doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Acetone soak?

Please refresh me on the acetone soaking procedure. I just looked through many pages of stuff I have saved and could not find this info.
Thank you

Here's one regimen Jim, but others will disagree with the alcohol soak
http://www.lcsmith.org/faq/oil.html

Get one of those aluminum turkey pans. Soak in acetone for three days, turning over every day. Then I think you soak it in alcohol for a few days doing the same process of turning it over. I think you let it dry for several weeks before finishing it. All this just off the top of my head.

If you do the alcohol or acetone thing, you can put the stocks in a turkey roasting bag and save a lot of chemicals, stop the fumes (somewhat) and reduce evaporation. Put the bags in the turkey roaster to collect spils.

Brent

Thank you all very much. I'm assuming the acetone will not disolve the roasting bag, correct? Sounds like a good way to save some acetone.
Thanks again,

Jim,
If you don't go with the bag, just put a heavy weight on the stock to keep it submerged. Then you don't have to turn it daily and you won't get 'waterline' marks from the scum floating on the surface.

But, personally, I think the bag method is better, even though I haven't used it yet.

While this method is ok I personally prefer using Easy Off oven cleaner. I have successfully removed the oil from military stocks that were soaked with oil in addition to cosmoline and then stored in warehouses for decades. If you use Easy Off do so out of doors and wear a pair of heavy rubber gloves.
Jim

Please give me the whole routine for using Easy Off, step by step.
Thank you,

I have been using those plastic tubs that you can store things in. Acetone has had no effect on them and they come with a snap on lid. So I have extremely small amounts of evaporation. I can't recall the brand name, but it is something like Sterilite? They make them in all kinds of sizes, so get the size that works for your stock. I see these tubs in places like some hardware stores, Dollar General or Alco for about 4-5 bucks. Oh yes, I soak the stocks outside as well and of course replace the acetone back in the cans that it came in marked "used".

Jim,

I have used the Easy Off method twice. Here is how I did it with good success.

1) I got the disposable aluminum pan and laid my stock in it.
2) I bought a can of regular easy off. Make sure the easy off uses lye (sodium hydroxide) as the cleaning agent. I think there are others now that use different stuff for cleaning very dirty microwaves and different types of BBQ pits that do not use sodium hydroxide as the agent.
3) Spray the sodium hydroxide on in a good thick layer. I should foam up some.
4) I was told to cover it in aluminum foil as well to hold the easy off to the wood. I don't know if that is necessary.
5) Leave it to sit for 3 - 10 minutes. I would let is sit for shorter periods of time rather than longer. This way you can see how quickly it affects your finish. Leaving it on too long can damage a stock as the lye will eat at the wood too.
6) Once you have left it on for the desired time put it in a warm soapy bucket of water and rinse gently with a bristle brush to remove the goop off the stock.
7) Let it sit and dry until you can determine if all the finish and oil have been removed. If not repeat the steps.

I did this on an old 1930s A5 stock and it worked great. However, I had a couple of concerns and here they are:

1) Leaving the solution on the stock too long can eat at the wood. For my project it was not a big deal, but on a nice stock for a quality gun I would be concerned. I think Wonko's brew (acetone/alcohol) does not cause any damage to the wood.
2) The lye in the easy off puts off extreme heat and ate away at the aluminum. I would see if you could find a rubber or plastic pan that would not be affected by the easy off.
3) The successive cycles of easy off and soapy water can cause the stock to swell if it is very dry. Upon drying too fast you could get cracks in the stock. The A5 showed one small crack where the rear of the receiver fit into the stock. I filled it with acraglass when I refinished and it looked fine, but again, those types of occurances are not good for a better stock.
4) Sodium Hydroxide is nasty stuff and gives off fumes. Use heavy rubber gloves and do it outside or in a well ventilated area.

I would be interested if others have used this method and if they got the same results I did. If they did or did not can they provide solutions to the issues I found above.

I have not yet tried the Wonko's brew method, but in numerous posts I have seen people swear by it. My next stock will be with the Wonko's method for a good comparison.