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texasmac
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Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Aug 5th, 2026 at 2:16pm
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It’s been many years since I stripped & refinished a stock & forearm.  I recently picked up a nice Miroku Win. .22LR Low Wall.  It sports a heavy 28” Shilen ratchet barrel with a match chamber.  All the metal is great, but the wood was coated with a thick layer of polyurethane & had a good bit of shallow dings, especially the forearm.  After stripping off all the polyurethane, what a pain, I set the wood aside.  A couple of days later, oil in the stock wrist area apparently migrated to the surface.

So, what’s the recommended way to get rid of the oil prior to refinishing?  I’m considering soaking the wrist area in acetone for a couple of days.

Wayne
  

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TomKlinger
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Re: Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Reply #1 - Aug 5th, 2026 at 2:33pm
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Wayne,
Since it’s stripped. I have in the past put the wood in the oven at 165* to 175* for several hours to bring the oil out. Then soak it in acetone or what ever solvent you prefer. Place it in the acetone while the wood is still warm. I’ve done this on original rifles several times and it works well.
You will never get all the oil out of the wood but, with the method above, it will keep the remaining oil below the surface so it can be refinished…
Hope this helps,
Tom Klinger

  
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jimmy
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Re: Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Reply #2 - Aug 5th, 2026 at 3:48pm
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Whiting compound from brownells. 

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gnoahhh
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Re: Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Reply #3 - Aug 5th, 2026 at 4:52pm
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Acetone, but you'll have to weight the wood to keep it under the surface. Don't be shocked if it comes out looking bleached. The first dab of finish will bring the color right back.

I've used Fuller's Earth too, packed on and placed in a black garbage bag and either set on the dashboard of the car on a hot summer day or on the steam radiator on a cold winter day - you get the drift.
  
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calledflyer
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Re: Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Reply #4 - Aug 5th, 2026 at 5:01pm
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give your wife a 'day off' to go to lunch with her friends. after she's headed down the street, put the stocks into the dishwasher with dawn pod and run a normal cycle. Do not use the drying part of the cycle- just take it out to the garage and go make lunch for yourself. I'm able to claim having done three military stocks this way and no problem- your Miroku is probably a piece of cake.
  
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texasmac
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Re: Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Reply #5 - Aug 5th, 2026 at 7:30pm
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Thanks guys.  Several good suggestions.

Wayne
  

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cellargun
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Re: Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Reply #6 - Aug 6th, 2026 at 3:21pm
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jimmy wrote on Aug 5th, 2026 at 3:48pm:
Whiting compound from brownells. 

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I needed some of this to strip oil from a military Mauser a couple years ago but it was out of stock. During a random conversation with a friend, he suggested carpenter chalk. Not the red or blue stuff, as it seems they make white also for marking football fields and the like. It’s way cheaper than the Brownell’s stuff too. I mixed a slurry with acetone, painted it on, then stuck it in a trash bag in the hot summer sun. It took a few applications to draw out the oil from the exterior, with a few more for some stubborn inletting. After a final acetone wash, the finish went on very well.
  
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2152hq
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Re: Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Reply #7 - Aug 7th, 2026 at 5:07pm
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Powdered chalk is calcium carbonate.
The cheapest I've found is a 5lb plastic jug of it for $9 and change (IIFC it was $9.14) on Amazon. Free shipping too.

It's white and sold as athletic line marker and for a number of other uses.
Irwin Strait Line (correct spelling) is the brand.

That's pretty cheap.

It works perfectly for pulling oil from wood. But the process is a slow one and you need patience.
I mix the slurry up with plain alcohol. Cheaper than acetone and the acetone doesn't make any difference in the rate the oil is pulled from the wood.
The acetone or alcohol, or lac thinner is used as they have quick evaporation rates.
You can pile on a coating of the slurry and the fast evaporation of the liquid dries it quickly and then you can add more to the surface to build it up.
The acetone evaporates so quickly that it doesn't really affect the rate that the oil is going to be absorbed. Same with the other liquids.  It's the long term that the coating sets on the wood and absorbs the oil that weeps to the surface underneath it.

It can take weeks and longer to work it all out. Coating after coating is brushed off when it turns yellow/brown from the oil it has absorbed. 
Then add another coating and let it sit again.
When you think you have it all (oil) let the brushed off wood just sit for  a week or so. If small pin point black dots appear,,it's more oil down in there.
Back to the coatings of chalk slurry and more patience.

A couple coatings and a few days time will not do it.
Patience. Have other things to do and let the stuff work.
  
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bpjack
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Re: Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Reply #8 - Aug 7th, 2026 at 5:31pm
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Thanks for the heads up.  I usually go to eBay before Amazon and just ordered this.

3 clicks and it is on its way from Texas.

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Jack
  

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marlinguy
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Re: Removing residual oil prior to refinishing a stock
Reply #9 - Aug 7th, 2026 at 5:46pm
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Whiting powder and chalk powder are both calcium carbonate, but chalk powder is much cheaper. I mix up a slurry using acetone as acetone works to draw the oils out quicker. Make sure the slurry is runny as it thickens quickly as acetone evaporates fast. Once it dries I brush it off with a stiff bristle brush and put more on. If it begins to dry in the pan just add some more acetone to wet it again.
  

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