doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Wood and oil!

European( read German) stock makers very often submerged new stocks in a barrel or vat of oil( linseed oil), until it absorbed all the oil it would take. Often times, this oil had coloring agents to darken the wood. This oil will not severely harm the wood, unlike petroleum based oils that may have soaked into the head of the stock over the years. It is understandable that efforts to remove all oil are very difficult and time consuming. It is not clear that removing a lot more than the petroleum based oil is absolutely necessary. I'm not trying to start a fight.
Mike

I've taken heavily soaked stocks and buried them in old style clay cat litter for months. Make sure it's a warm spot and change the litter occasionally. Patience is key. It took a long time getting in there, it takes a long time to come out. Six to eight months isn't unreasonable.

Kutter,

You don't ever have to apologize when your posts run long. There's always more than enough useful information there to keep me reading, regardless the length.

Thanks again, from me too.

SRH

Most kiln drying for hardwoods is done at around 175 degrees F, so 275 F is certainly going to be too high, and is going to cause cracking and excessive moisture loss. Imagine what would happen if you had gone even higher to 300 degrees F as recommended.

I agree with what Kutter said. Patience is needed when de-oiling a stock. It took many years, maybe decades for the oil to seep deep into your wood. Trying to get it out in a weekend project by using too much heat and harsh organic solvent soaks is likely to damage the structure of your stock. Here's some more tips from one of the many stock de-oiling threads.

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=482182&page=1

Maybe a vacuum chamber and kitty litter might speed the process. BTW, I used hand sanitizer to clean some cheapo Stevens .22 SS rifles, and it took lots of crud off fast. Just needed a wipe on Tung oil to finish the job. I use Forby's low gloss, with a pinch of red walnut dye powder added.

Is there another product that is the same as Brownell's whiting (or equal in performance) but that can be found in some retail type of store?

I ordered some whiting years ago and they sent a bottle of white chalk line chalk.

Whiting is calcium carbonate powder, as is white chalk line chalk.

Then they sent you the correct stuff. Whiting=chalk=calcium carbonate.....all the same rock.

It would seem that this would be a good time of year to start what Kutter says: set the stock up with whiting and go hunting with another gun. You've got almost the whole hunting season ahead to keep your mind off "is it done yet?"