Steaming Dents

[John Bastiani]

Has anybody tried steaming a dent out of a stock with a hot iron and damp cloth? My biggest question is- Can the finish be saved and still get the dent out with this method? I don't want to have do do any refinishing to the stock.

[keavin nelson]

To some extent the finish will be affected. Depending on how large/deep the dent, which drives how much you have to steam. The finish can be touched up at the site of the dent, and blended, but if it is a deep dent, you can end up with most, if not all, of the finish gone at the steamed spot.

[Dean Romig]

My Dad's Savage 99 had a deep dent in the side of the stock when he bought it. In fact it was so deep that some of the wood fibers were broken. He steamed it as much as he possibly could using the method the OP described but it wouldn't come all the way up so he ended up sanding it and applying a hand rubbed Tru-Oil finish. It looked okay but not like the other side looked.





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[John Dallas]

If the wood fibers are broken, I don't believe the steaming method will provide a satisfactory outcome.

[Brian Dudley]

Steaming dents can be dicey as to the actual results. Most think that all sorts of wonders can be performed with an iron and a damp cloth. And usually that simply is not the case.

If the grain of the wood is broken at all, it will not steam up. And the age of the damage comes into play a lot too. The more recent the damage, the easier it will come up. In my opinion, when refinishing a stock, steaming dents does not fully remove them, but more lessens the amount of sanding needed on the piece of wood. Steaming is best done on raw, unfinished or stripped wood.

And steaming on a finished stock will most definitely compromise the finish, requiring it to be redone or at least touched up.

[Craig Budgeon]

I agree with everything Brian said about steaming out dents. In addition to Brians suggestions, I have one friend who swears that distilled water produces better results. When I want to save finish I use a hairdryer/heatgun to produce the steam and that confines it to a smaller area.

[Brian Dudley]

Yes Craig. Distilled water is better. All around whenever water is to be used for anything really.

[John Bastiani]

I agree with everything Brian said about steaming out dents. In addition to Brians suggestions, I have one friend who swears that distilled water produces better results. When I want to save finish I use a hairdryer/heatgun to produce the steam and that confines it to a smaller area. I have also heard the type of cloth used can make a difference(terrycloth). What type would you recommend? Also how much distilled water should you use to wet the cloth? Just damp or soak? I like the idea of the hairdryer but Im still worried about the finish.

[Craig Budgeon]

John, when I want to confine my dent raising to a single area I use a relatively new wash cloth, light in color, and 4 layers thick. I saturate the cloth to the point that it is only dripping intermittently when held open and vertically. If your wash cloth begins to turn color, your probably to hot; start over. Heat guns are alot hotter than hair dryers so don't let the wash cloth dry out. Experiment with a scrap piece of wood first.

[Cameron Thraen]

A tip I picked up over on the Doublegun DIY forum. For some dents use a few drops of alcohol. Put it on the dent, let it soak in a few seconds and then apply the heating element with the cover cloth. Alcohol will work deeper into the wood and may expand the cell structure better than stream alone. Works on deeper more stubborn dents. If this does not work then you can fill the dent by dropping in your finish in multiple layers. Filling a dent is much better than sanding the wood.

[John Bastiani]

A tip I picked up over on the Doublegun DIY forum. For some dents use a few drops of alcohol. Put it on the dent, let it soak in a few seconds and then apply the heating element with the cover cloth. Alcohol will work deeper into the wood and may expand the cell structure better than stream alone. Works on deeper more stubborn dents. If this does not work then you can fill the dent by dropping in your finish in multiple layers. Filling a dent is much better than sanding the wood.

Will alcohol hurt the original finish? Also- If I mess up the finish- What product can I use to blend it back in with the original finish?

[Dean Romig]

John, when I want to confine my dent raising to a single area I use a relatively new wash cloth, light in color, and 4 layers thick. I saturate the cloth to the point that it is only dripping intermittently when held open and vertically. If your wash cloth begins to turn color, your probably to hot; start over. Heat guns are alot hotter than hair dryers so don't let the wash cloth dry out. Experiment with a scrap piece of wood first.


