Stock c;eaning

[painter777]

Quick word about Murphy oil Soap,
A good friend I just spoke with has over 40 years in finishing/refinishing all types of hard wood flooring.
When looking in to refinishing hard wood floors he makes a point in asking the client how they clean their floor.
Murphys is a red flag to him. Apparently it leaves a penetrating oil residue finish in the floors that causes him to sand deeper than needed. He has to pull off enough material to get past the sealed build up left by the Murphy. After a couple nightmare refinishes he found the culprit to be Murphys, he was having problems with his sanding screens gumming up, his stain and or clear finish having uneven and limited penetration and adhesion problems also.
Any Murphys left in the existing grain will react with the new finish, limiting penetration, softening it and giving a dull appearance. This is irreversible unless enough of the wood is sanded down past this 'Barrier coat'.

In his words:
"On some floors the longtime use of Murphys would require so much material to be removed that it can be cheaper to remove the old flooring and start over, unless they can live with 1/4" hardwood floors."
He also said if in doubt try searching on line for problems refinishing over Murphy oil.

I have no reason to doubt a 40+ year veteran.

[Brian Dick]

I'll stick to clear ammonia for cleaning and degreasing. Taught to me by a Gent who's passion was restoring antique muskets and rifles, i tried it and never looked back. It's quick, easy and doesn't change the color or damage the wood in any way. A quick rinse with water, dry well and you're ready for finish.

[painter777]

clear ammonia for cleaning and degreasing

Brian,
I sure can't argue about how effective Ammonia is during Degreasing. I recall Industrial jobs we had to do while areas were shut down for change over (Auto Plants).
We'd use barrels of a foaming Degreaser and Ammonia mix spraying ceilings (Called Deck) and side walls. Years of grime would drip and run down to the covered floors. Smell was tough, but couldn't argue the results. When dry, on went the White Dry fall.

Over my career I stuck mainly with new construction but we'd barter with other trades/friends and have a few 'Repaints' a year. One old farm house the Tin Bender (HVAC Guy) had purchased had to of had a 100 years of Nicotine stains on the walls, ceilings..... every where! Amazing what pump up garden sprayers and water/Ammonia will rinse away.

[Brian Dick]

A few of my mentors are now deceased. Others are getting up there in age as we all are. I owe them ALL many, many thanks for the education you simply can't get anywhere except from guys with experience. Yes, you obviously need to use ammonia in a well ventilated area for sure and wear gloves but I much prefer it to mineral spirits or paint thinner which is flammable and leave an after smell and sometimes residue. I've used them all over many years. I buy it at the Dollar Store. Simple and cheap. Steve was very particular restoring original, old firearms, most all pre 1898 manufacture and very valuable. I have a nos South African contract set of beech for a butchered No.4T restoration in my workshop now that i cleaned on the weekend. Once you clean the wood, you're ready for fitting, staining, patching/gluing if necessary and then RLO application. Perfect.

[imarangemaster]

Thanks all for the responses. I should have the stock tomorrow. Hopefully this week end I'll be able to get to it.

[INLAND44]

Two ways to go to clean. One, only if you are prepared to stain the stock because it will need it; take a piece of folded terry cloth and some lacquer thinner and basically wash the stock with it, maybe using a toothbrush here and there. It evaporates quickly and there is no chance of swelling any wood. Two, wipe it down with Turpentine on a folded terry cloth. This will remove dirt, oils, etc. but not the stain to any great extent. I do not ever use any water or soap on a piece of wood except water for steaming dents.
Once the stock looks clean, and after staining if required, then you can take raw linseed oil cut with Turpentine 1:1, put it on a folded terry cloth and begin to oil the stock.
I was fortunate once many years ago when I was corresponding with a carbine specialist in another state and he mentioned having several gallons of arsenal stock stain from Rock Island. I talked him into selling me a pint and that has been incredible. In the can it looks deep blackish red/brown and smells like Turpentine. You put it on a folded cheesecloth and wipe it on like any stain of that type but the wood has to be stripped for it to work. I discovered what lacquer thinner does just looking for a quick way to strip one.
The thing is, you don't want to strip a rare of valuable stock except as a last resort - that's why you use just Turpentine if its a simple cleaning job.
I

[imarangemaster]

Well, I got the stock. It definitely has the "been there, done that" look, which is OK for a war fighter weapon. It is very sound (except for the 3" crack) and not at all punky.
Overall, I am happy. Considering what even Inland stocks go for, $70 for a Quality Hardware was not a bad price.







It looks like someone already stripped it, but did nothing about stains and dents. The crack on the right side under the slide should easily fix without pins, just clamped. I think I will do the crack repair before I start messing with the stains. Dents aren't too bad, so I don't think I will mess with them. If I can lighten the stains by 50%, I'll be happy. Not trying to totally restore like Charley does, but still want it to be pretty decent when I finish. The QH mixmaster is fairly clean, so I want the stock to approximate the metal as far as usage.

[imarangemaster]

Well, used the bar Keepers paste, and it cleaned up the black spots a lot. I am going to stain it black walnut though, and the spots should not show at all.

[imarangemaster]

Here is the stock after two applications of Bar Keepers: Once I hit it with some Black Walnut stain, the black spots will be almost invisible. Really amazing stuff!