cleaning up greasy wood...101

[LostSoul]

Is that a Toyota 2.2L head?

[tiriaq]

Ever hear of a vapour phase degreaser? Don't know if these are still used in industry or not. They are a deep tank, solvent in the bottom. The solvent is heated, its vapour rises. In the wall of the tank are cooling coils, the vapour condenses, runs back down. You put the objects to be degreased in the vapour layer, the solvent condenses on them, flushes away oil, grease, etc. This drips down into the boiling solvent sump. The objects are constantly flooded with clean solvent, condensing on them. I used one of these in a plating shop to degrease parts prior to finishing. A friend with an electric motor shop had one. He ran old stocks through it. Battered, oil soaked, blackened stocks went in, battered, clean light coloured new looking stocks came out. Don't know if environmental concerns have resulted in these things going the way of the dinosaur.

[fergs]

I dont know but what ever happened to a bit of good old elbow grease, everyones trying to find the quick way out these days. Fine steel wool a bit of heat (leave the stock in the sun for a while or replicate in a "warm" not hot oven) and some white spirit seems to lift most dirt and grime out of those old timbers. Or over time keep rubbing BLO or a light variaty of oil into your timber will gradually over time lift the gunk. It wont happen over night but it will happen.
Fergs

[grant580]

My best results have been with a product called "citra solve" purchased from Lee Vally here in Canada. I just finished stripping an M 1 stock and it turned out awesome with less effort than I imagined. I used super fine steel wool soaked with citra solve and just rubbed away and it really loosened the old oil. Once softened I used a utility knife blade and gently scraped the wood to get out all the dings and scratches. It is a very easy product on the hands and is natural.
To get the oil out of a crack that was in the stock so the glue I used to repair it would stick I made wedges out of old .303 cartridges sqwashed in the vise and spread the crack. then I used a dentist's pick to "rough up" the crack inside and brushed it clean with accetone and blew it out with air, worked like a hot damn! To glue the crack I used Lee Valley G-2002 cabinet makers glue mixed with a small quantity of walnut belt sander dust. This glue is awesome and has "gap filling" capabilities. I clamped it up, let it dry overnight and was amazed at how easy it all was. I have no reluctance to do some other wood I have in my safe knowing how easy it all was.

[Aragorn243]

i just used spray on citrus strip on a carcano stock. Photos in the General discussion thread. Two treatments and it looked much better.

Stand it up in the bathtub, spray on liberally, let sit for 20 minutes, scrub with a brush and rinse off and repeat.

Nothing wrong with elbow grease but doing it this way allows me to get the BLO finish on it I want without worrying about getting the old goo and dirt out, it's already done.

The stock was a bit tacky to touch before treatment and dry and clean after.