doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Removing oil from a gunstock

It took weeks for me to get most oil out of a K31 stock I refinished.

When oil is gone, be sure to wait another week or so to let the wood dry out again.

I just do it because that is the method that was shown by someone on this board many years ago. I just assumed it was either because the alcohol removed something the acetone didn't or it removed some residue the acetone left.

It works so I haven't felt a need to change.

SRH

I used to use acetone but was told by Brad Bachelder after a year or so the oil down in the stock will come back to the surface. He uses some sort of hot [ I believe around 250 degrees- not sure ] box with some kind chemical- he didn't say what. He said the fumes were dangerous to breath and he had to be very careful. Anyways, I gave him a gun with 15 lb. triggers to lighten and to remove the oil in the stock. Hope to have it back soon. Paul

I've soaked the stock (fore end and butt) in a solution of TSP and hot water on my stove top. I dried it in my oven at 150 until it dried. Some oil still remained so it went back into the hot water bath. Seems to be working very well. I've checked all dimensions and the wood remains stable with no changes in dimensions or action fit. Some wiskering of the surface fibers but I was anticipating that.
So far, so good.

It is absolutely true that deeply oiled stocks will have residual oil rise to the surface again in time. I've de-oiled some stocks in order to do refinishing or repairs, and then set them aside for 5-6 months and found I had to de-oil again in order to be sure that glue, epoxy, or finish would not be compromised. I always start with household ammonia because ammonia will saponify oils, and the resulting soap is water soluble. Follow this with a wash with detergent or TSP and rinse and dry. This inexpensive first step gets a lot of the surface oil and grime and makes the much more expensive solvents like acetone, lacquer thinner, etc. last a lot longer before becoming too contaminated and dirty. Dirty solvent becomes a stain you probably don't want. The low oven treatment with the wood wrapped in paper towels also gets a lot of oil out before resorting to costly solvents. I've even put oily wood in a box of cat litter (not used) and put the whole works in the cab of my truck in the summer to use solar heating. I've read that corn meal also works well. Just try to keep the temperature below 160 degrees. I tried the microwave oven heating method once and had a forearm split from too rapid heating. Fortunately, after de-oiling, Titebond II made a virtually invisible repair.

Keith instead of cat litter go to a Napa parts store and get a bag of floor dry. I found that it's way more absorbant than litter especially if you pulverize it into a fine powder.

The last one I did was a little lightweight 16 ga. Belgian boxlock. It was really bad, but the A and A baths did the trick. Seven (7) years later not a bit of oil has come back out.

SRH

For many years I've used the same process and never had any oil bleed out after completion and refinish........I alternate submerging in an Acetone and Lacquer Thinner sealed bath, weighted down with a brass rod........I continue the bath process sometimes for a week depending on the severity of the oil stains.....

In the summer I also alternate these baths with periods of direct sunlight here in the Southwest where the suns radiant heat is brutal....the suns radiant heat brings any lingering oil to the surface.....

The only times I've seen the oil continue to come to the surface is with stocks that were heavily and deeply oil soaked, and where I've set them aside for several months after de-oiling. I too have not had any issues when I've done any needed dent removal and repairs and got the new finish on fairly soon. All of my solvent soaks have been for at least a week because I know it took a long time for the oil to soak in, and it takes a long time for the solvent to penetrate deeply. One that was especially bad was a Spanish Mauser 7 m/m that I bought at a local flea market for $40.00 a couple years ago. Although a LOT of oil came out initially, when I got around to dent removal and refinishing 6 months later, the wood was visibly oiled again and I had to give it another bath before finishing. I imagine that most of what came out was boiled linseed oil done at the armory. Incidentally, this cheap old military rifle that I bought to use as a rainy-day-loan-it-to-your-brother-in-law-gun has an outstanding piece of figured walnut that would look right at home on a fine shotgun or custom rifle.

I put this one thru the dish washer a couple times in order to get the last amount of oil out, left in sun to dry:

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