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Cleaning a wood stock

black_adder2
Someone was telling me of a 'trick' to get the cosoline and years of gunk out of old wooden stocks by soaking them in water along with a detergent of some type.

Has anyone tried this? What kind of detergent?

Thanks,

Joe
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Comments

8 comments

Date Votes
  • Tailgunner1954
    Most any (hand type) dishwashing liquid will work, with the water as hot as you can make it. Note: don't do this in your bath tub, it takes a lot of scrubbing to get the "greese ring" off (BTDT [:I]).
    As it soaks use a semi-stiff brush (fingernail brush works great) to scrub the gunk out of the pores.
    Rinse in more hot water and let dry before reassembling. This will get 95+ % of the gack out of the stock.
    If you want to get every last bit out, than the next step is to make a paste of ditanacious earth(sp), which is sold for use in swimming pool filters (usualy they will give you a good price on broken bags) and is also known as "whitting or Fullers Earth, and rubbing alcahol. Apply to the stock and brush off when dry. The "stained" color of the paste is oil pulled from the stock. Repeat until no more "staining" is visiable

    Whittemore
    Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.
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  • only winchesters
    black-adder2: If you get that stock really wet, let it dry slowly!! Don't sit it outside in the sun. If it dries to quickly, it could crack. Been there done that! Regards Dave
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  • sharpshooter039
    anyone ever scrubbed one down with diesel.I have used it to clean a couple sks when I first got them ,worked good on the metel but left the wood pretty dark.
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  • Salvage33
    I use Dawn liquid detergent(best degreaser I have found) rubbed on with a damp sponge and let it sit for a couple of hours. Then I rinse it with hot water and scrub it with stiff bristle brush. If it is really stubborn, try wiping it down with kerosene, but be careful about sparks, cigarettes,etc. Don't need to use it for firewood! After the kerosene bath, apply more Dawn and rinse. If wood gets 'soaked' let it dry slowly to avoid cracking as mentioned in above post.

    To accomplish that, I wrap it in newspaper and then wrap a towel around the newspaper and let the water leach out slowly. After three or four days of 'drying' I take it out and set it on the bench to finish completely drying. This can take from three or four days to a week, sometimes more.

    Hope this helps.

    A friend will post your bail. A good friend will be sitting next to you in the cell saying, "man that was fun!"
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  • Bert H.
    I have posted this before, but will say it again... do not use hot soapy water... it soaks into the wood, raises the grain, and it takes too long to dry properly. The soap will leave a residue on/in the wood that makes it difficult to refinish properly unless you carefully clean it again in clean HOT water.

    To remove grease, oil, etc. from a wood stock, give it an overnight soak in a container of acetone. Always do this in a well ventilated area, and turn the stock over every six hours or so. It will not raise the grain, and it only takes a few hours to dry/evaporate. It will require that you apply tung oil or boiled linseed after this type of treatment.

    Bert H.

    Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!
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  • Hangfire
    This is exceptionally painfull for me to say, but I agree with Bert!!!

    Love them Pre-64's!!!!-Bob
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  • Bert H.
    quote:Originally posted by Hangfire
    This is exceptionally painfull for me to say, but I agree with Bert!!!

    Love them Pre-64's!!!!-Bob


    [}:)][:D] Please give me a call at my work number sometime Monday morning...

    Bert H.

    Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!
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  • jonk
    Buy some Purple Power from wal mart's automotive section. Spray, let sit. Repeat till no more gunk runs off. Wipe with towels; rinse, do not soak in water. Let dry overnight. Apply finish as desired. I do this to real basket cases as I like preserving first and foremost but it will take all the oil out and the result looks good with tung oil or BLO.

    "...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
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