De-oiling stock

[gzig5]

On the inletting and end grain, I picked up a bottle of white powdered chalk that a carpenter would use in his chalk line. Mixed into a paste with either acetone or MEK and wait until it drys. Takes a few applications, but is amazing how much crud it pulls out.

[Bret4207]

A popular method on the milsurp boards has been to bag them up with something like kitty litter and leave them in a hot parked car. I haven't gone that far, myself. I've used paper as the absorbent material. I have Turks and a 98/22 that still ooze oil when they get hot years after I've had them. I don't worry about carrying them out on drizzly days.

FWIW- We had a series of supermarket fires in my state a few years back. Turns out when someone broke a bottle of vegetable oil they'd soak it up with kitty litter and toss the mess in the trash. Seems some combos react and start fires. Just a thought as I don't know if the oil in the stocks is organic or mineral. I'd use commercial oil soak if it was a worry.

[Ricochet]

Man, who'd've thought of that?!

[Nueces]

I guess we can expect Homeland Security to set up a Kitty Litter Control Board now...

Mark

[JeffinNZ]

These boys have done lots of degreasing.

Search through http://www.surplusrifle.com/index.asp

[catboat]

I haven't done this yet, but I'm going to. I will try using bentonite.

I was in the paper chemicals business for 20+ years. One product we sold to paper mills was a chemical system used to retain fiber and fillers. It used a bentonite clay. It has the tremendous capacity to absorb organic materials, such as wood pitch. It will suck the oils off your hand. If you put a little bentonite slurry on the oil spot under your car in your garage, it will draw out the oil and lessen the oil spot (with repeat treatments)

Bentonite would be similar to chalk or whiting powder, or kitty litter with the exception that it would be MUCH more effective, as those other materials do not have anything near the oil absorbing capacity as bentonite clay. In this application, bentonite clearly outclasses those other products. FWIW, talc is used on paper machines as a pitch control additive. It is effective to a point, but works in a totally different mechanism than bentonite. Talc (similar to chalk) detackifies pitch (similar to rolling wet chewing gum in sand). It doesn't absorb pitch. Bentonite ABSORBS pitch and organic materials (such as oil). It's neat stuff.

Bentonite is safe for skin contact. It is one of the ingredients in calamine lotion (to dry out your skin for poison ivy-which is s different story. In short, calamine lotion WILL dry out skin, but it won't speed poison ivy cure time).

Bentonite is used for drilling muds in mining, and for waste water treatment. It is also used in wine making. Adding it to wine will help clarify the wine.

Bentonite is mined. One source that mines it is Southern Clays. It would cost well under $1/lb in powder form. Make a paste out of it (solids not critical, but something around 5-8% would be okay). Let it swell (hydrate, or absorb water, to make it more effective), then apply to the stock. A hot stock oozing oil/grease would be a great thing to apply it too.

The paste may work with some mineral spirits, but probably water is fine. The paste won't penetrate the wood, but it would suck out whatever oil is on the surface. If a mineral spirit/break cleaner type of liquid is used, it may draw more oil to the surface.

In a pinch, try calamine lotion, and let it dry on the stock. The pink color will sand off.

An added note, someone earlier posted: "I use the soak in the bathtub method with a liberal amount of tri sodium phosphate."

This material is a dispersant. I used to use materials like it on paper machines as a coating pigment dispersant. It is abbreviated as TSP or TSPP (trisodium polyphosphate). Dispersing the oil can assist in breaking molecules up (by reducing surface tension), but the dispersed material still needs to be removed. I would classify TSP as "slightly-mildly effective." Perhaps you can mix it with bentonite (with water or acetone), on a heated, oil-oozingstock. Apply, let dry, and remove dry biege powder on surface with damp rag. Reapply... "Wash, rinse, repeat."


Bentonite will dry to a biege powdery color, as it is a mixture of a solid and liquid (liquid being water). It woud be easily sanded, steel-wooled off, between applications.

[Char-Gar]

Bentonite and clay kitty litter are the same thing, just different grandulations.

[catboat]

You are correct; however, it is the much smaller particle size of refined bentonite (looks like powder, not barley-sized like kitty litter) that will provide the exponentially higher level of surface area for improved absorption, and more complete surface contact with the stock/oil interface.

[Char-Gar]

Catboat.. Bentonite comes in fairly large bags, but kitty litter can be bought in 5 lbs bag. Just put some kitty litter in a bag and beat the snot out of it with a mallet to get it smaller. Y0u can use the rest of the kitty litter for the top of your melt and get full usage out of the stuff.

