Removing varnish

[Badf1shman]

Any recommendations for stripping a stock back to bare wood to oil it?

[Stonepark]

very fine wire wool (0000) and elbow grease

[Badf1shman]

I'l give that a go, what about the checkering?

[johnphilip]

read the post above yours , it covers everything . the secrect is take your time , and put the hours in and the reward can be very good , oh and good luck

Edited May 22, 2016 by johnphilip

[Badf1shman]

Cheers John, I did read the pinned post, however I also read that nitromors recipe had changed and it was now rubbish? Heard alot of good things about acetone but thought I'd see if anyone had any other suggestions. Thanks for the good luck, think i'l need it lol

[welshwarrior]

What's on it now oil or lacquer?

[fitzy]

I tried the new recipe Nitrimors on a factory varnished Browning 325. It was utterly useless. Following reviews (mainly automotive) I bought a tub of Starchem Synstryp paint remover from Amazon. Still contains dichloromethane and phenol. Nasty stuff but worked a treat.

[Wingman]

I have just started to strip the forend and stock on my Auto5. I used the B&Q own brand paint and varnish stripper, the make is "Diall" costs about 4 quid for a small bottle. It worked very well stripping the original varnish finish down to bare wood, but took a few hours and a couple of heavy applications. I still plan to soak the wood in an acetone bath (5 liters bought from ebay) to remove the years of oil and greasy crud that still remains but I am hoping that after soaking for a week or so it should all be back to a clean wood finish.

 

Simple oil finish after that process is completed, I am planning on using boiled linseed with the first couple of coats diluted with meths so it penetrates the wood well to start off.

 

Hope this helps mate.

[Badf1shman]

Just oil or stain on atm. Iv managed to get my hands on a load of acetone so I'm gonna stick in a bath for a day and see what happens :-) think i'l be going down the linseed oil route, I prefer a more satin finish so hopefully it'll come out nice. Good tip about the meths thinning it down! Thanks for the advice guys

[Rimfireboy]

You can make your own varnish/paint stripper by mixing caustic soda with wallpaper paste. Make it as strong or weak as you want it. I've been using this method for years, works for me anyway, and it's cheap.

[johnphilip]

You can make your own varnish/paint stripper by mixing caustic soda with wallpaper paste. Make it as strong or weak as you want it. I've been using this method for years, works for me anyway, and it's cheap.

 

I like the idea of that. i think other strippers go off if you leave a part tin.

[Les*1066]

I have just started to strip the forend and stock on my Auto5. I used the B&Q own brand paint and varnish stripper, the make is "Diall" costs about 4 quid for a small bottle. It worked very well stripping the original varnish finish down to bare wood, but took a few hours and a couple of heavy applications. I still plan to soak the wood in an acetone bath (5 liters bought from ebay) to remove the years of oil and greasy crud that still remains but I am hoping that after soaking for a week or so it should all be back to a clean wood finish.

 

Simple oil finish after that process is completed, I am planning on using boiled linseed with the first couple of coats diluted with meths so it penetrates the wood well to start off.

 

Hope this helps mate.

 

 

+1. Diall is probably the best paint and varnish stripper that's available at the moment. Less than half the price of Nitromors, and 10 times more effective.

 

Follow the instructions, use a paintbrush on the checkering, and the stock will be ready for finishing in no time. I scraped the Diall off the stock after the required 2nd coat using the back of a kitchen knife, washed everything off in running water, and the wood was clean and ready for the next stage.

[johnphilip]

Just oil or stain on atm. Iv managed to get my hands on a load of acetone so I'm gonna stick in a bath for a day and see what happens :-) think i'l be going down the linseed oil route, I prefer a more satin finish so hopefully it'll come out nice. Good tip about the meths thinning it down! Thanks for the advice guys

 

If you put in that stuff, how are you going to neutralize it. It is going to be soaked well into the wood. I have no idea what the bath will do to the woodwork. If its just stain or oiled them i would just use very fine wire wool and white spirt. Then depend on how it looks stain then danish oil. I dont like the linseed oil finish, its ok on cricket bats. I do a lot of wood turning and use a wood sealer then danish oil.

[Badf1shman]

If you put in that stuff, how are you going to neutralize it. It is going to be soaked well into the wood. I have no idea what the bath will do to the woodwork. If its just stain or oiled them i would just use very fine wire wool and white spirt. Then depend on how it looks stain then danish oil. I dont like the linseed oil finish, its ok on cricket bats. I do a lot of wood turning and use a wood sealer then danish oil.

was planning on neutralising it with ethanol, I will however give the white spirit a go before giving it a dunk in acetone. I was talking to my dad a couple hours ago and he said the same thing about linseed and told me to use danish. Always thought linseed was the done thing. Which wood sealer do you prefer for walnut?

[welshwarrior]

Acetone is OK to use it will evaporate out of the wood pulling the oil stain out with it.

 

BLO is fine for old military rifles and is a good base for a stock old.

 

Danish oil IMHO is not ideal for stocks.

