doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com oil soaked stock wood

There was once upon a time a considerable discussion about removing excess oil from stock wood. What was the method?

DDA

I am just curious, would soaking the stock in acetone and alcohol not dry the wood out on an old stock, particularly in the wrist area of a sidelock? Would it be more prone to cracking afterward?

Gunsaholic:
You are very close to the truth. Despite what some concoctions are avowed to do, 100 years-plus of soaked-in oil and solvent is virtually impossible to remove from a stock head. The "best" that can be done is to get the surface oil out with solvents such as you mention. But the trade-off for that is a degradation of the old wood fibres through drying and softening. After all, it's just cellulose. And you're dumping nasty chemicals on it.

Result: A presentable stock head that may or may not be any stronger.

The important thing to remember is that certain portions of a gun cannot be "restored." They can only be cosmetically refreshed. And in some cases, that may be enough

A punky stock head can be restored, generally after the outside has been refinished, by saturating the fibers with thin cyanoacrylate or very thin epoxy. Properly applied, the liquids will wick along the grain and reconsolidate the wood fibers. This process will often give you a stock head that is stronger than the original wood, but requires that the oil has been removed first.

One thing about using acetone (which will remove surface oil) is that it has to be changed every day or so, then let the underlying oil run to the surface and repeat. I think it is better to alternate that procedure with whiting and heat from a heat lamp. Make a paste with the whiting and do it in a place where you can freely make a mess; it gets EVERYWHERE. Gil

Replacement:
With all due respect to your skills and knowledge, I still have doubts. It all depends on your definition of "stronger." (forgive me Bill Clinton)

I use these glues and resins too. But NOT in an effort to reverse the ravages of time. While they can probably make a cleansed stock head more solid, that value does not necessarily equal "strong" in terms of what a gunstock must do.

In many cases, a stock must flex and compress under the force of recoil. A resin impregnated stock head can't do that very well.

So... "you picks yer stuff an takes yer choice" here. A pretty and reconstituted stock head may serve well for another 100 years. It may also break next month.

It's all in the hands of Mother Nature -- and physics.

I always recommend modest loads in any gun repaired in such a way.

I have had pretty good luck with the following process. I wrap the stock head in paper towels and then in aluminum foil and put the whole deal in an oven and bring it up to 300 F or so and leave it for several hours. After you turn it off and cool check the paper towels to see how much oil came out. The oil will stain the paper towels. Repeat until you get no more stain. Then soak the head with acetone/plaster of paris and see what comes up. Again stain is the indicator if anything is coming out. Once no stain appears repair any obvious cracks and such. Then remove just a bit of wood and rebed the head with Accuraglass for a perfect fit.

I have had excellent results with a 2-3 day soak in lacquer thinner.

Decayed wood that has been properly repaired with epoxy (note: "properly") will flex and compress as well as or better than the original wood, and it has much better resistance to moisture infiltration. Epoxies are available in a wide range of strengths and physical properties, and are used extensively in architectural restoration of historic and other structures. Applications include load-bearing members that require far more strength and flexibility than that required of the typical gunstock, regarding both static and dynamic loads. But, I can break anything if I try hard enough.