Getting cosmoline off a wood stock

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chrisslamar

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Oh I hate cosmoline, let me count the ways... Anyways if you have seen any of my other recent posts, and so many of you have and have gave me great advice, you know that I'm in the process of making my Mosin Nagant M-44 in to the rifle that I want it to be. Well I'm at the worst part right now, and that would be trying to get the cosmoline off the wooden parts. I've heard a few ways to do it, but want to have some solid advice from those that have given me advice that has worked before. That's where all you guys come in. Please please please give me a easier ways of doing this. Right now I'm sitting on my deck with a hair dryer heating up the cosmoline. This is working but at the rate it's going it will take 5 years. Anything would be great. Thanks a lot : )

PS: I'm not going to do the oven trick and try to bake it off, so please do even mention it ; )
 
Heat...lots of it...I have heard putting the stock in a large plastic bag wih some kitty liter in the sun for a week or so, giving it the occasional shake would get most of the cosmo off.
 
That's the most practical way I've done it or heard of it. Good luck with finding something faster and/or more effective. :confused: May I ask why? (I'm cruising for a bruising lol)
 
u want a good way to get it off fire the sucker as soon as the barrel heats up u'll see all the cosmo baking out of the furniture.
 
I know of one guy who puts the stock in a metal trash can with a heat lamp inside (nothing touching the wood), puts on the lid and leaves it for a couple of days. It is sort of a low temperature oven. When he opens it, the cosmo is in a pool at the bottom of the can. Rub the stock down with a little paint thinner and you are good for the next step in refinishing.
 
EvisceratorSrB I'm guessing you're asking why I don't want to do the oven trick, and the main reason is I just don't want to put my wood stock in the oven : ). I know a lot of people have done it that way but I just feel iffy trying it. It'd be like putting my newborn in the oven : )
 
Strip off all the metal put duct tape on any cartouche's you want to save and send it through the Dishwasher. The high temps will pull many if not most of the dents up and will clean off all the cosmoline and paint. I have used this method several time on CMP M1 Garands with excellent results.
 
Ok a few things. First of all when I first read put it through the dishwasher I laugh very hard, I'm sure it works but the idea still made me laugh. Second assuming I were to do the dishwasher idea how long do I leave it in for? Third if I were todo the powerwasher idea wouldn't that me too much presure and start taking bits out of the wood? Keep the ideas comming, I'm now thinking about putting a list together of the most humorous ways to get off cosmoline : )
 
For the Dishwasher method I have only had to run it through one cycle. You would be surprised at how effective it can be. Depending on how large the stock is you may have to remove the top dish rack.

Be sure to cover the cartouches with duct tape if you want them to remain on the stock otherwise the dishwasher method will bring out all the dings and scrapes. I made this mistake the first time I tried it... Big mistake.
 
Water is the enemy of wood. Running a stock through a dishwasher forces water deep into the stock and it may not dry out all the way.

If you had a piece of fine antique furniture that you wanted to clean and preserve so it would last for many years, would you put it in the dishwasher?

Does anyone really think that an experienced woodworker would say that blasting a stock with a high pressure car wash hose is a terrific idea?

Oven cleaner is an equally bad suggestion.

BsChoy has the best recommendation.
 
Water is the enemy of wood. Running a stock through a dishwasher forces water deep into the stock and it may not dry out all the way.
Click to expand...

The key to using the dishwasher method is to allow the wood to completely dry. Then once it has dried you then need to stain the wood or put some sort of oil finish such as tung oil or or Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO). I have had nothing but positive results with this method and plan to use it again in the future.

To each there own.
 
To each there own.
Click to expand...
Indeed. My problem is that while a piece of wood may look quite dry on the outside, I have no way of looking into it all the way into the middle to tell if it is thoroughly dry.
 
Oven cleaner. Lye works, believe me. As another stated, put good tape over cartouches, remove the wood from all metal, and spray it down with EasyOff in your driveway. Leave it for a good 10-20 minutes, watch the oil boil out of the inner reaches of the wood. Then spray it down with a garden hose, to wash off the oven cleaner. Then approach your wood stock gingerly, carefully sanding with extremely fine sandpaper, and then with 00-000 steel wool. Use a block of wood to smooth out your sanding, so as not to sand too deeply into your baby. You'll want to put a good oil coat on your stock, utilizing pressure to provide heat to drive the finishing oil into the wood.

It turns out beautifully, into a finish you're able to repeat upon your prized MilSurp. I'll post a photo of my Yugo 48 and my Swedish '96 ASAP.
 
I just yesterday cleaned the cosmo off of two Springfield 03's that I got from CMP just before going on vacation (they sat for a couple of weeks waiting for me).
From stocks, nothing works as well as Strypez paint remover. It has the two key ingredients: Basic as hell (lye or sodium hydroxide) and methylene chloride.
It cuts through cosmoline like nobodys business.
If you do not want to remove the finish, well that makes it tougher.

