Removing finish from an old stock

[David LaPell]

The owner of one of the rifles I am caretaking for asked me if I would redo the finish on the stock. Normally on an older gun I would say no, especially since this one is a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 featherweight rifle in .308 but the finish, which appears to be nothing more than a coat of polyeurathane is now cracked in many places all over the gun, leaving bare would on I would say about 30% in places. I have already told him I would do nothing but several coats of Tru-Oil and he is fine with that. I wanted to ask what other guys here have used to remove the finish off wood you have worked on, since this finish is so cracked and damaged I want to be as careful as possible. On my grips I have done and my son's .22 Favorite they were satin coats I could just take off with 0000 steel wool and it worked great, not sure about here. What do you guys use? I don't have anything like a belt sander here so everything will be done by hand.

 

[cmort666]

I've done a bunch of military rifle stocks with Easy Off oven cleaner. It does a fantastic job.

Needless to say, you should wear gloves and use it outdoors.

 

[2152hq]

Zip-Strip,,the kind the greenies fret over will do 99% of them.

I recently restored an Ithaca SBT that had been redone in the 80's. The stocks were redone with some sort of poly or maybe even an epoxy.
Very thick and cracked like a windshield. Nothing I had would touch it.
So I had to remove it by rasping and scraping it off with a blade.
That sort of heavy, thick, deep down look clear finish was popular at that time. I remember articles on how to mix and spray clear epoxy for a stock finish.
I don't look forward to the next one of those.

 

[Kelly Green]

The best thing I've found for removing paint, varnish, shellac and epoxy from a stock is a stripping gel called Citristrip. It' non-toxic and smell like citrus. You can buy it at Home Depot or Wallmart. It will also remove the finish and gunk buildup in checkering that is almost impossible to do with sandpaper and not ruin the checkering. Does not leave behind a waxy feel on the wood like some gel strippers.

 

[Rule3]

Klean Strip in a spray and also the liquid. Available any place like Homer Depot, Lowes.

I used the spray which sticks and is heavy, Takes about 15 minutes. Wipe it off and then use the liquid and some fine steel wool. Wipe down with mineral spirits.

Easy and quick.

Then sand and use your choice of finish

Klean-Strip®

 

[Bekeart]

Not a fan of Steel Wool

Not a fan of Steel Wool - it can leave fibers/splinters to rust later.

3-M scrubbing pads - use the FINE ones from the auto shop.

For the checkering get the 6-Brush set from Harbor Freight.
Use the Brass and the Nylon ones. ($2.50 or less - often on sale for $1.50)

Bekeart

 

[Beemerguy53]

A friend of mine owns a furniture refinishing shop and does beautiful work. I have had several stocks stripped by him. He simply puts them in the same tank he uses for pieces of furniture; they come out clean as a whistle, with no need on my part to use steel wool or any tools.

 

[kudzu3]

I use paint and varnish stripper, about any brand will do, never had any problems. My papa always used a piece of broken glass to scrape the old finish off and also to smooth the bare wood and it worked very well for him. I've tried this and it does work well. He never used sand paper, his hands were so calloused, he didn't need it, just rubbed the wood briskly with his hands.

 

[jaykellogg]

I had a Model 12 12 guage that had friction tape wrapped around the wrist. I pulled that off and used rubbing alcohol to take off the black residue. It also took off the varnish (or shellac) which was the original Winchester finish. If that didn't work, I would use Formby's furniture refinisher.

 

[jlrhiner]

Repel 100 bug repellant sure works, but don't try it.

AND, DO NOT repeat DO NOT try a belt sander. I know you said you weren't, but if someone reads this and thinks its a good idea DO NOT try a belt sander. You have to use one all the time to develop the touch for fine work.

I have used urethane stripper bought at Home Depot applied with a brush and then rubbed with 4ought steel wool. I've never had trouble with leaving stuff behind, but by the time I'm done hand rubbing it, all the slivers are in my hands.

Did I mention DO NOT USE A BELTSANDER?

 

[tinkerunique]

Some "old school" guys have used a steam iron to remove a finish. The stock will probably need a light sanding after. I would not use any sander unless you want to remove wood.

 

[Old TexMex]

I use flexcut scraping tools and a heat gun. Much kinder to the wood, and requires very little removal of wood, little sanding. I find chemical stripping to be too messy, and feel its hard on the wood. Just a little heat, and the finish softens and un-adheres. (Learned doing varnish on yachts). Then tru oil, or tung oil/ penetrol ragged on and bronze wool/ rotton stone. Negative on power sanding.

 

[Deacon KC]

Kelly Green beat me to recommending Citri Strip, I have had very good results from it here.

 

[tomtheturner]

Gentle stripper

I am not a fan of the gel type strippers. To me they are too hard on the wood, and remove all the character and patina. Wood takes on a "glow" over the years, and I like to preserve it.

