A Dumb Mistake - Ruined my Build?

[MAC1967]

Well, this is embarrassing. . . I did a dumb thing, (I know, so don't remind me, I should have known better). I violated the be patient rule of building.

I was given a Jukar Ky style pistol that's probably 40 years old. I am still a novice builder. I have built a TVM, a Chambers and currently building a TN rifle from a blank. . . with a coach, but what I did, I really should have contemplated more.

I took the Jukar, which is fat and ugly. . but free, and thought, I wonder what I can do to improve this. I shaped actual lock panels, I thinned and shaped the forend, properly inlet the trigger guard, and shaped it in other places, including the nose cap . . . I was fun, and quick with the beachwood. . . . I got a little obsessed and spent a good 10-12 hours on it . . . It was acually looking pretty good . . But I got to the ancy stage where danger lurks, staining was in sight. . . I should have gone to bed then,

However, it still had a good deal of original stain on it. I put stripper on it, then scotch padded it . . nothing, so I bleached it . . . (I want to wire wrap it and faux stripe it, then stain it).

Well here's where I really goofed. The inlets were all tight and good, but when I washed off the stripper and bleach, at about 11 pm last night I set the stock on my workbench to whisker it this morning, but my workbench is in the garage where it was hot and humid and the stock was too wet - Duh! This morning the barrel channel had opened up as I thinned the sides a lot, as did the lock panel . . and perhaps the trigger guard inlet. . . lock inlet has gaps now on top where I lowered the tang area toward the lock panel

I was tired and wasn't thinking. I've brought the stock into the air-conditioned house to sit for a week hoping it will return to its original size, but I'm not hopeful. It's pretty dry. I've thought about rewetting it and leaving it in the house hoping it will shrink back, but I don't know if that's a fix or if that will make it worse.

I may have made I pretty piece of firewood, or made a cheap pistol worse.

Any suggestions? (I hope I'm not the only one who's done this no no.)

 

[64Springer]

Weigh the stock in grams and write the number down.

Let it dry in a dry area of your home and weigh it again in a week.

The gram weight should go down. Let it dry another week.

When the stock weight no longer drops, the stock is dry.

Then you can contemplate your next move.

Which could be anything from JB Weld to Accra Glass to Bee's Wax.

 

[MAC1967]

Thank you . . . I'll do that . . . I'm worried that it's pretty dry now as it's been hot and humid as was my garage overnight. . . I appreciate the advice. If only I had left it inside last night. . .or not sprayed it off with water so much after the stripper. Hope it drys and returns to its original shape that it was in for decades.

 

[Beaverman2]

Weigh the stock in grams and write the number down.

Let it dry in a dry area of your home and weigh it again in a week.

The gram weight should go down. Let it dry another week.

When the stock weight no longer drops, the stock is dry.

Then you can contemplate your next move.

Which could be anything from JB Weld to Accra Glass to Bee's Wax.

Sound advise!

 

[MAC1967]

Day two of the stock being inside . . . barrel channel is a little tighter now . . .. I have optimism that by next week, it may be back to where it was.

 

[64Springer]

Saturated wood takes more than a week to dry.

Weight it. Weigh it. Then weigh it some more.

Stop looking at it for a few weeks.

Curiosity Killed The Cat.....

 

[MAC1967]

Thank you . . . that's such a tough thing to do. Good advice !!

 

[ArmorerRoy]

Leave it in a hot car with the windows up for a couple of days. I have done this on wood stocks multiple times and it works well for drying them out.

 

[wiscoaster]

Saturated wood takes more than a week to dry.

...

Any chance he could accelerate it with heat? EG a hair dryer or heat gun?

 

[MAC1967]

Leave it in a hot car with the windows up for a couple of days. I have done this on wood stocks multiple times and it works well for drying them out.

With the humidity in Indiana right now, I am worried about trying to kiln dry it like that. . . but it would speed it up. I just don't know what happens if I speed it up . . . As much as I want to work on it, I think I'll let it sit in the house for several more days as I work on the metal parts. Thanks though.

 

[SDSmlf]

Any chance he could accelerate it with heat? EG a hair dryer or heat gun?

Sounds like a good way get some cracks and/or splits. Let it dry slowly in a temperature controlled environment as the OP is already doing. There is no point in creating more problems and things to ‘fix’.

 

[MAC1967]

Any chance he could accelerate it with heat? EG a hair dryer or heat gun?

The wood is very open grain and soft . . . I'm sure it soaked in a lot when I sprayed the stripper off it. It's old too . . . I did think of that . . . I just don't know if it will get all wonky on me if I accelerate it. Thanks

 

[user 34300]

I once had a precarve stock with a gaping barrel channel. I soaked it with hot water. I installed the barrel. I then wrapped it with surgical tubing. After letting it dry for a week the barrel channel was super tight. It is still tight years later.

 

[2 shots]

keep the barrel or a dowel in it. warped forearm no fun

 

[SDSmlf]

keep the barrel or a dowel in it. warped forearm no fun

Good point. I just ‘assumed’ the stock was being dried with metal in place. As suggested above, surgical tubing works if you have it. I use electrical tape with the first couple wraps with the sticky side out to avoid having the adhesive on the tape gum things up.

 

[MAC1967]

Thank you very much those are helpful ideas. Thankfully, it didn't warp right to left or left to right, the channel just opened up which looks bad and it screws up the nice fit I created with the muzzle cap. It's getting better. On the up side, it gave me time to work on the metal parts, which I don't enjoy much . . . the breach plug face looks like the surface of the moon, but the bore is pretty decent. I've now got it all ready to go except for the fine sanding and staining / finishing of the stock which will come later in due time. The barrel isn't as tight as before, but better than it was Monday morning. . . going in the right direction . . .hopefully back to where it was. It's not going to be a thing of beauty, but I may post pics when done.

 

[44-henry]

You would be better off saving some of the hardware and doing a restock with a new piece of wood. Barrels on those are usually pretty decent and even the locks on the older ones don't have bad styling. Just my two cents.

 

[rp77469]

Drying wood too fast can cause internal stresses that result in warp, shrinkage checks or even wood cell collapse, sometimes called honeycomb. I have bought lumber from the big box stores honeycombed so badly I would not use it for anything structural. Hard as it may be, follow the earlier advice from experts and let it dry slowly.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hon...EByAEA4gMEGAAgQYgGAZAGCA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

 

[MAC1967]

You would be better off saving some of the hardware and doing a restock with a new piece of wood. Barrels on those are usually pretty decent and even the locks on the older ones don't have bad styling. Just my two cents.

If this were a flintlock I would almost certainly have kept the barrel and ditched everything else for a pistol build. . .Like you said, it's a nice barrel. . .but I am in the middle of a now 3 year build of an Iron mounted TN rifle from a blank (covid and other things slowed it ) with my coach . . . a custom pistol would be a major project . . . . I am working on the TN butt plate, one of the hardest items that needs to be done right. I set the rifle aside and went hog wild on this thing. . . kind of burned myself out. I think I may be using some epoxy filler in a few places that I don't think are going to return to the original shape. Thanks !

 

[Sam squanch]

Leave it in a hot car with the windows up for a couple of days. I have done this on wood stocks multiple times and it works well for drying them out.

Does this work with politicians as well?