For getting the cosmoline out of the metal, go for brake cleaner, but not just any brake cleaner. Look for one that still has either trichloroethylene or tetrachloroethylene (the chlorinated compounds really solublize the waxy cosmo). If you find one with methylene chloride, that is just as good.
Carb cleaner usually does not have the chlorinated products as they are not combustable, so brake cleaner is better (but read the label, they are not all the same).
 
If you're not in a hurry, the kitty-litter method works very well. Especially as hot as it is around here right now.

Get some heavy plastic, a heavy-duty trash bag works fine. Make a bag wide enough to hold the stock and about a foot longer. I used either duct tape or shipping tape to seal the seams, double-tape them to take the weight. Take all the metal off, wipe off all the cosmo you can with paper towels or a wash with mineral spirits, then put it in the bag. Fill with cheap, unscented litter or oil spill absorber. Close, lay in the sun. Or in the car trunk, anywhere it'll get hot.

Next day, put it out on the other side. It takes a week to ten days in weather like this, depending on how bad the stock is. I had a SKS stock so soaked it seemed that if you breathed on it hard some more grease would bleed out. After eight days in weather like this it was so clean it looked bleached.

After it's done, use a soft brush and some mineral spirits to wash it off to get the last of the grease on the surface and get rid of the dust, let dry, and finish as you wish.
 
Entry Level Care and Preservation Tips and Considerations for CMP Wood

6.1 Stripping Off the Old Finish and Other Debris: Walnut and birch are easily worked with, but not cheaply and take some labor if you want a nice job without making a chemical mess of the wood. Any product or procedure that includes water is not appropriate for refinishing rifle stocks. The oven cleaner and dishwasher versions of cleaning stocks are not appropriate. Water, chemicals, and hot water are the death of wood fibers and any cartouche marks on the wood. Wood in many respects is a bundle of straws held together by glue. The active ingredient in Easy-Off Oven Cleaner (sodium hydroxide) attacks the natural wood glue (hemicellulose) holding the wood fibers together. Left on long enough, it will even attack the individual wood fibers. Even more problematic when unintended is that Easy-Off requires rinsing with water which raises the grain of the wood and requires sanding to remove the feathers raised. A dishwasher’s water and heat have the potential to swell wood fibers so much that the metal will not fit back in. Oven cleaners and dishwasher detergents chemically alter the wood fibers and remove natural oils in the wood. A lye like compound may be left in the wood to later leach out if damp and attack the metal placed against it.

Minwax Antique Furniture Refinisher, synthetic stripping pads, a stiff toothbrush, and a kitchen vegetable brush will get all the old finish off of the hand guards and off of a walnut or birch stock while putting needed natural oils into the wood and keeping the grain flat. Every bit of the stock, inside and out, should be cleaned with the Refinisher including the butt stock kit holes. It is actually good for the wood. Use something like a 3” deep 4” by 10” steel pan to catch the Refinisher that runs off so that the customer can keep applying it. It will run down the wood as the work progresses into the pan to reuse.

The directions on the can should be read carefully before use. The can clearly indicates the Refinisher must be used in a well ventilated area. The fumes should not be inhaled.
Click to expand...
 
I've tried several methods. Oven cleaner, lacquer thinner soaking, heat....
My latest was a CMP 1903A3. Stock was in great shape, with SN stamped on it, so I wanted to save it, even though I wanted to install a new Wenig C stock, I couldn't bring myself to change its originality. I first soaked in in Lacquer thinner and this got a LOT off. I then placed it in the sun and baked a lot more up to the top. I then tried K2R. It is a spray on oil and stain remover you find in the laundry detergent area of your local grocery store. It will lift out even more of the oils, but it leaves a white powdery residue that will disappear with the addition of BLO. But even after I thought I had it all out, it is still weeping cosmoline to this day, three years later. I guess I need to put it out in the sun on a hot day. It's bleeding less and less each time though. I just usually pick it up and wipe it down good and go shoot it.
 
"Water is the death of a wood stock?" We are talking about a 70 year old Russian military rifle. I am going to go out on a limb with this, but I would bet that SOMETIME during it's life this Mosin has seen a BIT of rain, snow, slush, and mud.
 
This is going to sound like a really dumb question, but what will the stock look like when I get the cosmoline off what will the stock look like? Will it look like unfinished wood or will there be some kind of finish on the stock?
 
A rearsenaled M44 has varnish or shellac or something on it.

I just left my Mosin Carbine in the desert sun twice and wiped it off with a paper towel. Easy. It's August.

In December, you'll have to be more creative.
 
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