Eddystone M1917 Stock Warp Issue

[WarPig1976]

I'm not going to argue with anybody. I'll just say with complete confidence there's no straightening a bowed and twisted piece of lumber with heat and have it be permanent. The defect has always been present and will always be present. What's missing is the proper moisture content.

[fjruple]

Guys-- Please note that in the Rowe indicated in his video that American black walnut was the toughest to bend using the hot raw linseed oil method. Needless to say the original M1917 stocks were made from American black walnut.

Cheers

--fjruple

[Ridolpho]

I'm not going to argue with anybody. I'll just say with complete confidence there's no straightening a bowed and twisted piece of lumber with heat and have it be permanent. The defect has always been present and will always be present. What's missing is the proper moisture content.

You may well be correct- only time will tell in the case of the ones I've done. I believe if the wood fibers are hot enough they go plastic and permanently deform. The first time I steamed a bow stave to straighten a kink it was amazing how it would bend after the correct temp was reached. Wood bowmakers assume these bends are pretty permanent. Gonna have to check my No.4 again and see how its held up. Regards.

Ridolpho

[Hcompton79]

Well I guess there's no harm in trying, and yes I did see him mention that this would be the most difficult wood to bend.

[Patrick Chadwick]

I am inclined to agree with Warpig's scepticism. Gunstocks that are very old (and I have a couple that are well past 200 years) have reached a natural equilibrium that is effectively permanent. When discussing refurbishment of old guns, it seems that too much attention is paid to the exterior surface - i.e. what you see - and not enough to the interior.

Now those who actually shoot their guns (warning - a bit of sarcasm coming!) may have noticed that the barrel gets not just warm, but if you shoot a competition series, pretty hot.
As a result, the barrel channel is not just dried out, but thoroughly dessicated. The dessication of the inside results in a stress between the moister outside and the drier inside that is probably a major source of the strain that warps a stock that was perfectly straight a century or so ago.

That is why those who have read my posts on refurbishment wil have observed that I advise that the barrel channel, receiver cutout etc. should be liberally soaked with linseed oil. On the outside, you can slobber on tru-oil, tung oil, BLO, whatever you like - it isn't going to penetrate to the inside in my lifetime. What is needed, before doing anything more drastic, is to restore the even moisture content throughout the wood from inside to outside.

The heat treatment shown in the films shots is a drastic way of achieving fast oil penetration in order to bend wood with a fairly thick cross-section. For a barrel channel, this is IMHO too harsh. Just try oiling the channel liberally first, and be patient.

[fjruple]

Well I guess there's no harm in trying, and yes I did see him mention that this would be the most difficult wood to bend.

I believe a lot of the toughest to bend will depend on the condition of the wood. If the stock is oil soaked from years of storage in cosmoline it make be easier to bend. Considering your only other option is to buy another (getting expensive, original) stock. Please let us know how you make out if you are going to try and bend the stock.

Cheers

--fjruple

[Sunray]

"...hog out some wood..." Sand with no porkers involved. Best done with layout blue to find where the stock is high, then sand to relieve the spot.

[Hcompton79]

I should add that I have been taking this gun apart over a series of several months, adding raw linseed oil to the inside and outside of the stock. Over this time I have seen no change in the bend in the stock, which is bending down and to the left, away from the barrel. If it was bending upward, a small amount of wood removal could be done.

In this case, I think the best option is going to be attempting the hot linseed oil method, however seeing as the barrel channel is thinner it may be easier to try a heat gun first before resorting to the torch.

I'll post my results after trying this later this week.

[CINDERS]

I have a Bosch heat gun the 2nd setting on high gives out copious amounts of heat which I reckon is enough to fulfill the intended bending process as per JR tutorial.

[oldfoneguy]

"...hog out some wood..." Sand with no porkers involved. Best done with layout blue to find where the stock is high, then sand to relieve the spot.

Excuse the heck out of me for using local slang instead of gunsmith jargon. Shame on me for trying to help. I promise to never do something so foolish again.