Raising Dings/Dents in the wood

[WayBeau]

My rifle fell this past weekend while I was coming in from hunting. It was leaning, unloaded, up against the door of the truck and slid to the side. It was a bonehead move on my part to be so careless with where I rested it, but I can't unride that horse. After a thorough inspection, it appears that the only damage was to the stock in the way of a few minor dings and dents.
Is there a way to raise these, or should I just call them battle wounds and move on?

Thanks.

 

[Sam1911]

What is the finish? Gloss or matte oiled traditional?


You can take a cloth that's a bit wet, lay it over the dent, and press a hot iron to it which will usually steam up the dent at least some. But you often have to sand or scrape to bring it out smooth again, and refinish. Depending on what the finish is you might create an unsightly mess instead of fixing a small dent.

 

[WayBeau]

I would say it's a matte finish. It's a newer (less than 10 yrs old) Ruger M77 Hawkeye. I definitely don't want to make it look any worse.

 

[AZAndy]

What is the finish? Gloss or matte oiled traditional?


You can take a cloth that's a bit wet, lay it over the dent, and press a hot iron to it which will usually steam up the dent at least some. But you often have to sand or scrape to bring it out smooth again, and refinish. Depending on what the finish is you might create an unsightly mess instead of fixing a small dent.

I have done just that with dinged smoking pipes. A little steam can often straighten things out, or at least make the dent less severe.

 

[243winxb]

I always stripped the finish off the stock before raising the grain and dents , using the steam process.

 

[carbine85]

If the edges of the dent aren't damaged with broken fibers the iron trick will probably raise at least part of it. It takes several attempts.

 

[WayBeau]

I haven't tried this yet. . . .mainly due to my fear of ruining the finish. Some of the dents look worse than others, but none seem to have damaged edges.

 

[Sunray]

Steaming does work best on oil finishes, but it works on any non-polyurethaned finish too. It does not work on gouges or any damage involving cut fibres.
It's a cloth(face cloth works well) that's wet, but not dripping and a regular cloths iron set on cotton. Apply the iron until the cloth dries. Repeat as required.

 

[Sun Tzu warrior]

If there are scratches, just use some old English with scratch cover.
Comes in dark and light, the scratch will still be there but will look more natural.
STW

 

[RangerGord]

If the wood fibers are NOT cut or severed a dent can often be raised with steam. A damp cloth spread over the dent with a hot iron pressed against it. But the finish on the stock only gets in the way. My advice is to refinish the stock in a few years(or whenever you want). That would be a good time to try raising the dents.

 

[boom boom]

One old woodworking trick is to detail strip only the damaged areas, repair such as steaming, and then restain and cover using a shellac stick or you can use poly if you are careful. You will have to mask off the undamaged areas. The fly in the ointment is matching the stain and that generally requires either knowledge/supplies, trial and error on scrap wood matching your rifle in mixing commercial stains, or going to a specialty shop to have custom stain mixed that matches your finish (I would not advise Lowes or Home Depot for this but a true specialty shop which generally caters to professional cabinet and furniture makers.

Oh, btw, use a scrap piece of cloth because it will get stained from the process and an old iron which can get stuff on it too. Natural fibers such as cotton/linen/wool work well as they hold water- -DO NOT USE POLY/NYLON/RAYON etc. as these can melt if you are not careful and hold water poorly for the iron to release as steam. A small iron is easier to use than a large one for this task. As mentioned before, deep dents take multiple attempts. Gouges and scratches are a different matter and can be addressed by other tricks found on woodworking sites.

 

[natman]

After a thorough inspection, it appears that the only damage was to the stock in the way of a few minor dings and dents.
Is there a way to raise these, or should I just call them battle wounds and move on?

Call them battle wounds and move on. I've steamed out a lot of dents and as long as the wood isn't cut you can raise them successfully with steam. The problem is that the process raises the grain of the wood, which will need to be sanded back again. No big deal if you're refinishing the entire stock, a major PITA if you're not.

It's a hunting rifle. These may be its first dings, but they won't be the last.