Best Way to Maintain Wood

[Gaffshot]

What is the recommended way to maintain the wood handguard, stock, and grip on a M1?

 

I am considering a light scrub with warm soapy water, letting dry, apply linseed oil, and then waxing. Any thoughts on this matter?

 

Would linseed oil be best? What wax would be a good choice? I am guessing that the wood on this thing has not seen any maintenance since the 1950s. I am not looking to strip the finish but just want to know the best way to clean it up a bit and help preserve it for the next 50 years.

[1952HRA]

What I do is spray it with oven cleaner and let it sit for 15 minutes ( to clean ou all the oil and grease that's packed into the wood grain) then submerge it in boiling water for another 15 minutes, then I put 3-5 coats of boiled linseed oil on it. This procedure usually takes most of the oil and grease out of the wood. I don't use wax, just a suggestion some other people might have better ways to oil and wax it

[Adg105200]

Depending on how involved you want to get, and how deep of a clean you want to do.

 

For restorations, I usually use oven cleaner to degrease, and then a soak in very hot to boiling water to help steam out some dents.

 

If you want a factory look, just use 3 -5 applications of boiled linseed oil. I'm guessing you know how to apply?

 

If you want a shiny look, you can use minwax finishing wax, or just skip linseed oil and go with tru-oil from Birchwood Casey.

 

Like I said, it all comes down to what you want. It's personal preference.

 

Andrew

[buzz]

What I do is spray it with oven cleaner and let it sit for 15 minutes ( to clean ou all the oil and grease that's packed into the wood grain) then submerge it in boiling water for another 15 minutes, then I put 3-5 coats of boiled linseed oil on it. This procedure usually takes most of the oil and grease out of the wood. I don't use wax, just a suggestion some other people might have better ways to oil and wax it

 

 

There is no need to use oven cleaner on wood.

 

It contains chemicals that can burn the wood and discolor it. The chemical in oven cleaner is used to break wood down for paper pulp.

 

Any chore that you want to do on wood, stripping it, staining it, sealing it, cleaning it, there is an excellent product for that job you can get that is specifically designed for wood.

 

If you have deep grime in wood, I would suggest scrubbing the wood with mineral spirits or acetone. If that doesn't clean it well enough, then use wood stripper. Wood stripper will take the skin off your hand, it's plenty strong to remove grime from wood.

[buzz]

OP, I recommend that you scrub the wood with mineral spirits.

 

Then put the stock in a tub of hot water and scrub it down.

 

If that doesn't make it clean enough, use wood stripper.

 

If it has small dents, put a damp rang on the dent and dteam it with a hot clothes iron. The steam will make the wood fibers puff up and raise the dent.

 

When it's dry, sand it with fine grit sandpaper (220 or higher) to smooth out the grain that was raised by the hot water.

 

Go to the hardware store and buy a small can of minwax water based walnut stain. I like the amber colored stain, it warms up the wood. As opposed to the more greenish walnut stains.

 

Apply varnish to seal the wood. Any wiping varnish (varnish applied with a rag) will look great. Like "minwax tung oil" finish.

 

You can use boiled linseed oil or the original kind of pure tung oil, but they are a weak, soft finish that was used because they are cheap.

 

The modern wiping varnishes like Danish oil, teak oil, minwax tung oil, are linseed or tung oil with a little varnish added to make them tougher.

 

birchwood casey makes a real nice walnut stain and their "tru-oil finish" is an excellent wiping varnish, it's polymerized tung oil, it works great.

 

you will not get a "plastic" looking finish with any wiping varnish

 

 

There is no need to use any non-wood product. Don't use oven cleaner or boot polish or fabric dye or any other stuff like that, it's pointless and it will not do as good of a job as wood products.

 

Gun guys go out of their way to torture gun wood. And then they proudly display these bizarre looking stocks. It's really weird.

 

There's a well known gunsmith who has a web page about refinishing stocks, it makes no sense on any level and the finished product was obviously burned by the cleaner and looks like driftwood. Ugliest stock you ever saw.