[uscra112]

I've recommended this before, and here goes again.

If you have a dishwasher into which you can fit the stock, do so. Set the water temperature as high as you can go, and on the first pass use a full load of the POWDERED detergent.

The old-timer's method was to use boiling water, trisodium phosphate, and elbow grease.

Well, the powdered dishwasher detergent is, in fact, primarily trisodium phosphate, and the washer provides the hot water AND the elbow grease.

Has done a bang-up job for me, a good many times.

The stock WON'T get waterlogged - it will be dry enough to be sanding it in a couple of days at most, unless you live in some extremely humid tropical clime.

[WineMan]

Winemakers use Bentonite to add to white wine (and remove it with filtration) to adsorb soluble proteins and make the wine more stable to heat.

On a microscopic scale it is like a series of small plates that adsorb charged particles between them. We use something like 2-5 lbs of food grade bentonite to 1000 gallons of wine. If you need a source I will get one for you. I think there are even suppliers that sell in smaller quantities than 50 lbs for home winemakers.

wineman

[trooperdan]

Wineman, I might have a use for some bentonite; can you post a supplier?

[longbow]

I haven't tied this myself but have seen it referenced in several spots:

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/refinish/index.asp

[JMax]

Wrap in paper towels, place in a black plastic bag and let sit on my deck, remove and replace paper towels daily. That worked great on my two CMP 03's when the arrived in cosmoline and has also worked on my M38 when I got it at Big 5. The sun & heat during SoCal summers drys out those greasy stocks. I also stuff paper towels into all nooks and crannies to soak up the cosmiline. Then go shooting and have fun after a couple of weeks.

[WineMan]

Got busy and have not checked this thread lately.

Try

Presque Isle Wine Cellars

9440 West Main Rd. (US RT 20)
North East, PA 16428
United States

Phone 814-725-1314
Alternate Phone (800) 488-7492
Fax 814-725-2092

Look under Additives>Fining Agents Bentonite is 6lb for $14

http://www.piwine.com/store/home.php?cat=261

Happy soaking.

[eka]

I use the Purple Power cleaner from Wal-Mart. I use it straight without diluting it. I spray it on and keep it wet, when it looks like it's starting to dry, I spray it some more. Every now and then I wipe it down and then spray it down again. It takes most of the stuff out. Then I bake it in the sun to finish it off. That will take care of about 90 to 95 percent of it. I usually have some splotches that are darn stubburn to get rid of. I steam them with a hot iron and a wet towel. Let everything dry out well and sand lightly. Then I finish with tung oil. It's amazing how well these old stocks will clean up with a little TLC.

[hunterldh]

I bought a long shallow polyethylene container that has a tight fitting snap-on lid at my local home improvement store. I believe it was designed to store stuff under a bed. I put my stock in there and brushed it liberally with paint stripper and sealed it up. In a couple of days I opened it up and brushed it all over again with more paint stripper. On the fifth day or so I applied more stripper and then wiped it down to bare wood with some old towels. All of the old finish and the years of oil and grease were gone. I let it dry for a day then I used my wifes iron to steam out a few dents. Some sanding and some tung oil brought the stock to a nice military finish. - Hunter

[Hackleback]

I use the Purple Power cleaner from Wal-Mart. I use it straighy without diluting it. I spray it on and keep it wet, when it looks like it's starting to dry, I spray it some more. Every now and then I wipe it down and then spray it down again. It takes most of the stuff out. Then I bake it in the sun to finish it off. That will take care of about 90 to 95 percent of it. I usually have some splotches that are darn stubburn to get rid of. I steam them with a hot iron and a wet towel. Let everything dry out well and sand lightly. Then I finish with tung oil. It's amazing how well these old stocks will clean up with a little TLC.

Note: wear gloves when using PP straight. If you get this on your hands w/o gloves, your skin will crack and peel off in a couple of days.

[Dale53]

I sold a Garand to a friend and its stock was oil soaked. He took it to work and used a "Vapor Degreaser). It worked perfectly. Of course, it had to be "de-whiskered", stained and refinished. Made a VERY nice job of it.

Dale53

[smokemjoe]

I dont live where it gets that hot, I use Wal- Marts Purpel Cleaner, $6.00 a gal.Spary it on, Just done 3 M1 stocks, the oil runs right off.