Need help with a stock

[brstevns]

Have a rifle stock (Walnut) That will not allow a finish too dry. To much moisture in the wood. Is there anything I can do?

[Texas by God]

Hang it from the rafters for a couple of years? Popcorn/:-)

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[MostlyLeverGuns]

What kind of finish, sometimes the humidity can also affect finish hardening. Has the wood been finished before ?

[brstevns]

What kind of finish, sometimes the humidity can also affect finish hardening. Has the wood been finished before ?

Never was finished before. Was wanting to use tru oil.
Was wondering if there was something to pack it in to help draw the measure out. Salt or maybe charcoal ?

[pietro]

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I would suggest stripping whatever's on the stock with Homer Formby's Furniture Refinisher (HomeCheapo, Lowe's, TrueValue & good hardware stores), let it dry overnight, then apply several coats of TruOil, one coat a day for several days - or for however long it takes to arrive at the finish you want.

Follow the can directions for the Formby's, using new pads of 0000 steel wool; then after each coat of TruOil has been rubbed into the wood until it squeaks when rubbed further, dry the TruOil overnight before rubbing it down to the wood with new 0000 steel wool pads & applying the next coat (repeat as req'd).


https://www.truevalue.com/media/catalog/product/cache/c9e0b0ef589f3508e5ba515cde53c5ff/128350.jpg


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[country gent]

The military ( AMU) used vacuum pots and heat ( 180*) when doing the epoxy finishes on match m14s to pull the moisture out of stocks before the pressured heated epoxy pot. For a faster cure kilns and heat is often used with low air circulation but this can cause some warping also. A black plastic cover outside in the sun where breezes can pass over under and around it may speed things up. Drying wood is a slow process the moisture equalizes in the wood as it dries and a thick blank can take awhile.

One way to speed its drying that might work and be easy is to simply sit it in the back window of you car for a week or two the heat of the interior may speed it up. Placing it in a bag of dry media ( fine ground corn cobs come to mind) and warming may speed up the process but the media used may also discolor stock.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

TruOil is best applied in very thin coats. If you put it on too thickly, or apply another coat before the first coat is dry, it will take a long time to dry. It sounds to me like you'd do best to strip it all off, dry it, and start over. Something you could try is a heat gun or portable hair dryer. I've used a heat gun to get old oil to bubble out of stocks. Might work to help dry your stock. Careful not to burn it. Most walnut used for gunstocks is shed dried for about 7 years, so I'm wondering where you acquired a piece of wood with such a high moisture content. (?) .

[lefty o]

do not put the wood in or near salt. research browning salt wood. browning tried it many years ago as a way of shortening drying time for wood, and in the process they destroyed many guns.

[22cf45]

Trouble is if it is wet from insufficient drying, it will most likely warp. If it is not dry, it should have never been cut into a stock until it was dry. I wouldn't waste my time and trouble with it, just start over.
Phil

[waksupi]

If you didn't start out with well seasoned wood to make a stock, you may as well figure on starting over. An uncured stock will warp, twist, and do all kinds of nasty things if you expect the rifle to group.
If you used Truoil too heavily, it could possibly take several days to fully set up.

[oldred]

Heating (or worse leaving in the sun!) is a recipe for disaster since it WILL ruin your stock if it is still that green, in fact leaving it in the sun, especially in a place such as under a car window, will very likely cause severe cracking in addition to warping! Placing it in a sunny spot but covered and thus protected from direct sunlight with good air circulation such as the method suggested by Country Gent however is a very effective method but be sure and wax seal any open end grain. Warping and cracking can be avoided by drying slowly over time or if you have a way to properly kiln dry it that may work but otherwise just stip any finish off of it, wax seal any open end grain, place it in a warm (NOT HOT!) place and wait until the moisture level gets to the point you can work with it. One thing you might try is to place the stock in oil absorbing clay, "cheap Kitty litter", "floor dry for spilled oil", etc. When packed in this type of absorbent material in a sealed container and kept warm (not hot) drying times can be reduced by some measure but it still takes a while.

A much bigger problem is that if it really does still contain that much moisture is that it is going to shrink no matter what you do to dry it, or even if you do nothing, it will still shrink possibly causing fit-up problems.

[georgerkahn]

I concur strongly with other posters re keeping it out of the sun!!! A method which may (I'd love to have written "most likely", but without seeing your stock...) work for you is to get a product purveyed by Brownell's called, "Whiting". https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/stock-work-finishing/stock-finish-strippers/old-fashioned-whiting-prod1133.aspx
I have seen its almost miraculous effects on military gun stocks which were concentrated with oils. Again, I can't make any guarantees... but, if you are at a loss -- it may be the answer you're looking for.
Good luck!
geo

[22cf45]

Just curious, where did the stock come from?
Phil

[redhawk0]

If that wood hasn't been dried from the start you'll likely have other problems. Shrinkage, and cracking...etc. If the wood has been kiln dried to a moisture content less than 4-6% then you could have environmental factors (or possibly a bad bottle of tru-oil...but unlikely) A dried piece of wood should soak it in FAST for the first coat and possibly the second coat as well. After that you are layering the finish which is going to emulsify the previous layer to provide a strong bond of each coat of finish applied. For those first two coats (at least) apply the finish to the entire piece...all carved sections and the through bolt hole (if it has one). You want to completely seal the wood.

Environmental factors include high humidity areas or cooler (cold) temperatures. These will cause a finish to cure very very slowly. Days in fact. If you can move the piece to a warmer area that has been air conditioned it would cure better.

