Help!!!!!!

[Lithgow_1919]

Hi guys,

I just bought a complete wood set for my (sporterised) Lithgow 1919 MKIII* and it has shoe polish (nugget) rubbed into the timber. Is it possible to ge this out without taking too much away from the wood?

Has anyone come across this before? All help would be much appreciated.

Information

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[tbonesmith]

What colour is the shoe polish?
Whenever I have a surface finish I don't like on a stock, I hit it with paint stripper, the some solvent like metho, or acetone, scrubbing it with the solvent using fine steel wool, and then re oil it with pale boiled linseed oil. They end up looking pretty fresh/clean/newish after that. If the finish looks original then I scrub it with BLO using fine steel wool, which keeps the patina and colour but gets surface grime off. If it got some rubbish on it I'd strip it for sure, it's not like your dealing with an all original piece, and why not have you refurb looking nice and clean?

[Lithgow_1919]

Hey thanks for the quick reply.

The shoe polish is balck and it must have a few layers on it, when you handle the stock you can feel the sticky polish on there and you can't really see the grain of the timber.

I'll try a small spot with some paint stripper and then hit it with some steel wool and see how I go.

Is it common to see shoe polish used on these stocks?

[Son]

Are you sure it's shoe polish? A 50 yo greased stock can look awful black and shiny!

[Brian Dick]

Try grocery store grade clear ammonia and a sponge/plastic scrub pad.

[bearhunter]

I've run across shoe polish before. I use it on sporting rifle stocks. It's easy to touch up and does a good job, keeping the weather out.

I 've also seen it used on birch hand guards, to make them look like walnut. You will want to be careful, takeing it off though. It penetrates into the pores and can go quite deep. If there are cartouches, you are trying to save, it could be a problem. I usually strip it off with ammonia as well.

The last time I used it, was on a Boyds replacement stock, for a Garand. When it's heated up to liquid form and a bit of BLO and alcohol mixed in, it can look quite good. If done properly, the grain of the wood will be slightly enhanced but well sealed.

[Peter Laidler]

I think I'm right in suggesting that shoe polish is really a refined and coloured beeswax. Of itself, it can only help preserve the wood

[finloq]

Peter (Captain, if memory serves), if you saw your subordinates rubbing boot black on the rifles in their charge, what would you say to them?

[Lithgow_1919]

Are you sure it's shoe polish? A 50 yo greased stock can look awful black and shiny!

Hi,

Yep totally sure it's shoe polish. From the colour (black) right down to the scent (the scent reminds of the days when I was a little bloke having to polish my school shoes on a Sunday night)
It looks bloody awful and is really sticky if you hold onto the wood for a mintue or so. If it looked good I'd most prbably leave it but it doesn't.

---------- Post added at 05:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:09 PM ----------

I've run across shoe polish before. I use it on sporting rifle stocks. It's easy to touch up and does a good job, keeping the weather out.

I 've also seen it used on birch hand guards, to make them look like walnut. You will want to be careful, takeing it off though. It penetrates into the pores and can go quite deep. If there are cartouches, you are trying to save, it could be a problem. I usually strip it off with ammonia as well.

The last time I used it, was on a Boyds replacement stock, for a Garand. When it's heated up to liquid form and a bit of BLO and alcohol mixed in, it can look quite good. If done properly, the grain of the wood will be slightly enhanced but well sealed.

I hear that. Cheers

[Son]

Well it seems shoe polish has been found on stocks before! Time to learn something (which we can do every day here!)

I'm looking on the results here and if it's ok, while we are on timber cleaning, can I ask anyone who might suggest how I could get the black burn stain off a singed raw coachwood foreend. I have sanded it as much as I'm game- to go any further would change it's shape too much so my only hope is to find something else to lighten it.

Lithgow1919, whereabouts are you roughly. I'm in the Hunter Valley.