Hey Wonk, didn't you mention using cement as an absorbent in one of your earlier posts? That stuff is cheaper than bent nails per pound. You're right about the cost of good walnut and restocking versus the cost of chemicals, but can you tell us what long soaks in organic solvents does to the lignin and cellulose structure in that expensive wood? What else besides old gun oil gets leached out of that expensive walnut? Does it maybe make sense to minimize that harsh exposure somewhat by utilizing inexpensive low-tech solutions such as kitty litter, corn meal, etc.? What do you do with your dirty acetone and other solvents when they are 10% oil and dirt by volume... just pour it down the drain? I don't de-oil enough stocks to warrant buying a vacuum pump to experiment along those lines, but I already own a good Robinaire, so why not give it a try sometime? I stumbled on a way to raise stock dents that won't respond to the usual steaming methods by thinking outside the box, and have shared that with guys here who have told my how great it worked for them. You'd have been a great influence upon some of the great inventors and experimenters throughout history. We'd still be using horses, buggies, and oil lamps. I think huffing those Wonko Brew fumes in unventilated areas had a negative effect on you.
