Removing an oil finish on a beech stock.

[averageplinker]

Hi all,
I have a stock I bought to refinish. I want to remove the oil finish but do not want to use abrasives.
My instinct is to use plenty of rags soaked in white spirit to rub off/out the oil.

Has anyone else used other methods successfully? Would nitromors work?

I seem to recall a thread on here years ago suggesting stubborn wood stain could be removed buy soaking a stripped stock in water with th h washing powder in. Has anyone done this or did I just dream it up?

Cheers

[grumpygit]

To be quite honest i would think that you will have no alternative but to use abrasives if you want to get back to untreated wood as the initial oil layer will have penetrated into the wood unless your just talking about the top layers that you want to remove.

[bighit]

you can bleach it but I'm not sure if that will remove the oil finish .

Color Removal
Chlorine bleaches are best used for removing dye-based stains. The chief advantage of this bleach is that it will remove or lighten the dye without affecting the natural color of the wood. To use this type of bleach, purchase dry calcium hypochlorite from a swimming pool supplier and mix a saturated solution of the powder in hot water. A saturated solution is formed by adding the powder to the water until no more powder will dissolve. The mixture will start to foam a little and loses its effectiveness if stored, so I only make up what I'll use right away. Apply the solution liberally to the wood and in some cases, the dye will immediately disappear. Other dyes may take a while to bleach and some may only lighten. Wait overnight to determine the full bleaching effect. If the color hasn't changed after two applications, applying more bleach will be ineffective and you'll need to try an alternate technique. Chlorine dyes are usually ineffective on pigment based stains. The only way to remove these are by sanding or scraping

http://www.antiquerestorers.com/Arti...ood_bleach.htm

I dare say the above is for wood with the oil removed .


some ideas here

http://canalworld.net/forums/index.p...oil-from-wood/

[cooper_dan]

An oil finish will usually come off with thinners or paint stripper, but the stain or dye colour underneath won't be affected
Varnish will need paint stripper. Again this won't affect the colour underneath.

As mentioned above bleach will generally remove the actual colour once any proctive oil/varnish is gone. Newer stocks it might just come straight out, but I've had some older stocks (60's/70') where the colour is really stubborn and has required sanding.

Sanding isn't the end of the world. Although a wood dye will penetrate into the fibres, it's microns deep rather than mm's so you can usually get to bare wood without affecting the shape of the stock.

Good luck!

[scrane]

Oil finish on beech sounds unusual. Are you sure it's not varnish or polyurethane?

[bighit]

Oil finish on beech sounds unusual. Are you sure it's not varnish or polyurethane?

could be a refinished stock and the previous owner used an oil finish

[averageplinker]

could be a refinished stock and the previous owner used an oil finish

Straight to the top of the class for bighit

[bighit]

Straight to the top of the class for bighit

thanks I would like to thank my mum ,my dad blah blah

[Peter Dunkley]

I would use SUGARSOAP.
Thats if it is an oil finish and not varnish.

[averageplinker]

I would use SUGARSOAP.
Thats if it is an oil finish and not varnish.

I was wondering about that myself. I have some free time tomorrow and will have a crack at it using various techniques and will report back my results.
Cheers all

[max headroom]

did my superstar and all i did was use boiling water on tea towels. it brings the oil out and raises the grain for sanding. took me three weeks mind.
if it is any help i used crocus paper to finish before re oiling.

[Salamander]

I've used Lord Sheraton Liquid Gold to get rid of dirty old oil finish from gunstocks. Foul-smelling stuff, though.