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Posted: 9/26/2007 10:07:08 AM EDT
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I know this has been covered before and I did a the search on it. I have been putting off cleaning up a collector for about 10 months. I have most of the cosmo removed from the stock and want to clean it up a bit more before I apply the BLO. Do I use mineral spirits or denatrued alcohol to gently wipe it down? Thanks, Mike |
That link doesn't work. BTW, I just cleaned the handguard with Murphys Oil Soap and besides looking a little dull it seems to be very clean. Any chance that this being a collector that I should just let it dry really well and apply BLO? |
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Cut and paste the link. I should be fixed. This was taken from there: 9. Cleaning a Dirty or Greasy or Dry Collector Stock A collector stock should receive more careful care and three of the products listed in the "Freshening" section above all contain some varnish/resin/polymer content in addition to the Tung Oil base with yet some dryers added. Any of the three would work and look nice but multiple coats build up which is not wanted. Those products are not appropriate for a stock with collector qualities because of the varnish content. As a practical matter, the “formula” tung oils are not original and should not be used to clean a collector stock. A better choice would be pure real tung oil. The new owner probably does not want to clean the wood or hand guards with anything else before using some pure, real, tung oil. No additives, no dryers, no polymers, no nothing besides pure tung oil. Tung oil will dissolve the dried crud and remove dirt on its own just fine. All that the new owner needs to do to clean a collector stock of crud and whatever else is to get some cheese cloth, the funny open weave stuff, and use some pure tung oil to wet it. As the wood is rubbed with the cloth and tung oil, the new oil will dissolve the old crud that is dried and stuck on. The cheese cloth will collect the crud and carry it away as the cloth is turned. There is nothing more needed to clean a real USGI stock in near perfect condition. ANY complicated formula product that is used will take away finish, stain, wood and so on. The result will be other than original. Some collectors believe that any cleaning by any means creates a non-original result and that nothing should be done to that quality of stock so as to preserve its historical originality. Again, there are choices to be made by a new owner. What is very clear is that mineral spirits, turpentine, paint thinner, refinisher, strippers, sand paper, steel wool, abrasive pads, any thing besides soft cloth, will cut the wood and take the color and finish away. Most people feel these things should not be done to a collector grade stock. Cheese cloth, pure tung oil, and a bit of elbow grease will clean the stock, leave it protected, and it will look perfect. Don't let the tung oil sit on the top of the wood wet or soak in forever or even worse dry on the surface. Clean the wood and then wipe it dry to cure as soon as the user is finished cleaning. What soaked in while rubbing and was left in the wood as wiped dry is good enough. Stop there. The best rule of collector wood is that the less you do the less can get messed up. BLO or BTO might be considered to work for this application, but pure real tung oil will clean wood well and is not as likely to dry up suddenly from rubbing generated heat. |
| i used a heat gun to gently heat the wood and allow all the old grease/cosmo/gunk to sweat out of there. it's tedious and takes a long time to do, but it's worth it, just be very careful not to heat an area too long or you can burn the wood. as soon as you see it start to sweat, wipe it with a paper towel and let it cool for a few seconds and repeat the process until no more oil comes out, or at least it stops sweating to a degree you're happy with. |
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Here is an entire forum about cleaning milsurps. I have found it useful. I use mineral spirits for removing surface cosmo. You may find that it has soaked in and will continue to seep out when the stock heats up. |
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