doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Witches brew for stock stripping?

I forgot the ingredients for Wonko's witches brew for stripping old finish off stocks. Acetone was part of it but I forget the other ingredients and portions. Can anyone help with this?

Do not use anything with caustic in it or it will turn the wood black as a crows heart.

I've done a bunch of stocks and I simply use acetone, recommended from Wonko method. However Wonko's method called for a follow-up bath in alcohol. I'm not sure why, maybe he'll explain later.

Steve

I saved it out years ago --

Pretty, old guns do not have to have unpretty, old wood. If you like grimy wood go for the whole schmeer and leave the gun grimy too. I noticed that the pics of Ripon's Purdey in Shooting Times and Country was grime free, by the way. Wiping with acetone will get the surface stuff off fine but it takes a soaking to really get it clean. Be aware that using a brush on old oil soaked wood can damage the wood a bunch. Soaking and wiping (and a thorough sealing as detailed in Newell's book) will not do that. This is how I do it. You can e-mail me if you want, but Newell's book is really the source you need. Check the posts below somewhere about it and then hit a book search engine to get a copy.

THE METHOD This is a word.doc now so I will never have to write it again but can post it every week. Oh boy! Anyway, here it is. Get a disposable aluminum roaster pan at the supermarket that is large enough for the stock. Stop by your Home Depot or whatever and get a gallon of acetone and a gallon of alcohol. If the stock has a plastic finish you might want a can of some paste stripper too. Use that first if the outside finish requires it. If the stock has a varnish or oil finish the acetone will lift that with no problem. Then toss the stock in the roaster and pour in the acetone (it will also neutralize the paste stripper). Cover the wood until it floats. Then pull off a good length of aluminum foil and make a cover for the "tank", sealing it as well as possible. Be aware that acetone is highly volatile and smoking the cigar over the top of it is not recommended. I let the things soak for several days, turning the wood over a couple times a day. When you feel like you're tired of that, and the acetone looks like it has quit changing color, pour the acetone back in the can, rinse the roaster out with alcohol, and then soak the stock in the alcohol just like you did in the acetone. When you yank the baby out of the alcohol bath it will be CLEAN! And you can seal it and refinish it anyway you want after you let it dry a couple days.

works for me

Charles

I've used this method before and it works great.
But once I had the forend of a Remington model 17 soaking in the acetone, when I looked the next day it was in two pieces, it had been split and then glued together.

I have a 20 gauge Parker Trojan stock that I would like to strip but I believe it has been repaired with Accraglass and I'm afraid the acetone will dissolve it. Does anyone know if the acetone will disolve the Accraglass? Pete

Here is a very simple method for cleaning stocks and removing old stock finish.
1/ Remove all metal components from stock and fore end
2/ Proceed to the Laundry room sink! Run the taps at low volume with warm water, using Ajax [abrasive powder with bleach, or similar], sprinkle Ajax over stock ,then using a stiff nail brush scrub the wet stock until all traces of finish is removed.
3/ Rinse with warm water and dry off stock. Pay attention to drying the various inlets and screw holes ,[I use cotton buds.] The stock surface dries off in a matter of minutes.
4/ Using an artists brush paint over the chequering with a paint stripper[I use Poly super stripper].after a few minutes clean out the chequering with a soft brass wire brush,. repeat this step if needed.
5/Let the stock dry over night and finish using your choice of finishing products.[I use boiled linseed oil plus shellac.]
This is a great method for refinishing vintage guns little or no sanding of the stock is required; that is unless you wish to remove every trace of use marks.
You will be very pleased and surprised by the excellent results achieved.

Lashings of water, abrasive with bleach and unfinished Walnut EEEEEEEK!!!!

Just give it a try on a scrap stock!

Acetone will get both the bad and good oils out of a stock. Walnut has natural oils in the wood which should be replenished after a prolonged acetone bath.

Scrape it off with a straight edge, then paper it with wet and dry.