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Hi All,

I jsut soaked a Parker stock to remove oil, etc. After three days I am left with some blackish area about 1/4" by 1 1/2" on the wood where it meets the upper tang and a few smallish spots on the side of the stock. Any thoughts on how to get rid of them without sanding?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Milt

What was it soaked in?

acetone? I think longer, maybe a week or so. Wonko's blend? I dunno, haven't tried it yet.

If it was acetone, another few days may help if the darkness around the top tang is oil soaking, but what about the other spots where you normally would not find oil? Builder might want to dab some whiting on the dark areas and let the wood sit in the sun for a day. If there is oil in the wood, this should begin to draw it out. If the dark spots are not oil, try a little common household bleach and the sunshine treatment. Remember to neutralize the bleach before refinishing. If you want to get more aggressive with chemicals, you might try the bleach concoctions that hardwood floor refinishers use, containing oxalic acid and also requiring neutralizing.

I agree about the whitting method. However, I have placed a folded towell in a cookie tin, placed a nice layer of whitting on the towell , placed stock on whitting bed with heavy layer of whitting on the stock and turned heat to lowest setting. Close door & turn off heat --- allow stock to remain for a few hours. Seems to sweat out oil which is soaked up by whitting. I have also placed a heat lamp over the dark areas of stock with whitting on top. Both methods work. Ken

From what you describe, the blackish area and spots may likely be the result of exposure to water in one form or another. Some high tannin woods, particularly oak and walnut, are more susceptible. I would not use anything other than oxalic acid, because it alone will take these kinds of spots out. Ordinary bleach will open the grain and damage the wood (it actually causes the cellulose cell walls to collapse). It should be applied judiciously to the dark areas. Q-tips work great. As soon as it has done its job, rinse immediately with water and dry. I would not apply the oxalic acid until the stock is completely dry, lest you encourage bleeding into the unaffected part of the stock. This stuff is available in small bottles in better hardware stores. I had to resort to this on a treasured .22 hornet rifle with a similar problem around the steel buttplate. It worked like a charm.

Sorry, I forgot to post I soaked it in acetone for three days. When I took it out it seemed to have dark areas still, so I put it back in for two more days. Pretty much no change after the second bath. I don't think it is oil since this is an area that is open on both sides (It is by the cut out for the upper tang)and there are a few small spots scattered around the sides of the large area of the stock. As an aside, the butt end of the stock has grown almost 1/4" from the soaking. Any further thoughts on the dark grey almost black spots?

BTW, this is the most expensive gun, G grade (when it was new) that I have worked on and I must say that the quality of the wood and the workmanship is substantially better than the Ithaca Flues I have worked on including a 1 1/2 grade. I like to checker before working on the stock so I don't lose the lines and the smoothness in cutting this is a real pleasure. I wonder if this is usual in higher grades?

I will try the Oxalic acid. Thanks. I think it can't be oil because of the long soaks in acetone. What do I know? I am new at this!

Thanks!! It worked real well. Here is the result:

It's magical stuff when used correctly. You already know this, but make sure the stock is thoroughly dry before you start any checkering or finishing operations, because dimensions may change as the moisture dissipates.

That is a very nice hunk of wood for a G-grade. Is it from a later Remington Parker (frame engraved just "Parker" rather than "Parker Brothers")?