cleaning up greasy wood...101

[Youngblood]

My 2 Nº4 forearms were in the water much less than 15 minutes. I hand-scrubbed them (as I have done with many, assorted stock-wood components) in a hotwater bath (w/ either Simple Green or Dawn), rinsed, toweled them as dry as possible and then left them out to slowly & thoroughly air dry. They were in water less than 10 minutes.

One I tried to straighten (untwist) with a counter-torque load while keeping the wood damp overnight ... didn't work.

... so consider carefully before using this method on difficult-to-replace wood.

That said, I have cleaned, probably, ~30 stocks in a hotwater bath and only experienced issues with those 2 pieces.

[Chuckindenver]

i use Brownells 909. and have a blue tank set asside just for this.
you are correct. its a gamble at best when restoring a rifle..
i notice that the type of wood may be an issue with some rifles.
Winter Beach is a wood i wouldnt strip in the hotbath.. im nit versed on Brit rifles, but id bet the wood used isnt walnut, and likely another hardwood.
98% of the restorations i do are US military arms, and walnut is the most common wood used with them.
i know that wood like Cherry, Mahogany, and Pine will warp very easy..so caution must be used with them.

[Youngblood]

I have always used a white wallpaper tray in the bathtub for stock scrub-a-dub.

[IMGW]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y285/Jungesblut/Stuff/WallpaperTray.jpg[/IMGW]

Since they are made of PETE and impervious to mineral spirits, they are also handy for soaking/cleaning greasy/oily/nasty barreled actions.

[Jim Tarleton]

If you don't want to water bath a stock, glycerin will remove almost any oil or grease from a stock. Glycerin is the active ingredient in handcleaners. I use the one in the orange container - Goop?

Rinse it with MEK once finished it it will look like new wood.

Jim

[stockerphil]

we put cracked parts in lacquer thinner instead of water. You can also use acetone but your airflow had better be stronger. before gluing, it helps to heat the cracked area by putting a light bulb real close. when you put the fiberglass epoxy on you will actually see it wick down into the crack. Apply more and flex the crack to work it down in. Some small holes can help as chuckindenver points out. We do that too. Another help with epoxy is to put acetone in the mix. Acetone cans list that it is an epoxy thinner, so it flows easier. A epoxy chemist first told me about this. He says the thined epoxy also wicks into the wood pores better giving a stronger bond.

In wrist breaks we often add steel pins after the epoxy dries. Drill a hole that crosses the break, a little bigger than the steel pin, mix epoxy with heavy fiber content, coat the pin, pour epoxy in the hole, work the pin into it. Most times we find a way to drill so it won't be seen. Sometimes you may drill in from the outside and plug the hole with another piece of wood. If there is checkering the hole can be into the checkering field and after recutting it is almost invisible.

Sometimes we mill into the stock, in an area under the metal and insert a wood or plywood stiffener

[rondog]

I've had very good luck with Dawn Power Dissolver and some brushes in the bathtub. I just don't have any extra heated bluing tanks laying around. Use good Playtex gloves though, and scrub the stock afterwards with hot, soapy water and rinse well. Just doesn't penetrate very deep, and oil will continue to bleed out.

And I read about a guy that uses compressed air to gently blow the glue deeper into the cracks. Sounds like a winner.

Also read about a guy that took some diatomaceous earth, mixed it with acetone into a paste, and packed it all around a stock to get the oil, grease and cosmoline out. I have a greasy Mosin stock that I'm going to try it on. I've got the DE and acetone, just about have a tank finished to put it in. You could just use heavy sheet plastic in a cardboard form to put the stock and paste in.

What he said happens is, the acetone penetrates the wood and dissolves the oil/grease/cosmo and it flows out into the paste. As the acetone evaporates, the highly absorbent DE soaks up the oil. DE is basically ground up microscopic fossils of sea critters, and is used for cleaning oily floors and I guess it's a good insect killer too. Very absorbent, so they say. I bought a 30lb. bag from Graingers.

[armabill]

I had a stock that was covered with lacquer or varnish which was starting to crack and peel. You could scrap it off with your finger nail.

I used scotch brite lightly, wiping it off with a dry cloth. It retained all of it's origin finish without damaging the wood.

Worked out real well for me.

[papabear917]

hi, just joined to give the easiest way to clean m1 garand or carbine stocks. your dishwasher! works great, gets hot but does not soak in the water. will also raise dent. use the same amount of soap and remove rack for room. grain will raise so sand and finish.

[Edward Horton]

A conservator at a museum cleans wooden gun stocks using a 50-50 mix of raw linseed oil and turpentine. It is applied to a small section at a time and a heat lamp is used to sweat the impurities to the surface. Soft lint free rags are used to apply and remove the linseed oil turpentine mixture. The metal parts are cleaned with olive oil and a soft tooth brush and then a neutral PH wax is applied to all metal parts.

Rather than water, dipping in water or the dishwasher EXTREME, why not use a product made for removing the surface coating on the wood that also re-oils the wood and doesn't cause the wood to warp.

Minwax® Antique Furniture Refinisher

Minwax® Antique Furniture Refinisher removes oil finishes, including shellac, lacquer and some early forms of varnish. Minwax® Antique Furniture Refinisher contains natural wood oils that penetrate and condition wood. Minwax® Antique Furniture Refinisher does not remove paint or polyurethane.



I would NEVER think of putting a book shelf, a coffee table or a antique in the bathtub and putting water on it and damaging and warping the wood.

WHY would anyone want to abuse their gunstocks?

American and British gun stocks were hot dipped in raw linseed oil and periodical redipped by the armourers.

The stock below was mistakenly labled cosmoline soaked, when in fact what you see is how far the raw linseed oil penetrated the wood.





The stocks were dipped in raw linseed oil to protect them from the elements and you people want to drown them in water and also strip the oil from the wood.

You people need to rethink your approach to "restoring" antique firearms.

A simple hair dryer will degrease wood along with turpentine which is a natural evaporative wood oil.

Did I ever show you how to clean the carbon off your head and valves?

[mike16]

I put car parts in the dish washer one time after I cleaned them I forgot to remove them...the wife came home and discovered them in there and I got in big trouble plus the dish washer smelled like used oil for ever after that.