits or turpentine--turp if you've gotta have that smell in your hair. 8 coats in seven days because the first coat was sucked away so quickly I put another coat that late afternoon while the wood was still pretty warm from the sun.

Tough to photog glossy art and wood depth in the same pic. So two perspectives are needed, and the viewer has to sort of assemble them in the mind's eye.

Here is BobBee7 and his guitar of gnarl.
b7bee1.jpg
Here is the Obverse Minuteman
b7man2.jpg
Now here is where you have to assemble. The two above had direct sunlight so you could see down into the wood. In shooting the whole stock there is multiple washings-out of all kinds of detail. So you have to think that the whole stock has that reddish depth.
b7beefull2.jpg
Here is what we can learn.

If you're careful, you can avoid hurting painted surfaces if they've been Klowned around with. In practical terms, I did not molest the borders between paint and oil finish. Any oil which bled upon the paint was wiped off at the end of each molestation. Came off clean with no discoloration.

Secondly, there's a glorious pine tar smell coming from the stock. So Finnish, I must say! Very pleasant.

When this hardens in a few days I'll put the rifle in it and see how it looks. I would probably add the weekly coats with it assembled, using sparse amounts of oil, like on an oiled cloth. Much rubbling with little oiling, actually, in these last coats I say.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
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Re: Project Mauser B7

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... It'll have another coat or two on it ...


If you're fond of 'deep coatings', we used to make tables, bars, etc from old wooden hatch covers, pour a nice thick coating on the top. The stuff stayed somewhat 'flexible'; you could put a dent in it w/ a crisp blow but said dent would flow/ fill back in overnight.
so... how carried away would ya like to get (on your next project)? I can probably track down the place we had it mixed, I'm back in WI now so have access to some of my old junk (fabulous treasures).
:D
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Re: Project Mauser B7

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Bob3 wrote:
... It'll have another coat or two on it ...


If you're fond of 'deep coatings',
Har har! With this slow method the oil penetrates into the wood, and these many small layers create the optics I'm after. We can see the pores are not yet plugged--de rigeur for a hunting rifle, as well as a sling. Here we see the depth developing.
b7left22.jpg
b7right2.jpg
Here is what it looks like from the shooter's end.
b7peep2.jpg
The next post would likely be a range report. I'm booked for the next ten days or so, then I might get a chance.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Project Mauser B7

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wow...that is an amazing finish!

I have a muzzleloader kit stock to experiment on with pine tar and BLO before the really nice wood shows up for my mauser project. The 1891 argie stock is going to be semi fancy black walnut, so I'm not sure if the pine tar is the way to go for that stock. but seems like the BLO will be the finish I want to get that old-timey look.

Does the checking happen before the finish is applied? I thought yes, but expert opinions are always better than untested assumptions...
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Re: Project Mauser B7

69
drigeba wrote:wow...that is an amazing finish!

I have a muzzleloader kit stock to experiment on with pine tar and BLO before the really nice wood shows up for my mauser project. The 1891 argie stock is going to be semi fancy black walnut, so I'm not sure if the pine tar is the way to go for that stock. but seems like the BLO will be the finish I want to get that old-timey look.

Does the checking happen before the finish is applied? I thought yes, but expert opinions are always better than untested assumptions...
Now that I've been studying more, the checkering goes on after the finish is totally cured. The finish holds the wood together so the little checker squares don't break while it's being checkered.

Yeah, pine tar is not for every stock. It does add color. If the wood is sort of plain, like the B7 wood, pine tar gives it some life. Also, though, in highly figured wood, pine tar increases the contrast between dark and light wood (winter vs summer growth rings). Experiment on scraps so you get a database in your head of what happens with different woods.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Project Mauser B7

70
Just curious; are you going to be doing the 'checkering' using a plain old hand graver/ burin, or something else?

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Another question on the Mausers; do you do your own bolt handle turning or send out/ buy aftermarket for modifying the straight bolts?
Heating & bending the bolt can be done with a large/ good enough heatsink, & another 'school' prefers to cut/ arc weld the handle, again w/ heatsink. (only way to maintain matching serial numbers if you don't want to just buy an aftermarket or otherwise modified bolt).
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Re: Project Mauser B7

71
This rifle came with the bent bolt. I suspect it's a Brazilian or Peruvian carbine, ground crest. Bore is excellent.

I'm going to checker it using these checkering and stock making tools I've glommed on to over the years. I messed around on a dead stock there. The checkering tools are actually little files, and each file is a different size, and it makes two or three grooves at a time. Then you put one file in an existing groove and do the next rows, and so on. Then you lay out the cross hatch in the same manner and cut it. If you cut shallow for the lay out, you can cut the whole thing uniformly deeply pretty quickly. That's what I've found so far.
checkersmall.jpg
CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
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Re: Project Mauser B7

73
AndyH wrote: Sun Jul 29, 2018 8:29 pm Hey CD - could you guestimate the volume of pine tar one would need for a stock? A couple of ounces? Thanks!
Yeah, not even a couple ounces--I think I put a half inch in a jar and added a half inch of mineral spirits. The mix I made is still good. It's pretty stiff, but when it gets heated up it will soften. The proportions are rough at half and half, and you save the rest in a jar. I got my pine tar at the local feed store, but you can order actual birch tar (Finnish wonder finish) here:

https://www.pipingrock.com/essential-oi ... kEQAvD_BwE

Haven't tried actual birch tar. Maybe on my next Mosin project. Have a receiver and an m39 barrel and an interesting walnut stock. I'm thinking carbine with bent bolt handle and super glass.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
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Re: Project Mauser B7

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Thanks! Thanks for the birch tar link as well. I think I'll get a quart of pine tar from the local Tractor Supply. I'll be able to do a Garand stock, make a couple of pounds of soap, and still have plenty of extra. I do have a couple of cigar boxes. ;)

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