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

A common topic and problem. We've all used acetone and other less volatile solvents. Many of us have used whiting and mild heat. (I still like that one for the more important stocks.) Oven cleaner is quick but brutally costic and leaves surface fibers coarse which mandates heavier sanding than may be desirable.
But my current project is several abused model 12's.

I have another solution, at least potentially. Amonia. It is a wonderful solvent for all types of oils, grease and dirt. The things we encounter in old, abused guns. Amonia is cheap, readily available and not volatile--ie, it might not evaporate within a couple of hours.

I can't think of any reason not to try it. Please let me know if there are any. Otherwise, I'll report back in a week or two. Gil

Sounds interesting. I'm keen to hear how it works. My gunsmith (who is a British trained gunmaker) says he uses dish soap and water!

IIRC soaking in ammonia will soften wood. That's how bent wood chairs were made.

besta luck

have a day
Dr.WtS

Ammonia in aqueous solution (NH4OH) will soften and eventually dissolve the lignin that holds the cellulose fibers together. Basic high school chemistry, at least it was when most of us on the bbs were in school.

Ammonia fumes were used to color(darken)wood,especially oak,in making the "golden oak"furniture.Steam was usually used to soften it for bending. I think ammonia was a component of old oven cleaner. I think it would be interesting to find out how it works to clean,and if the fumes will darken light woods such as maple."Drive On" Gil, and let us know how it turns out.
Mike

With the input so far, I'm getting cold feet. Even on wigged-out Model 12 lumber. Maybe I have some POS take-offs around here that I could try it on. More comments, please.

Ammonia is a colorless gas. The stuff you buy in the supermarket is amonia gas dissolved in water. Usually with soap in it. Ammonia gas is unpleasant and toxic and indeed is very volatile.

I hadn't heard about using liquid dishwashing detergent (stuff like Dawn) to remove oil from stocks but it is a very good oil solvent. I use a lot of it to clean metal parts. It works well as a pre-wash spot treatment if I get oil on my trousers or shirt.

I saw an ammonia wood bending setup in a forestry lab. There was a tank of pure ammonia gas, a pressure vessel, a diffuser, and some unknown parts connected by pipes and valves.

Apparently ammonia plasticizes the fibers much better than steam. They had examples of extreme bends and even strips of wood tied in tight knots. I asked about household ammonia. The guy laughed and they said it would not do anything.

My understanding on this is the ammonia gases work on the tannin acid in Oak, which Maple doesn't have. You can however wet the maple with a strong tea solution & dry off just as in whiskering, then place in a closed atmosphere with an open dish of the ammoniaa & leave set. The directions I saw for this called for Strong Ammonia. I did try some small pieces, one a set of pistol grips, in regular household ammonia & it woked well for them. It gave an extremely attractive appearance to a piece of curly maple, really making the curl stand out.

Why don't you soak it in acetone? Acetone will not damage the wood. It is water soluble. Put the stock in a bucket, submerged, with a lid on, and leave it outside, in the shade, for a week. I've done it and it works.

Phil