Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

"ironing out" dings, good tutorial anywhere?

sweaver
I've searched this board and a few others fairly well and I've seen several mentions about using steam to get dings out of a stock but I cant find a really good tutorial (preferrably with pics). anyone know of one out there or can someone really elaborate on this process?

Thanks in advance!
Shane

sig.jpg
0

Comments

12 comments

Date Votes
  • Spider7115
    Use a damp towel and place it over the indentation - place a hot dry iron against the towel to steam out the dents
    0
  • nmyers
    It all depends upon the kind of gun & the type of finish.

    This is a good tutorial on refinishing military wood:

    http://www.jouster.com/Bulletin/refinishing.htm

    Be aware, most attempts at steaming will require the wood to be refinished.

    Neal
    0
  • sweaver
    I plan on completely refinishing, already have it stripped down to bare wood. Next step is to minimize all those dings. What I'm most curious about is do I concentrate the tip of the iron directly over the dinged area or lay it flat against the wet cloth so that the iron applies heat/steam to all the surrounding areas as well? The level of concentration is what I need to be sure I understand.

    thanks so far!
    shane

    sig.jpg
    0
  • iwannausername
    Heat/steam all around. The wood will swell some, filling in your ding. Then sand down, repeat until ding gone.
    0
  • Wehrmacht_45
    I use cut up jeans since the denim is thick and wont allow the wood to burn...extra safety. Other than that I xcansay that if you have a dish washer you can run it through a hot rinse and dry cycle to steam out the dents a bit. Cleans any dirt out as well that may have been missed. Just dont let your wife catch you doing it. Works great for Shotgun stocks .
    0
  • sweaver
    So it won't hurt the wood to run it through the dish washer? It ruins the heck out of wooden cutting boards...
    0
  • gunluv280
    The C&R forum has a lot of useful info on dealing with old stocks from doing repairs to refinishing.

    http://pub176.ezboard.com/bcurioandrelicfirearmsforum
    0
  • gunluv280
    I should have mentioned......check the Tech FAQ's section first, then try the Stocks section.
    0
  • Frogbert
    The reason a depression remains in wood after impact with a harder object is that the fibers (all wood consists of layers of fibers) in the area of the dent, are crushed, making them flatter so they do not fill up as much area as they normally would. In many wood species, these fibers can be "re-plumped" to bring them back into a position that closely resembles their origional relationship to each other by allowing moisture to swell them. Hence, the application of steam is applied as an efficient method of forcing the moisture into the mass of fibers that have been crushed.

    It is my opinion that the treatment is more effective if it is confined to the area of the dent only, and not the whole piece.
    Every cabinetmaker proficient at his trade has put a small amount of spit on his finger and applied it to a dent to "bring it out". A drop of water filling the dent does a good job. Apply it, let it dry; if the dent isn't gone completely (and they almost never are), repeat the process. Be patient. Let the wood completely dry between each application. After four times, that is as much as the wood is going to rise. Then, hand sanding will blend the areas together better than power sanding.[^]

    Frog.

    RiBBButt...You can't rollerskate in a buffalo herd, but you can be happy if you've a mind to. -Roger Miller
    0
  • Wehrmacht_45
    Sweaver... the wood cutting boards are usually laminated from what I see and if the laminating glue is water soluable then it will ruin them really fast. The only laminate stocks I have seen with that kind of glue are the last ditch german rifles...those come apart very easy. I just did it to a pair of S&W 1000 stocks and they are fine.
    0
  • Madman
    The girlfriend does it for me with a damp cloth and the tip of the iron, or she has a small steam cleaner hand held with a very small tip for point steaming. Does a great job in pulling out major dents and even tears in the wood.

    Paul
    Mountain Magic Gunsmithing
    0
  • rhmc24
    Some good stuff, but you will learn more by practical experience than by all the reading and advice in the world. Try some of the suggestions on an old stock or scrap walnut. Make some dings and practice taking them out. You will soon learn something about what works.
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity