Dulling a finish

[C & E]

I used Rustoleum 'Stone' finish on a severly bashed up 870 shotgun and it was great! Good grip and nice blend of colors. I decided taht since this is a tool for the woods I would use satin, Minwax polyvinyl acrylic to give a tougher finish. Well, now I have a nice, slightly shiny, not as good as it was, shotgun. Is there any product or method that will knock off the gloss? I have seen polys dull when when touched while slightly tacky. Have any of you tried it. I haven't, yet, so that I don't mess with the potential for a better method. Anything... first day of spring gobbler is April 25.

[MikeWhy]

A touch of paste wax applied with steel wool should it.

[nailshooter41]

A few minutes with some 000 or 0000 steel wool will knock the sheen right off.

You would have been better off to leave the stone finish alone as it is meant to be a complete, high build, high solid finish in itself.

Interesting finish choice for a shotgun...

You can strip that stuff off next year and put on either GUNKOTE or DURACOAT.

Both are epoxy finishes. Both have their own strong properties. Both are almost impervious to oil and solvents when properly applied. This solvent resistance will prove to be most helpful when cleaning or maintaining your guns.

IIRC, the 870 is a pumper, so you should able to take it apart and take off the wood parts (if you don't have the long barreled full choker) to put it in your oven. If you could get the gun in the oven, I would use GUNKOTE.

The guys on the custom knives forum say DURACOAT is just about as good, and no baking. On the firearms forum they claim it works as well as the GUNKOTE. There is a nice FAQ on this site:

don't see how a non baked finish can be as hard as a baked finish, but I haven't used either personally.

Good luck on your project!

Robert

[Tom Veatch]

I've had pretty good luck using those plastic abrasive cleaning pads (3M ???) from the grocery store to knock the gloss off finishes. They come in several "grits" from green (coarse) through blue to white (very fine). Requires a firm touch, but they don't leave steel fiber residue behind.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

[Doug Houseman]

Go to a hobby shop where the sell Testors model paints and get a bottle (or spray can) of Dull Coat or a Matt finish. It will keep your current finish intact and reduce the shine.

[-MIKE-]

You can also find that at an art supply store, and possibly Joann fabrics, Michaels, or other places you have to wonder around in looking for manly stuff while your wife is shopping.

[Steve Turner]

If some enterprising soul were to open up a "Leroy's Art Supplies and Beer Emporium" then we wouldn't have to deal with this embarrassing situation.

[-MIKE-]

LMAO! I've had that similar sentiment for years.

[Bored Borg]

On Mon, 6 Apr 2009 03:55:56 +0100, C & E wrote (in article ):

Barkeeper's Friend or if not, "Vim" if you have it in your neck of the woods

- a kitchen scouring powder that polishes down to a matt finish. Basically pumice powder.

I think the BF has oxalic acid in it and the Vim types have a bleaching agent.

What's wrong with wrapping the stock in black duct tape? It covers up the saw marks when you saw the barrels off, too...

Oops...

[C & E]

A few minutes with some 000 or 0000 steel wool will knock the sheen right off.

You would have been better off to leave the stone finish alone as it is meant to be a complete, high build, high solid finish in itself.

Interesting finish choice for a shotgun...

Good luck on your project!

Robert

Yep, that good 'ole hinde sight kicking in. I wanted added durability. The look is quite good - many complements that, like you, weren't expecting it to look good. To tell you the truth, I had my doubts as I tore it apart and prepped the wood for primer and paint. Why so cheap? The gun was a junker that was given to me. Terrible, economy stock and the previous guy's grandfather slid it into the rafters after a morning hunt and promptly passed away. The gun laid there for 25 years and was severely pitted inside and out. I got the better part of it sanded out. The cold blue is terrible so I'll be tearing it down again after spring gobbler season and may just strip this off. Thanks, Robert! Chuck

[B A R R Y]

Dull Cote will seriously damage Polycylic, as Dull Cote is a lacquer.

Dull Cote over the Rustoleum would have worked pretty well, and it is nice and flat.

[Geosniper]

The WD-40 website says that it's a good product for dulling a finish....can't say I've tried it though, it might be worth giving it a shot. Mmmm Gobbler