Edited June 2, 2017 by buzz

[Adg105200]

Thanks buzz, guess I'm not going to be using oven cleaner again lol. That's what I love about this board.

 

I never left it on for too long, so I never had any problems, but I am definitely going to avoid it.

 

So I have heard, and seen, that simple-right mixed in very hot water is good for cleaning wood as well.

 

Andrew

[Paladin601]

What is the recommended way to maintain the wood handguard, stock, and grip on a M1?

 

I am considering a light scrub with warm soapy water, letting dry, apply linseed oil, and then waxing. Any thoughts on this matter?

 

Would linseed oil be best? What wax would be a good choice? I am guessing that the wood on this thing has not seen any maintenance since the 1950s. I am not looking to strip the finish but just want to know the best way to clean it up a bit and help preserve it for the next 50 years.

make a 50/50 mix of Boiled Linseed oil and either Turpentine or Mineral spirits. Use a fine scotchbright pad (white) and lightly scrub with the grain. You can follow up with a 1/3 wax (Linseed oil-bees wax and Turpentine) for the final finish. It is possible to oil

soak the wood.

[Paladin601]

the LYE used in oven cleaner will break down the wood fibers over time. If you do soak make sure you allow it to air dry for 1 - 2 weeks so the wood stabilizes.

[Gio]

adg105200,

 

I've used oven cleaner on a lot of Thompson stocks and have not had any problems with the product ruining the wood. I rinse the oven cleaner in hot water and then let it dry for several days. I then go over the wood with 000x steel wool then put the desired finish.

 

Just the way I have had success doing it.

 

Frank

[Adg105200]

adg105200,

 

I've used oven cleaner on a lot of Thompson stocks and have not had any problems with the product ruining the wood. I rinse the oven cleaner in hot water and then let it dry for several days. I then go over the wood with 000x steel wool then put the desired finish.

 

Just the way I have had success doing it.

 

Frank

Thanks. Yes, as I said, I never had issues with discoloration, or breaking down. I have usually reserved it for the worst (greasiest) grips from England. Along with general oils from handling, some have storage grease; and I know oven cleaner works fast.

 

That said, I will have to try Simple-green and see how much of a difference there is.

 

Andrew

Edited June 3, 2017 by Adg105200

[warren]

Oven cleaner will eventually discolour the wood unless you get it all remnants of it out and that is a real chore.

Why risk ruining a good piece of wood. Sodium hydroxide is used to digest wood in the pulp and paper industry as stated before.

There are many good degreasers on the market and Simple Green comes to mind.

I use a domestic degreaser for range hoods that has done the job for years and the grease and oil just runs out after a hot water rinse.

Then a VERY LIGHT rub of the finest steel wool you can find or lightly bone the stock.

This way you will not remove any markings and the dents that do not have any wood removed will come out and if not a steaming with a damp towel and iron will fix most of those.

Then a good boning and you will have a piece of wood that looks like new and retains it character.

Save those spare rib bones guys and you will be amazed. Rub the wood with the bone curve and it will smooth wood like a babies bum and not remove any markings.

Boning is from an 1880's British armourers manual.

[Adg105200]

Never heard​ of boning. I have some buck sheds laying around. I'll have to give it a try.

 

Andrew

[Chip]

You might just try Clenzoil first. It's made for cleaning gun wood and metal. I've cut the grime off several stocks with it.

[warren]

Never heard​ of boning. I have some buck sheds laying around. I'll have to give it a try.

 

Andrew

Boning was what the British used to put a glass finish on wood.

The best I have found is pork spare rib bones. Don't use castoff's they will gouge the wood. You need smooth dried bones.

Pork spare rib bones have a nice curve to them and once dried they have microscopic pores in the bone and it does a great job of smoothing wood.

It is a bit labour intensive but the results are spectacular.

I've taken old stocks that were only worthy of the fireplace and made great looking stocks out of them without removing any markings.

A light coat of linseed oil (BLO), rub it in and then bone again.

You will be amazed at the results but again, it is a bit of work.