Corn Cobb Forend Refinish

[The Rattler]

I am refinishing a Remington Model 1897 shotgun with a “corn cobb” style fore-end with a finish designed for using the “sanding in” method. That is where the pores of the wood are filled in by light sanding the wood while wet with finish & rubbing in the wet saw dust into the pores. This calls for around 4 or 5 coats sanding in. This will be the 4th time I’ve refinished a gun using this method. However, none of them had the “corn cobb” style of fore-end.

My concern is sanding down the circular-cut rings on the fore-end.

1. Will the light sanding required to create the sawdust for wet sanding harm the circular rings to a significant extent? If so, how can it be avoided?

 

[Scorch]

No, it will not harm the grooves in the forend, but it will make a mess of the grooves up with the mud. After the finish dries, take a small chainsaw file to clean out the dried finish in the grooves, then add a top coat of finish.