building an old kit gun

[razorbritches]

I just got given a old TOTW kit gun .50 rifle aparently the guy who ordered the kit died and never finished it. I swear the package is so old the tape on the shipping label is brittle. The guy's son in law coated the stock yearly in olive oil and put it back in the closet, it is covered over with a sticky gummy coating. Will turpintine desolve this so a proper finish can be applied?

 

[Stophel]

Blech!!! I doubt you'll ever get all that nasty olive oil out of the stock!


Really??? olive oil??? :shocked2:

I guess you could heat it with a heat gun and try to raise as much oil as you could out and absorb it with "whiting" (lime). Then hit it with StrypEze or Zip Strip... then try whatever other solvent you can think of...

 

[44-henry]

How much work was done on it? If it was a pre-carve that was never really started you can pretty much count on taking a good deal of wood off the stock and will get most of the oil off with it. Any oil that is left can be taken off with whiting and solvent such as naphtha.

 

[razorbritches]

the stock was 90% inlet and mostly shaped to size I put the scraper on it and it helped get some of the gummy off the surface my main concern is wether it will ever take a proper finish

 

[razorbritches]

and yes really olive oil I was as mistified as you . The guy is really quite good at casting and foundry work,but wood not so much.

 

[44-henry]

If it is like any of the pre-carves that I have worked with the shaping is nowhere near complete if it is as it came from the factory. If he did some work on it, than that is more of an issue. Another thought is that wood is comparatively cheap. If you have the rest of the parts and it is in good shape, why not just buy yourself a blank and go from there. Lot less trouble to work from a blank in my opinion anyways. You could probably sell the old stock on Ebay for enough to pay for a pretty nice stick of timber.

 

[kaintuck]

maybe heat it some with a hotgun?...or alcohol soak??
OLIVE OIL!!!?????????? :youcrazy:

maybe TOTW can help....give em a call~

 

[JBird]

im new to the forum and BP guns but not guns in general, like was mentioned heat will work if your patient and dont wanna spend money. i cant imagine its harder removing olive oil than it is Cosmoline from a stock.. do some research on cosmoline removal on old milsurps like mosins that have been covered in the stuff for half a century

some people stick the stock in the oven on low temperatures and let it cook out.. some people put stocks in a trash bag and stick it in the car window on a hot day.. lots of methods. heat some chemicals could be used.

 

[jdkerstetter]

Not saying that those methods won't work but one important thing to remember about those guns preserved in cosmoline is that they already had an oil finish applied.

Here we are talking about bare wood. Heat may leach oil from the wood but any residual staining and discoloring may remain.

I used to work with a dealer that bought up hundreds of Lee Enfields and other surplus arms in the '90's. When using the standard cosmoline removal methods the original finishes were usually left intact.

We had access to gallons of trifluorotrichloroethane, a freon used in the cleaning of electronic and hydraulic systems on aircraft. One of the guys had the idea to soak an Enfield stock in the stuff. It not only removed the cosmoline but all of the original oil finish in the wood and left it as bare as if it were new.

Point is, chemical removal with a product like Cleanwoode by Wilson Imperial (as freon is not as available as it once was) will remove the oils and the discoloring. Now this is a nasty solvent and should be done outside but it will clean the wood.

Good luck and Enjoy, J.D.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I'd try TSP to draw out the old oil.

 

[Birddog6]

I would probably try Acetone or Lacquer Thinner & see which one works the best. Soaking it in Acetone seems to work well in puling most oils from stocks. However, soaking one in olive oil is a new one on me. :idunno:

Keith Lisle

 

[kaintuck]

or use the stock to stir your martini's......

 

[ohio ramrod]

Acetone will clean off the oil. Try several coats waiting a day between coats. Just don't over do it and ry out the wood. :idunno:

 

[rafterob]

Seriously guys, he said olive oil, you gotta use red wine vinegar with olive oil. Then rub it with some croutons and wrap it with romaine lettuce.

 

[Baxter]

I've owned rifles that had paint removed with acetone and it left the wood pulpy. My go-to cleaner is mineral spirits. Dish detergent and hot water have worked too. On some really tough greasy or oily milsurp stocks I've used Citristrip and that worked well. I like mineral spirits best. baxter

 

[razorbritches]

Thanks guys for all your help I believe I will start with the mineral spirits and go from there. I will let you know how it goes. As for the other advice I for the record have never ate salad off any of my guns,but have laid my sandwich on the stock.( kept it off the leaves ) As for the martini does using your ramrod count?

 

[drboompa]

just do not use oven cleaner. It will yellow the wood. don't ask me how I know! HA

 

[russecv58]

you might want to try some Krud Kutter to get that oil out. :2

 

[stronics]

Don't heat the stock. It will allow the olive oil to soak in deeper. I'd use acetone or laquer thinner dampened rag and wipe several times a day for a few days, then let set for a week and see what leaches out. Also could wrap it with some cotton rags to see if any more leches out.
David

 

[razorbritches]

Ok guys it has been a little while but here is what we done. The oil on the stock did not only coat the wood it permeated it completly in the thinner parts no matter what we did it just came back to the surface. So in a fit of desperation we took two cans of brown kewi boot polish and the torch, and took a deep seat and a far away look. Inlet all parts and sanded it as best we could,coated it good n thick ,took a deep breath and set it on fire . Then burned it in trying not to scorch the wood. Used up both cans but it looks good . the wood was soft enough in places that it did not sand very well but after the polish set we where able to sand between coats to get a pretty good finish. I will try to get some pictures up as soon as I figure out how, and I will keep you posted on how it holds up.