Old wood refinishing [Archive] - M4Carbine.net Forums

View Full Version : Old wood refinishing

DirectTo

01-14-17, 22:13

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

01-14-17, 22:47

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

01-16-17, 08:12

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

01-16-17, 08:14

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

01-16-17, 10:16

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

01-16-17, 10:18

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

01-16-17, 10:19

https://m.lowes.com/pd/CitriStrip-32-fl-oz-Paste-Multi-Surface-Paint-Remover/50417794?cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-Paint-_-ThinnersAndSolvents-_-50417794:CitriStrip&CAWELAID=&kpid=50417794&CAGPSPN=pla&store_code=733&k_clickID=7f493943-d2bd-49f1-b8ea-a266291aa8bb

T2C

01-16-17, 11:13

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

01-16-17, 12:27

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

01-16-17, 12:36

This is my sks I did with with my media above

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170116/40e1db901d4a5fa0d7eb4b89bf37dc2f.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170116/a11b8604dbca0192ed244249ae30c94f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170116/afb00246f9b7c097d5cec3f76168fbe0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170116/7527b2ccf3384ee1982d348c9a424f82.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170116/2b211d2eff6e6835791bf994b36d82c3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170116/ccfdd2e3d640a7b796fbc21f734d7b84.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170116/82ecc0df92a1e073cdb81c16fe0daf1d.jpg

Meta-Prometheus

01-16-17, 17:04

Heat and time is what it will take to remove cosmoline and oils from a wood stock. It takes years for that stuff to soak in. Many people suggest to leave the stripped stock in a black garbage bag out in the sun (on your porch/deck, car dash, etc). Wipe it off and repeat the process with a new bag. Obviously that is something you can only really do in the summer time unfortunately. After that wipe it down with mineral spirits. That will help mop up remaining surface grease/oil and absorb into the stock to keep it from drying out while also not affecting color. Then apply linseed oil. That will also take time. Light coats by hand with several days curing time.

Heat and time are your friends with restoring old stocks.

Arik

01-16-17, 18:07

If you don't want to chance it in the oven....Or can't fit. Wrap it in newspaper and paper towels, stick it in a black plastic bag and let it sit outside under the sun on a hot day.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Arik

01-16-17, 18:08

futurerider103

01-16-17, 18:17

Norinco.

RazorBurn

01-22-17, 18:22

Best thing I've found for removing cosmoline is just good old boiling water. Most people recommend raw or boiled lindseed oil for military type stock finishes. Good luck with your project. I love seeing restored sporters. Just finished saving an Enfield myself.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/Razor24/BSA%20No%204%20Mk%201%20Enfield%201942/IMG_0231_zpsqxrj726x.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Razor24/media/BSA%20No%204%20Mk%201%20Enfield%201942/IMG_0231_zpsqxrj726x.jpg.html)

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/Razor24/BSA%20No%204%20Mk%201%20Enfield%201942/IMG_0264_zpshgmjyamn.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Razor24/media/BSA%20No%204%20Mk%201%20Enfield%201942/IMG_0264_zpshgmjyamn.jpg.html)

futurerider103

01-22-17, 18:23

Using boiling water can cause the wood to split so I wouldn't do that method

RazorBurn

01-22-17, 19:24

Using boiling water can cause the wood to split so I wouldn't do that method

You don't dunk the wood in the boiling water, you pour the boiling hot water over the wood. It will not split the wood as the wood's full of oil, but it will bring out the cosmoline very easily. Old milsurp wood is full of oils, you would spend a heckuva long time getting all the oil out of them. Most of your milsurp guys use the boiling water or the wrapped up in a black trashbag method, and a lot of us use both methods. Some use mineral spirits and gasoline, which work well with more elbow grease. If you use boiling hot water to clean the metal it works well too as it makes the metal hot enough so it dries very quickly. Of course go over metal with your favorite gun oil to prevent corrosion.

http://forums.thecmp.org/showthread.php?t=202485

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=32808

http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=15830

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=8091&

Damon

02-03-17, 08:17

Here is a CMP article on refinishing that might be useful.

http://thecmp.org/training-tech/armorers-corner/wood-cleaning-article/

Meta-Prometheus

02-07-17, 13:21

Using boiling water can cause the wood to split so I wouldn't do that method

This. The only time water should be used on a stock is in the form of steam to lift dings, but sparingly.

Boiling water for the metal parts is okay as long as they are dried and quickly oiled.

I will state again that heat and time are your friends in removing grease/oils from wooden stocks. It takes patience to clean up mil-surp rifles properly, hence the prevalence of fast methods such as stripping agents and boiling water.