doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Vacumn removal of oil from stock

I have recently acquired a pre-war Webley & Scott that is rather nice. However, it seems some idiot soaked the head of the stock in some light oil--perhaps a lemon oil or something similar--it's not gun oil. It has penetrated all the way through the wood. I've been using heat lamps to bring it to the surface to wipe off but it just never stops. comes out in the inletting also. I don't want to refinish the stock. Would placing it in a vacumn chamber do the job? I have access to one. Would it do damage to the old oil finish?

A chalk solution can work nicely, it dries and draws the oil out of the wood and into the chalk, which can then be carded off.

Don't worry about the old finish, you can clean off all the old dirt and re-oil it.

Whiting compound from your local paint store. Pack it around the oil soaked area and apply heat, don't get it hotter than your hand can touch. Several applications maybe needed, but with patience you will work it out.

Jim

Joe,
A vacuum chamber would most likely warp or twist your stock. I would guess that the mystery oil's viscosity is too high to just drip out so it would need to be heated. Heating the stock and them placing it in a vacuum chamber will cause all sorts of nasties in regards to the grain structure. Plus you will need to keep the chamber heated to draw out all the old oil. Stay with the above ideas, it may take some time, but it works.
Chris

Would the Whiting compound be difficult to remove from the inletting?

Dave Wolf in Waco Texas uses vacuum to remove oil from stocks. Dave is one of the best I've ever seen at refinishing gunstocks, his work is above top notch. He's done several stocks of mine...and has use the vacuum to remove old oil, whatever technique he uses..it works beautifully.

Whiting mixed with MEK to the consistency of heavy cream works well. Paint on a coat and let dry throughly. Brush/blow off the dirty whiting and reapply. When the coating dries white, you know all the oil is gone. Acetone works too, but MEK dries slower, giving more time for the solvent to pull the oil out of the wood.

OB

Yes, I'm sure that'll work but I don't want to destroy the original oil finish.

I'm thinking you're already past the point of worrying over the old finish, the damage is done. Get the oil out of the wood, clean things up well, and apply some new boiled linseed. A final coat or two over the entire stock, and you'll never know there was a problem.

I you want to keep the finish intact give this a try,...I did it once before and it worked quite well.
Get a roll of toilet paper and wrap a big wad of it around the head of the stock and also push paper in all the inletted crevices,...basically put it all around were the oil is soaked in, then wrap it all with tin foil, stick it in the oven at low temp. about 100-150 deg F and leave it there for a hour or so,... then take it out replace the paper and repeat the whole thing until the paper is not drawing any more oil,...you'll know what I mean when you take it out the first time, the paper will be yellow from the oil
This wont harm the finish, just don't get it too hot and make sure you tell the wife or she may crank the oven up and stick in that pot roast when your not looking!

CJ