Cleaned up my stock with Murphy's soap, what next

[King Cobb]

I cleaned up the stock with murphy's today and a whole bunch of nasty junk came off. The gun has lightened significantly, though I think either I somehow removed finish with murphys, I didn't scrub just whiped, which would surprise me or that junk was covering up some places lacking finish.

Course, it could just mean I haven't gotten all the gunk off and am just afraid I am damaging the finish when I am not.

Anyway here are the picks, one side of the neck looks like it may still have oil in it, but other then that it is cleaning up nicely. If those light spots are places that don't have finish anymore, please advise on what I should do next.

[King Cobb]

I tried a lot of different lighting and angles to try to best demonstrate what I am talking about.

Here are a few before pics of how dark it was.

[Fishtail]

I am of the opinion that using Murphy's Oil soap ruins the stock finish...the only solution is to finish it.

[J. A. EARLY]

Bill,

The gun had little finish to start with from the photos. Removing all of that oil is a big improvement, although you still see some on the right top at the tang. If I have a stock that is dry like that with grain exposed which I am not going to refinish, I just use The Birchwood Casey Tru-oil on a small piece of cotton. I work it into the grain with the patch on the finger tips. I took my hunting gun, a VH 16 out in the rain one day. It turned white from lack of finish. I worked multiple coats of Tru-oil into it easily (including the dry checkering) and it dries really quickly. Solved the problem on a gun that I am not going to completely refinish. Not the original Parker finish, but protects the wood and not visible as to what it is if not built up completely to a smooth finish.

Amber shellac dries too quickly and streaky for on the gun coating for me. Just my two cents; other experts, which I am not, will chime in I am sure.

[B. Dudley]

Murphy's, when it does anything, usually does remove the original finish with anything else that is on it.
You do still have oil left in the head of the stock by the looks of the dark and sliny look to it. This will have to come out with acetone or MEK or you will have problems with getting a new finish to stick.

At this point, complete refinish is the way to go since you have removed what was left. Amber Shellac is the correct original finish. but there are many others that can be used.

[King Cobb]

I guess I shouldn't have listened to the people in the other thread telling me to use Murphy's.

I am not that upset as the stock probably needs it. I don't think the finish was original and I do need to get that oil out and the finish/gunk was so thick you couldn't see the grain anymore.

I have never put a finish on a gun stock before. I have seen the threads about the french finish, but don't know if that is a good idea for a newbie like me to this whole thing or if there is an easier/simpler(read harder for me to screwup getting impatient) finish to put on the gun after the acetone MEK route.

[StubTwist]

Originally Posted by greg conomos

I am of the opinion that using Murphy's Oil soap ruins the stock finish...the only solution is to finish it.

Chatting with Dan May from Classic Gun Stocks at Hausmann's this year, he said the worst thing you can do to a stock to clean it is Murphy's Oil Soap.

[Bruce Day]

Interesting comments but if it comes off with Murphy's oil soap with normal scrubbing pressure all you had left was a dirt and oil finish. Many people do not happen to prefer such a finish but there may be some that do. Some people like the patina of dirt and oil.

On refinishing, if the finish is only shellac based it is subject to moisture clouding in the rain. I have been recommending Timberluxe for its authenticity , ease of use and water resistance. Depends upon your goals.

Timberluxe can be applied over a pre-existing finish and will penetrate through and bond.

[Todd K.]

I've used Murphy's oil soap on stocks before. I don't use it unless the stock is really dirty and it does get a lot of the dirt off. If you put some Timberluxe on at that point it looks pretty good! Like Bruce said it just depends on what you want. There are several stock refinishers who specialize in quality restorations if that's what you are looking for.

[King Cobb]

I used up most all of my run funds for the parker. A restoration of the stock isn't in the cards. I would suspect the acetone would finish the stripping of what's left of the finish am I correct?

I am actually intrigued by the process and learning how to do it. I just need to find a very detailed guide to French finishing.