 

My suggestion would be to use a gun stock oil it's made for gun stocks. If Danish oils etc where good why don't the London best guns or professional finishers use it? They all use stock oils, yes they take more skill to use properly but the finish will last and look better IMHO.

[johnphilip]

was planning on neutralising it with ethanol, I will however give the white spirit a go before giving it a dunk in acetone. I was talking to my dad a couple hours ago and he said the same thing about linseed and told me to use danish. Always thought linseed was the done thing. Which wood sealer do you prefer for walnut?

this may help you understand wood sealer/ sanding sealer i dont mean that you have to buy this one , its to give you and understanding .

http://www.rockler.com/how-to/when-to-use-sanding-sealer/

[johnphilip]

can we see some pictures of the stock . thats the most important thing right now to see the quality of the wood. not been rude but if the wood looks plain , its alway going to be that way . stains can darken a wood, but can not bring out what is not there. plus you have to deside how much time and money you are going to spend on it . there are times when you will say, i wish i had never started . but taking your time and getting things right it can look very good .

[Wingman]

Dont over-complicate it mate...

 

This is what I did and it worked perfectly.

 

1. Wipe down the stock with Acetone (meths would work just as well)

2 Put a thick coat of Diall stripper on with a brush working well into chequering and crannies

3.Wait for an hour or so and wipe it off with a cloth (it will look awful at this stage -dont panic!)

4 Repeat step 2 again

5 I then put on some rubber gloves and gave it a good rub over with fine wire wool and used an old shoe brush with brass bristles on the forend chequering (quid from Morrisons in the shoe polish section)

 

Its stripped nearly all of the finish off and trust me the stock was covered in a thick dark varnish, however it was badly oil soaked so I placed it and the forend into an acetone bath where it will remain for a week or so. Acetone bought from Ebay 5L for 12 quid from a seller called ShinyHardware and I used a Polypropelene plant trough from Morrisons that I bought for 75 pence. Its the perfect size and depth for the stock and forend off my A5. PolyPropylene is inert in Acetone you can check the recycling logo on the bottom of most plastic containers. Look for a triangle with arrows on it at the letters "PP" or "HDPE" both of these are fine to use with Acetone.

 

This is what the stock looked like before (sorry **** picture) NASTY!

Edited May 24, 2016 by Wingman

[Badf1shman]

can we see some pictures of the stock . thats the most important thing right now to see the quality of the wood. not been rude but if the wood looks plain , its alway going to be that way . stains can darken a wood, but can not bring out what is not there. plus you have to deside how much time and money you are going to spend on it . there are times when you will say, i wish i had never started . but taking your time and getting things right it can look very good .

Cheers for all the advice wingman, Seems like you know what your talking about. The grain is nice but not the best, main reason I'm.doing it is because it had a rubber boot left on the end for years and it has stained a dark shadow where it has been. That and I like messing on with this, it'll give me a bit experience for future wood projects. Thanks for the thorough walk-through! I'l get some progress pictures up

[Wingman]

Not in any way an expert but have done one or two in the past and its just trial and error really!

 

You'll be amazed at what a long soak in an acetone bath will do though and I would bet that the mark where the pad was will disappear. If not a light sanding with very fine wet and dry (I use it wet) will shift it, use a sanding block though.

 

I am also going to do a simple boiled linseed finish as I want to try and keep a low sheen finish to the wood. I'll post some pics up when it comes out of the acetone!

 

Good luck mate, give it a go its very satisfying when it turns out ok.

[welshwarrior]

Acetone will work fine but there are better options available. Not going to start the arguement again but my method has worked on another 8 stocks this week as it does every week.

 

OP if you like the solutions to use feel free to pm me. WW

[Wingman]

Acetone will work fine but there are better options available. Not going to start the arguement again but my method has worked on another 8 stocks this week as it does every week.

 

OP if you like the solutions to use feel free to pm me. WW

Hi welshwarrior, I would interested in knowing what you recommend as better than acetone? Can you share?

[impala59]

To hi-jack the thread somewhat, has anyone stripped a Remington auto stock with the DuPont hard finish? I have water damage behind the lacquer and many many dents dings and chivs to sort out. Also does anyone know if the plastic pistol grip cap can be removed, if so ,how? it seems as one with the finish

[welshwarrior]

For the Remi yes it comes off if it's the one with a dimond in the middle you have to remove the insert to get at the screw.

 

Sorry I reply to these threads less as its not worth the arguements from some who do this stuff as hobby. I'm off to the other topics to argue with the plumbers on how best to repair leaky pipes!

[impala59]

For the Remi yes it comes off if it's the one with a dimond in the middle you have to remove the insert to get at the screw.

 

Sorry I reply to these threads less as its not worth the arguements from some who do this stuff as hobby. I'm off to the other topics to argue with the plumbers on how best to repair leaky pipes!

 

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply, I, for one, and I'm sure many others, respect your knowledge and experience, your advice and your comments. Don't stop helping us please! The cap I have does not have an insert, any further options? Pics for you to wince at!

 

Edit;

It seems as though the varnish/lacquer continues over the cap, where the water ingress is I can pick of the finish with a finger nail

Edited May 25, 2016 by impala59