Old wood refinishing

[DirectTo]

Howdy guys, didn't know a better spot to put this in.

I've been restoring a sporterized 1918 Enfield Mk III* back to its original condition for a while now. Had hell finding a proper barrel replacement but finally managed to snag a NOS barrel and have it installed and have gathered the original parts, which leaves me with just one thing: wood.

Nobody seems to make reproduction wood for the Mk III, and only the buttstock was usable from the original. I've gathered all the pieces but they're different finishes and a couple are soaked in cosmoline.

My questions are:
- Best way to completely remove the cosmo without damaging century old wood?
- Best way to strip the finish to bare wood?
- Suggestions on a period correct military finish?

The buttstock has a finish that almost reminds me of Russian shellac like a Mosin.

Thanks for any input.

[futurerider103]

Put the wood in the oven @ 200° for about 5minutes at a time and wipe it off with a cloth until it's cleaned.
You may want to get a tooth brush or a stiff nylon brush to get the cosmiline from the smaller nooks.
The heat will probably take off a lot of the finish if not all.

[DirectTo]

Thanks future. Getting the forestock to fit in the oven was a challenge but it's slowly working...I think it's been through almost 20 5-minute cycles at this point in two sessions and is still soaking wet every time I remove it.

Upper handguard pieces cleaned up rapidly. It's coming together!

[futurerider103]

I termer doing my sks and it took FOREVER.

You can feel it out and leave it in a little longer. I would make sure you have a drip tray

[advntrjnky]

The last one I did was scrubbed with TSP/ hot water. However, you can't buy TSP anymore. It'd probably be worthwhile to try the eco-friendly replacement for TSP. It's available at most any hardware/ home improvement store. Washing the stock multiple times with hot water and TSP will raise a few whiskers on the wood grain, but won't damage it. A light sand at it should be good for finishing. One bad stock required altering TSP and heat treatment...about 10 rounds of it.

advntrjnky

[futurerider103]

I believe the stuff I've used is called Citiclean? I got it at Lowes its punk and is economy friendly.

I'll try to find a link

[futurerider103]

https://m.lowes.com/pd/CitriStrip-32...a-a266291aa8bb

[T2C]

Some of the vintage rifle collectors apply Easy Off oven cleaner, then wipe down the wood with paper towels. A saturated stock may take a few applications.

Then they lay the stock out in the sun to draw out the last of the oil and storage grease, wipe down the wood with paper towels and repeat the process as often as necessary. Before staining or finishing the stock, you may want to wipe down the wood with mineral spirits and allow it to dry.

I thought about using the oven technique, but the wife can smell grease, solvent, perfume, you name it a long way off and I don't want to get kicked out of the house.

I've used TSP, but had to be careful about hanging the stock to dry to prevent warping. Years ago I warped a M1A stock by using hot water and TSP to clean it.

[BradCMSP]

I used a stripper. It's been a while but it may have been citristrip. I had a small bucket, stood the furniture up and "washed" the wood using the stripper and 0000 steel wool. I did that until the stripper was disgusting and did it again. Got all the shellac and cosmo out and smoothed the wood while leaving character.

I finished it with with Minwax Tung Oil Finish.

Came out nice, no pics on this computer though, sorry.

[futurerider103]

This is my sks I did with with my media above