I use a product made by Zinsser called: Strip Fast Furniture Refinisher. It, "Gently Dissolves old finishes - Preserves Wood's original color and character." I buy it locally at Menards Hardware. It's in a purple can.
It is a great product. I have done some very high end antiques with it, and it works as described. I use 4-O steel wool, and dip it in the chemical and put it on the wood in a circular motion. Dip it back in, and go on. I use clean chemical at the end to kinda give it a bath getting all the old finish off.
Your Tru Oil finish would work very well over the stripped wood, and give the wood a nice glow.

Good Luck,
Tom

 

[dewey]

3M SAFEST STRIPPER

It's a NO SMELLY liquid that turns into a paste. Use steel wool to take it off and then run water over it. Can be done in the house. Wife friendly. GREAT stuff...dan

 

[Smith357]

Poly on a pre 64?? You must save it!!!

I use Homer Formby's Furniture Refinisher and a soft boar bristle artist brush. I'm not sure how it would work on poly though. Homer does make a poly specific remover.

 

[cmort666]

Some "old school" guys have used a steam iron to remove a finish. The stock will probably need a light sanding after. I would not use any sander unless you want to remove wood.

I've never used a steam iron to remove finish.

I HAVE used a steam iron and a damp wash cloth to remove DENTS in a rifle stock while refinishing. It causes the moisture in the wood to expand, lifting the dent.

 

[snake803]

I've done a bunch of military rifle stocks with Easy Off oven cleaner. It does a fantastic job.
Needless to say, you should wear gloves and use it outdoors.

It works OK...Be careful tho...It takes grease off of an oven and ALL of the oils out of the wood.....
JIM........

 

[bagga]

i picked up a sears model 1 .22 that must have been a garage gun, it had paint all over the stock. i took the stock off and rubbed it down with fine scotch brite. it took the paint and old varnish off pretty easily. i then oiled it with some old english wood oil.

 

[sheepdawg]

Oven Cleaner is a no no, bad for the wood. I understand it does a bang up job on cleaning ovens though. Any decent paint stripper will do with a Scotchbrite pad. Might take a couple of times. When your sure the finish has been removed follow it up with a wash of mineral spirits.

 

[2152hq]

It's the lye in the oven cleaner that works at removing oil and grease/cosmoline from stocks, especially those military pieces that have been saturated in it for decades.
Lye turns oil & grease to soap,,it washes away.
It does the same thing to clean the food debris off the oven walls and grills.

It won't get the deep down stuff,,that'll wick to the surface later on. You can reapply to remove the oil as it appears, but it's pretty harsh stuff for wood.

An application or two for really bad stocks doesn't appear to damage the wood in my experience. I have stocks from 30yrs ago that are still fine and the metal that sits in them show no damage.

I do neutralize any O/C application with a followup of wood bleach (oxalic acid). It will neutralize the alkali O/C, even out the color of the wood very nicely and leave it ready for fitting and reworking when dryed.

Don't use laundry bleach. Sodium hypochlorite in it is a real rust producer to steel. Any trace of it in the wood lingering after the treatment may eventually rust the metal parts once the gun is back together,,especially if the climate is the least bit humid.
Old gun cases washed and laundered with a touch of bleach to remove a musty smell in them have gone on to severly rust and pit the firearms stored in them.
Laundry bleach is sometimes used by restoration people to mimic metal pitting on replaced parts. A little warmth to the metal and a some creative art work with the bleach and you can produce pitting, rust and even craters to your hearts content.

'Wood bleach' is made for just what the name says and does a nice job.

With all that said,,the O/Cleaner method of removing oil or even finish from a gunstock would be one of the last methods I'd use.
It simply doesn't remove deep down imbedded oil in the wood which is what I'd be after it to do.
As a finish remover, it still leaves the wood needing the secondary treatment of oxalic acid IMHO before use.
It works,,but there are better options.
JMHO & experience

 

[jack the toad]

I'm not an expert by any means but what has seemed to work for me on several occasions is the citris strip and scouring pad on the remaining stubborn stuff. I save the steel wool for between coats of Tru Oil.
I've used oven cleaner occasionly on old oil-soaked military stocks. Usually requires more than one application along with a hot summer sun to raise the oil. I've never bleached (w/ laundry type) but will consider it (w/ wood type) next time I have an oily one. Thanks 2152hq.
After cleaning, then coloring/staining is another matter before an oil finish. I prefer more of a reddish brown than a dark walnut for most color applications, especially old military stocks. For finish coat, I've tried tung and linseed and am a firm believer in the truoil.
On occasion, I've used spray epoxy (gloss & satin) on AK wood and didn't look bad
Also IMO, stay away from any power sander for re-finishing unless you know what you're doing.
Good luck on your project.