TimberLuxe





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[John Bastiani]

John, when I want to confine my dent raising to a single area I use a relatively new wash cloth, light in color, and 4 layers thick. I saturate the cloth to the point that it is only dripping intermittently when held open and vertically. If your wash cloth begins to turn color, your probably to hot; start over. Heat guns are alot hotter than hair dryers so don't let the wash cloth dry out. Experiment with a scrap piece of wood first.
Used your method last night with distilled water and a hair dryer on a small dent and it brought out most of the dent until the hair dryer kicked off from getting to hot. I will work on the small dent some more today. The finish has held up so far but Im still alittle worried when it comes to the larger dent. Both of these dents are close to the top of the comb and the dents stick out more. Wish they were on the bottom and I wouldn't even mess with it. Also found the Timberluxe finish that Dean was talking about at Coles in Florida for $13.99 if I need it.

[Craig Budgeon]

I would never use alcohol on a gun whose finish I want to preserve since alcohol is a solvent for shellac. If you are refinishing the wood, GO FOR IT.

[Robert Brooks]

i use Q -tip and saturate dent and use cig lighter and set on fire. Bobby

[Mike Koneski]

Quoted from John Bastiani- "and a hair dryer on a small dent and it brought out most of the dent until the hair dryer kicked off from getting to hot."

Been a looooong time since I used a hair dryer or had one cut off due to being too hot!! :rotf::rotf::rotf:

[Mike Koneski]

i use Q -tip and saturate dent and use cig lighter and set on fire. Bobby

Flame on Bobby!! :eek:

[John Bastiani]

Well: I got most of the small dent out without hurting the finish. I also went over the dent with boiled linseed oil several times and it seemed to help cover and fill in what didn't completely come out. I also tried to get out the larger dent using the same method but it hasn't worked. Im afraid that a hot iron is the only way to steam the larger dent out and I know the heat will probably hurt the finish. I just hope that the timberluxe works and will blend in if I decide to go that route. Might just let it go for now and practice on a old stock that I have and see how it turns out.

[Cameron Thraen]

By the way, what gun are you working on? I looked back and noticed that you did not include this in your original post. Do you know the finish is oil, oil/varnish or shellac?

[Cory Rams]

I either treat it as an all or nothing project. I got brave enough to pull my dent out. I then sanded it down to 400 grit and refinished it with boiled Lind seed oil. Not perfect by any means but looks a million times better IMO. I wanted to leave a few old scars in the wood to keeps its aged look.

Before...

https://i.imgur.com/u6hhrlr.jpg

After about a dozen coats of BLO...

https://i.imgur.com/iwwPRXZ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wEriNkC.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SXuKuyd.jpg

Below photo is after about 2 coats of BLO along with a 32 rimfire R Murdock. Both looked like they were ready for the scrap barrel before I started with both of them.

https://i.imgur.com/wkNHmQB.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/u9XogUx.jpg

The 10 gauge receiver was rusted solid and the hammers and pins frozen in place before I went to town on it.

[Cory Rams]

I wanted to waterproof it so I applied three coats of minwax Antique finish on the wood. It gave it a dull satin shine. The first coat I sanded it with 600 grit while the antique finish was still wet. I then wiped it off immediately. I applied two more coats letting it dry for 5 minutes each time. Three coats was just enough so the finish didn’t get to shiny and not look period correct to me. Turkeys beware!

https://i.imgur.com/bSxjfCR.jpg

[charlie cleveland]

nice job on that stock...now to find that old big gobbler.what loads are you shooting....charlie

[Mike Koneski]

Nice stock Cory! Now that big old Tom will look and think to himself just how nice that Parker is just before you make him assume room temperature.

[Cory Rams]

nice job on that stock...now to find that old big gobbler.what loads are you shooting....charlie


I loaded up a 100 grains of FG along with 1 5/8oz of BPI nickel plated #6’s. I tried a square load but the groups opened up.

I had 40 hits from the left barrel at 25 yards...


https://i.imgur.com/5uuuikL.jpg


Here is photo of a 1 5/8oz square load coming out of it...

https://i.imgur.com/dk3Qp1P.jpg

It doesn’t recoil much more than a 1 1/4oz RST load and puts almost 3 times as many pellets in the kill zone than the RST 5’s or 6’s.