As for using any steel wool on it...I'd advise against it. Steel wool, no matter how hard you try to tack it off, will leave tiny pieces embedded in the wood. These pieces will eventually rust. A better option is a scotch-bright pad to apply stripper or to scratch the piece before applying the next coat of finish.

redhawk

[oldred]

If that wood hasn't been dried from the start you'll likely have other problems. Shrinkage, and cracking...etc. If the wood has been kiln dried to a moisture content less than 4-6% then you could have environmental factors (or possibly a bad bottle of tru-oil...but unlikely) A dried piece of wood should soak it in FAST for the first coat and possibly the second coat as well. After that you are layering the finish which is going to emulsify the previous layer to provide a strong bond of each coat of finish applied. For those first two coats (at least) apply the finish to the entire piece...all carved sections and the through bolt hole (if it has one). You want to completely seal the wood.

Environmental factors include high humidity areas or cooler (cold) temperatures. These will cause a finish to cure very very slowly. Days in fact. If you can move the piece to a warmer area that has been air conditioned it would cure better.

As for using any steel wool on it...I'd advise against it. Steel wool, no matter how hard you try to tack it off, will leave tiny pieces embedded in the wood. These pieces will eventually rust. A better option is a scotch-bright pad to apply stripper or to scratch the piece before applying the next coat of finish.

redhawk

I couldn't agree more about using steel wool, that stuff has no place at all on my work bench! The best abrasives I have used are 3M wet/dry which can be obtained in grits from 80 grit to 2500 grit, the finer grits above about 320 to 400 are great for metal finishing but for stock work they have little or no use. After finish sanding the bare wood with 220 grit 3M "sandblaster" (pricey but lasts much longer and does a fantastic job!) I apply the first coats of finish, usually polyurethane, I then wet sand with the wet/dry paper using a soft pliable rubber sanding block. As long as the wood is completely sealed and care is taken to not sand through the finish then wet sanding is no problem at all, even if you do sand through it really does not cause a problem as the area will dry quickly. Using that method I can get a finish that will range from satin to a high gloss that looks like glass depending on the finial rubbing compound chosen, simi-gloss is my choice but a lot of folks have had me do the high gloss which really makes grain figure and colors stand out. The advantage to wet sanding is the surface ends up perfectly smooth and it just seems to go much faster and easier for me, there are of course many "right" ways of doing this and the methods I have described are just what I do, a fall back to custom auto painting I have done for years I suppose.

[pietro]

Steel wool, no matter how hard you try to tack it off, will leave tiny pieces embedded in the wood. These pieces will eventually rust.




FWIW, I've been using steel wool for over 45 years to rub down my stocks during refinishing, and have NEVER even had particles embed in the wood, never mind rusting - BUT, I always finger rub each coat of Tru-Oil down to the wood after the oil's dried, and then remove any steel dust by going over the stock with a strong horseshoe magnet before applying the following coat of oil.


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[Traffer]

Yup, again, big question...how was the wood dried before making a stock out of it and putting oil on it. If it wasn't kiln dried or otherwise dried properly you are going to have many more problems.

[Jeff Michel]

May I ask how do you know that the wood is not properly dried? If your stock is not fully dry, go and find you a new, dry blank and began again. Crummy, but it's the only thing that will fix it. Good luck.

[oldred]

May I ask how do you know that the wood is not properly dried? If your stock is not fully dry, go and find you a new, dry blank and began again. Crummy, but it's the only thing that will fix it. Good luck.

I was thinking the same thing and wondering about moisture even being the problem, I am a bit puzzled by having enough moisture in the wood to prevent drying. Of all the problems I have encountered over the years while working with Walnut I have never had or even heard of that problem since it would seem the stock would have to be obviously still very green to do this, still not knowing all the particulars I would not say it was not the problem just that it is a bit puzzling.

[mazo kid]

I have had walnut trees sawn at my home, making 1" and 2-1/2" thick boards. In my area (south central Wi), we plan at least one year per inch of wood for air drying before considering using the wood.

[waksupi]

If that wood hasn't been dried from the start you'll likely have other problems. Shrinkage, and cracking...etc. If the wood has been kiln dried to a moisture content less than 4-6% then you could have environmental factors (or possibly a bad bottle of tru-oil...but unlikely) A dried piece of wood should soak it in FAST for the first coat and possibly the second coat as well. After that you are layering the finish which is going to emulsify the previous layer to provide a strong bond of each coat of finish applied. For those first two coats (at least) apply the finish to the entire piece...all carved sections and the through bolt hole (if it has one). You want to completely seal the wood.

Environmental factors include high humidity areas or cooler (cold) temperatures. These will cause a finish to cure very very slowly. Days in fact. If you can move the piece to a warmer area that has been air conditioned it would cure better.

As for using any steel wool on it...I'd advise against it. Steel wool, no matter how hard you try to tack it off, will leave tiny pieces embedded in the wood. These pieces will eventually rust. A better option is a scotch-bright pad to apply stripper or to scratch the piece before applying the next coat of finish.

redhawk

If the finish is completely cured, you will leave no steel wool particles in the finish. I finished a lot of very expensive exhibition grade stocks with steel wool where such a blemish would be disaster. Never a problem.

[kywoodwrkr]

You seem to not know true moisture content.
Look about you for someone who might possibly have a wood moisture meter and measure true content.

[redhawk0]

If the finish is completely cured, you will leave no steel wool particles in the finish. I finished a lot of very expensive exhibition grade stocks with steel wool where such a blemish would be disaster. Never a problem.

I was referring more to the stripping process of taking it back to bare wood. If there is finish already applied, then no...the steel wool particles can't get through to the grain. But...I still like scotch brite pads for most of my work. The pads come in different colors to designate different "grit" of the pad.

ScotchBrite to Steel wool conversions….Burgundy = #0… Green = #00… Grey = #000 and White = #0000....

Sorry...I guess I didn't make that very clear about finished vs. unfinished wood.

redhawk