# Checkered wood refinishing



## kev74 (Mar 22, 2008)

I just bought a set of walnut grips for my Barnardelli Model 80. They look like the wood is in good shape, but they might need a bit of freshening up.

Does anyone have any tips or techniques for cleaning or finishing checked wood? Thanks in advance for any and all input. Here's a pic of the grips.


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## MLB (Oct 4, 2006)

Just an amateur response, but I'd use some sort of oil finish as opposed to any shellac or urethane. Seems to me that those would not work well with checkering.

I've used tung oil in the past.


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## kev74 (Mar 22, 2008)

I probably going to use tung oil, but I'm a bit concerned about preserving the detail in the checkering. I don't want to remove any when I strip them and I don't want to fill it in when I apply the finish. 

If necessary, I was thinking about using a chemical stripper and a brass wire brush to remove any old finish, then use tung oil diluted down a bit with mineral spirits to recoat. That should help it soak in to the wood a bit more instead of sitting on top. But if I'm lucky, I won't have to strip them at all and will get away with just a good cleaning.


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## MLB (Oct 4, 2006)

Walnut can be a beautiful wood. Looking forward to the pics...


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## DevilsJohnson (Oct 21, 2007)

A decent gel stripper and some steel wool will get the old finish off. Might have to use a nylon brush too to get the checkered parts all the way cleaned out. Tongue oil works really well for things like that. You have to reapply now and then but it's the best for the wood. I use it a lot on gun stocks/grips. I seal it with a Carnauba wax but I don't think that would be a good idea with checkered grips.

Please post after pics. I'd liek to see how it turns out :smt1099


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## kev74 (Mar 22, 2008)

The grips should get here some time next week. I'll post some before and after shots.


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## gmaske (Jan 7, 2008)

Stripper and a nylon type tooth brush and some time should do it. I would be very careful with anything that is abrasive were the checkering is concerned. Good luck and I'm looking forward to the pictures.


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## kev74 (Mar 22, 2008)

I had to trim the grips down a bit and they were WAY too thick, so I decided the checkering would be too far gone at that point to save.

Here they are after I trimmed, shaved and sanded.

















Now here's a shot after the first coat of Tung Oil. They look better in person than they do in the picture.









I should have them done and on the gun by the weekend. :mrgreen:


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## DevilsJohnson (Oct 21, 2007)

Bare in mind things like Tung Oil are not good with solvents. Tru-Oil works a little better. I think the Tung Oil looks better but you just have to be careful when cleaning the weapon so as not to dry out the wood.


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