The Thanksgiving holiday is winding down so I’m now able to start refinishing the stock.
The stripper instructions suggested a well ventilated area and a temperature range of 60F-80F.
The outside temps have been well below freezing so I set up a bench in the basement next to an open window and started a rip-roaring fire in the stove. The nice thing about the stove other then keeping me toasty warm was that I could quickly dispose of chemical soaked rags and keep most of the lovely aroma from drifting upstairs. It must have worked since the Wife only lightly complained, once or twice.




Here are a couple before pictures of the butt-stock.








I swiped a natural bristle brush out of the Wife’s craft drawer and proceeded to slather on generous amounts of stripper onto the wood.






I left the stripper to do its thing and cut some scrapers out of an old plastic jug. Just to be sure, I dunked one of the scrapers into the stripper can and it didn’t melt. On the other hand, my gloves did.




After the required half hour I donned a more robust pair of Nitrile gloves and began scraping off the bulk of the stripper. The jug material conformed nicely to the stocks curvature.




A special scraper worked well on the cleaning rod slot.




Any remaining stripper was washed away using a rag well drenched in alcohol.
Unfortunately the results were disappointing. No amount of scrubbing would remove the stains. Even a good drenching with acetone was not able to remove them.
Here are a couple close ups of the stubborn stains.




The two dark spots appear to be cigarette burns. I didn't expect them to improve but why no improvement on the stained areas? Sure wish I knew what was spilled on the stock. At least then I might know what would dissolve it.






I’m really not looking forward to using more aggressive methods but it appears I must.
The thought of bleaching and staining is distasteful to me. I much prefer natural wood tones. I do have some "Goof Off" that might work. It has all of the required nasty chemicals of paint stripper but lacks the gel thickener and may penetrate better. I’ll test it in an inconspicuous spot and see how it works.

So, Patrick, what do we try next?

Joel