doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Oil Soaked Stock

I second Phil, however I've found that a 12-18 hour soak will usually do the job just fine.
Steve

I do as Phil and Steve also. Yes, usually the same 12-18hr. soak. But then I drain off the dirty acetone and re-soak in fresh acetone overnight. I sure have done a bunch of stocks this way.

I beleive the pH that the Ammonium Hydroxide (NH4OH) would leave the wood would be undesireable. What makes it work in household use is it's basic supponification abilities which are largely enabled with water. Household stuff is quite weak.

Hi All:

About wood bending with ammonia, I did this in 1965.

This was the first research project that I did as an undergraduate and this is what I found.

I used 28% ammonia fertilizer.

It worked well on all species of wood that I used.

There was no strain on the wood after the ammonia had gassed off from the wood. There was no tendency for the wood to return to its original condition.

I was under the impression that the lignum was softened but not removed from the wood.

I first tried to use liquid ammonia but that is another story! Lol

Finishes could be applied to the wood with no problems.

Some types of adhesives failed while others survived.

I bent the wood in various shapes and made many bow ties and bolo ties for the curious.

I understand the this method never became a commercial success as steam bending seems to be the predominant way to bend wood to this day.

I hope that this helps.

Stay well my friends,

Franchi

The industrial strength ammonia, I think it's called anhydrous ammonia, will remove oil. It's the principal agent in oven cleaner.

I used oven cleaner on a military stock that was oil soaked. It leached out the oil, at least most of it, but left the wood in a state I don't think is good for a high grade stock. It was fuzzy and still a little oily.

Anhydrous ammonia is available at your hardware store, but it's nasty stuff and needs to be disposed of properly. It's a good solvent for cleaning guns, but I don't trust it undiluted even on steel.

This is turning out to be an interesting thread. Keep 'em coming.

Duh. The main ingredient in oven cleaner is caustic soda. Chemically, that's sodium hydroxide, and is aka lye. It is way different than anhydrous ammonia which is a gas. Anyhdrous ammonia is not available in hardware stores and is highly regulated in many states of late because it's used in the illicit manufacture of meth. Just goes to show you can't believe everything you read here.

I have posted on this forum several times about my use of household ammonia for stock cleaning. It works great for stocks that are not heavily oil soaked, but even on those, it removes much of the oil and crud. Then when you proceed to acetone or lacquer thinner, you do not contaminate the much more expensive solvents as quickly. I didn't worry about this so much when I was able to buy DuPont lacquer thinner for under a couple bucks per gallon.

As noted above, ammonia will turn the old dirty grease and oil into a soap by a chemical process called saponification. Soap, of course, is water soluble. I have never done long multi-day soaks in ammonia, so I don't know about any serious side effects that might have. All day soaks or repeated scrubbing and rinsing has had no effect. I do rinse very well and allow the wood to dry completely before proceeding to any staining or finishing. I usually use the household ammonia straight, scrubbing with old toothbrushes. Rinse well with hot water and allow to air dry for several days. Works well. With heavily oiled stocks, oil will continue to leach out into the cleaned surface wood, and acetone or other solvents may be required to finish the job. But this continued leaching can also occur when you use volitile solvents only.

I recently used Dawn dish detergent to eliminate an oil spill/stain on a concrete driveway parking spot. I just rubbed it on generously and full strength over the whole of the stain, and then let it sit. I came back and did it again a couple more times. By the time of the next rainstorm, the oil stain was gone. I repeated the treatment a couple more times just to make sure any soaked-in oil had been removed.

Beats just about anything I've ever tried for the purpose.

Mr. Dawn must be a gun nut. It really is our go-to stuff for just about everything that's gooped up. I think it's great stuff too. I wonder if it works on dishes....