stock repair 101. Bringing back a piece of fire wood

[usnmars 136]

I have been PM'd several times by members on some stock repair questions. I just started a new project and figured I would address some of the more common questions as I work on my project. Kinda like a step by step tutorial type thingy. I recently came into some "scrap" M1 Garand stocks that are BEAUTIFUL, in my eyes. One man's trash is another mans treasure. All of the stocks are very strong cartouched WWII stocks that need a little help here or there, fixing cracks, chips, ect. So For tonight I started a strong EMCF McFarland inspected stock that overall is in nice shape other than the fact 1/4 of it is missing The stock is missing quite a large chunk on the front left quarter of the stock. It almost goes through one side of the stock and is about 8" long. The stamps and grain on this one are too nice to toss it and it is a fairly simple repair that will be almost undetectable when it's done.

 

Here is what we are starting with.........

 

 

My first step since I know I am going to have to do a full refinish because of the extensive work needed is to completely degrease and strip the stock. With all of the inletting and gluing I do not want to have to worry about cosmo and oil contaminating all the glue. I prefer to use Dawn Power Disolver. It is pretty much dish soap on steroids. Spray it on the stock and scrub with a scrub brush. Rinse it off after about a minute with some very hot water, scrubbing with the brush while rinsing.

 

 

This gets the stock down to a clean, oil free surface.

 

and WOW look how nice the cartouche looks..

 

 

Immediately after rinsing wipe the stock down with a dry towel to get all the excess water off. Let the stock set for a few days before continuing. Put em in a dark place out of sunlight, let them dry slow and natural to prevent warping of the wood.

 

The stocks are drying now but I am planning on milling out the bad area tomorrow and inletting a new piece of wood. I will post pics of the progress as I go. Once the repair is done and the stock is refinished, you will almost not be able to notice the repair. This write up will cover inletting, crack repair, steaming out dents, and staining and finally a proper oil scrub.

 

 

MORE UPDATES COMING AS I WORK TOMORROW

[usnmars 136]

As promised I did some work on it today. I milled out the bad area and took a scrap of walnut that matched the grain almost perfect and inletted the scrap in. You do not need a mill to do this kind of work, I normally use a chisel and a dremel but with a repair this large a mill works great.

 

 

The glue I am using here is good old Titebond. Go with what is tried and true and has always worked. Since the repair is not in a high stress area I am not going to pin it like I normally would. Apply some Titebond liberally and clamp the hell out of it. You want to make sure the new piece of wood fits in the repair area tightly.

[usnmars 136]

Once the glue has dried remove the clamps and use a rasp to rough out the new piece of wood. A rasp is quick but leaves a bad finish so dont go until the repair is flush. Leave it about 1/8" high and use sand paper to get it down flush. Save your wood dust, we'll use that in the next step of making a wood filler for some random gouges on the stock.

[djg0770 481]

nice!

[KpdPipes 388]

I cant wait to see hoe this turns out......and i WANt that Mill.. Muahahahaha

[usnmars 136]

Well a little more progress was made today. I did a bunch of sanding and filling and the stock ready to dye. For filling in gouges I use a mix of wood glue and saw dust.

 

 

I use a mix of fine dust and throw in some rough "chips" from the rasp. The longish chips will give the appearance of grain once everything is dyed and oiled. Mix the glue and dust into a peanut butter consistancy and fill your gouges.

Let it sit a while and once dry sand down. The filler will have a darker appearance than the rest of the stock but once you dye it, nobody will tell. I still need to finish sand the filler in the pic but you get the idea.

 

Before....

 

AFTER....(the dark spot in the middle is one of the wood chips from the rasp)

 

Once this is all sanded down I use steel wool on the stock to make the grain "pop" a little. Then I use leather dye to stain my stocks. It gives better results and dries almost instantly. Because it is alcohol based, you can put it on after you put some Boiled Linseed Oil(BLO) on and it still works. I like this because the wood will change color a little once it gets oiled so you can go back and change it if you dont like it.

 

 

Here is the first coat of dye followed by another steel wooling then its first coat of BLO.

 

 

I still want it a little darker, i have a color in my head, so tomorrow I am going to mix up another batch of dye with some more brown and a little black in it. This part is really hard because it is like being an artist, taking it far but not too far. I like vintage stocks dark but not too dark so getting the mix right is tricky to do. This is the blessing of alcohol dye, you dont like it after oil dye it again. You cant do that with the regular off the shelf stain in the hardware store.

 

Its almost done, but not quite yet.

[djg0770 481]

In other news, a Northern New Jersey man was arrested today after his thumb print (shown 4 photos up) was found at a crime scene. He was in possession of an arsenal of various WWII military weapons.

 

 

Looks real good though!