Dark wood stock cleanup

[Bill Holcombe]

On the subject of original finish stocks that are very old and grimy, do we leave them alone out of fear of destroying original finish or do people typically clean them up at risk of having to refinish stock?

The stock is particularly dark around the head from the photo so it may be pretty oily. Haven't seen in person yet but here is the photo.

[Linn Matthews]

You can do a search on the Forum and get some help from a number of threads that exist on the subject

[Bill Holcombe]

Really because I did search, heck I Googled the forum as well. Found a lot about stripping the finish, drooling wood, and cleaning the frame, found very little about just cleaning a stock.

[Daniel Carter]

Search acetone. Oily stocks should be what you need

[John Campbell]

Mr. Holcombe:
Without having the gun in hand, it is difficult to gauge the severity of the oil soak.

It is also difficult to know what you want to do. If it is to merely clean up the exterior as much as you can, use a cloth damped with any good kitchen surface cleaner like "Fantastic." Be sure to clean any overage off the metal and oil however.

Petroleum distillates will remove the exterior finish. So will acetone.

If you wish to remove oil soak IN the wood, there is no other course but to refinish the stock. Oil removal can be done with acetone soak or TSP. However... please understand that you will never get all of the oil out of a stock. It may look clean, but there's oil still deep inside. It took 100+ years to get in there and degrade wood fibers. And it isn't coming out in 5 days.

Parkers with black walnut stocks are also very prone to stockhead splits. This can be another reason to refinish the stock/repair problems.

All this is best evaluated and "fixed" by a qualified stocker/gunsmith.

[Bill Holcombe]

I have drooled a stock before with acetone and denatured alcohol and even a hair dryer. It's actually chronicled pretty well on here 2 years ago or so.

I was more interested in just cleaning up the stock without stripping the finish. Tried before with Murphys soap and it took finish and everything off. At the moment I haven't seen the stock in person to know how dark it really is.

[Bruce Day]

Just wipe it gently with Dawn dishwashing soap and water. However even that will remove a dirt and oil finish.

[Bill Holcombe]

Well I am having to wait until tomorrow to get it as Postal Service is closed today.

Hopefully when I get my hands on it, it won't be as dark as it is in the pic and I won't have to mess with it. But we shall see.

[Bill Holcombe]

How about the wax you used in this post Mr Day
http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=67

[Bruce Day]

That is fine but just like a dirty car, get the dirt off first. If, after some soap and water , you do not have any finish left, all you had was dirt and oil anyway, which is no kind of a proper finish.

[Bill Murphy]

Yup, it's hard to hurt a VH Parker with no finish other than sweat and mud. Bruce has gotten to the root of the problem.

[Jim Thynne]

To start with I use Vinegar and cotton balls, this will let you see if there are any hidden cracks, and it is a neutral cleaner. If the oil is too deep, you will have to remove the stock I recommend you use oxolic acid to remove the oil. I have no idea where the oil goes, but the Oxolic acid seems to make it dissapear. Use hot water in this process, as hot as you can stand. Then soak the entire stock and set it in the sun for several hours. it will be a little fuzzy, then with a light sandpaper remove the fuzz. When you refinish I recommend you use orange shellac, just like Parker did to fill the pours, then you can use a oil finish I recommend" timberlux" you can buy it on line, or a good varnish mattering on the finish you desire. If you have never taken a Parker gunstock off a gun, take it to a pro that understands how to do this. Good luck!

[Rich Anderson]

You might be surprised at what you find under a 100 years of dirt,grease and grime. Here are a couple of shots of a GHE Damascus 20 before and after cleaning the stock.

[Jim Thynne]

Somebody at Parker got their hands slapped for putting A grade wood on a G grade gun. Wow what a beautiful stock

[Craig Budgeon]

Woollite is good for removing dirt and your wifes oven will remove the oil.

[Craig Budgeon]

Woollite is good for removing dirt and your wifes oven will remove the oil.

[tom leshinsky]

Murphys oil soap is the best for dirty wood.

[Bill Kekatos]

C.O.B. That wood is amazing. Can you tell us your cleaning process?
BillK

[Rich Anderson]

Thanks Bill. I had my gunsmith do it so I have no idea how it was accomplished.

[Eric Eis]

C.O.B. That wood is amazing. Can you tell us your cleaning process?
BillK

Bill, Anderson is not allowed to touch any firearm with any kind of tool, steel wool, sandpaper etc. :rolleyes:

[Bill Kekatos]

Thank you :)
Did you do a complete restoration or just the wood cleanup? Did you have the checkering recut too? Can you share who did the work?
BillK

[Craig Budgeon]

Bill, when you have to remove oil from a stock it almost always means refinishing the wood. I do most of my own restoration work and have been at it for 45 years. If you chose to remove oil via the oven start at 150 and bring the temp. up slowly as needed. The goal here is to evaporate the oil not add patina to the wood. When the wood appears completely dry ( no wet residue ), you've gone as far as you can go. Murphys Soap is good for cleaning wood if you are going to refinish the wood. If you want to preserve the original finish and just remove dirt and Pledge then I believe you will find Woollite much more benign to your stock and forend. For best results, patience is encouraged and a wife who will share the oven with you. Craig

[James J. Roberts]

After stripping the stock I apply Easy Off oven cleaner let it soak in and after two hours scrub with hot water & dish detergent let dry,I used Brownells oil remover but like the Easy Off. J.J.

[Craig Budgeon]

Jim, Easy Off may have no side affects that damages the wood, I don't know, but I'm confident that heating the wood thus opening the pores removes more oil with less potential damage than chemical solvents. Just my view, Craig.

[Jim Thynne]

I learned this trick from George Flaim many years ago, But I also wanted to open the pores so I could re shellac the Parker colors back into the wood.(a Filler) you should only use flake shellac, the orange was what George found out from an old Parker employee many years ago. You can fill the pores with the orange shellac after the pores have been opened to change the color back to what Parker used as a filler, and as a stain. I think we old timers that remember George will recall his stocks were hard to tell from the original Parker colors.

[Rich Anderson]

The wood was completely refinished and the checkering recut. Kip Wood at Central Michigan Gunsmithing did the work. He has done work for others here. Send me a PM and I'll give you his phone number.