BYF 44 stock restoration.

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DukeIronHand

Senior Member
Have a all matching BYF 44 (except bolt) that even has a matching number white glue stock. Beautiful rifle.
Unfortunately, sometime in its past, a previous owner did a excellent, obvious, and multi-coat thorough job, of coating the stock in what I believe to be some kind of satin polyurethane or similar.

I used a do-all chemical stripper (lightly and quickly on a glued laminate stock!) and wiped with a rag that removed some of this coating but not all as I avoided the Step Two of abrasive anything. Reluctant to break out the super chemical again because of the glue. Currently rubbing with denatured alcohol on a rag which may be working and may not. Definitely slow going.

There are a couple dozen chemicals and products for removal of wood surface coatings, and it certainly would be helpful if I knew exactly what was on here, but I don’t. If this was a solid chunk of wood with no stampings and markings I could be a little more aggressive but I’m trying to baby it.

Heading to town today so does anyone have a suggestion of what “glue friendly” chemical I can try here?
 
one thing to keep in mind with a white glue stock is that it is water soluble I believe so I might avoid rinsing anything away with water. Also my principle with anything like this is to slowly escalate the strength of anything I may use, i.e. start with mild and only use what's necessary to do the job and nothing stronger as you escalate. best to understand what you're removing too. old school shellac wipes away with alcohol and little effort. Flecto-Varithane is another matter all together.....find the most effective solvent for that finish.
 
You'd probably be okay with any of the over-the-counter paint and varnish removers sold today, as they've been made so "safe-'n-sane, dad-'n-lad" that they're probably approved for use on nursery school projects. The "old" stuff? Forget it, I don't even know if it's still available. I remember a big furniture refinishing outfit, they had a tank that they could lower a whole wardrobe into. One dip, and grandma's 100-year old rocker came out down to the bare wood. One of their workers fell into the strip tank once, and they didn't even bother trying to save him -- he was done.

When you use the OTC finish removers on poly-razzamatazz coatings though, you can't expect them to wipe on and wipe off like the old stuff. You've gotta scrape, because there's only a very short window where the finish will be softened. Once that "window" closes, the muck re-hardens on the wood.

So, work in small patches at a time. Apply a thick coating of "remover", and have a bunch of wooden tongue depressors on hand to use as scrapers. You can grind those into whatever shape you need on your belt sander (like a radius for scraping the bolt handle relief, et al). And have long strips of corrugated cardboard close by. Scrape a load of muck off the wood, and immediately scrape the muck off your scraper on the edge of the cardboard. You gotta be QUICK!

Richie
 
Thanks all.
Scraping was a suggestion with the super stripper but I did not try it as this wasn’t a table top or something and figured there was no way I could do a thorough job on the stock unless it literally melts off. But your right in that the glue laminate is a bit of a wild card here.

I’ll take a look at what’s available today and do the super chemical scrape as a “last resort.”
If I knew what was used this would all be pretty simple as there is a chemical remover for everything but most are unique to a certain finishes and not interchangeable so to speak.
 
DukeIronHand said:
Thanks all.
Scraping was a suggestion with the super stripper but I did not try it as this wasn’t a table top or something and figured there was no way I could do a thorough job on the stock unless it literally melts off. But your right in that the glue laminate is a bit of a wild card here.

I’ll take a look at what’s available today and do the super chemical scrape as a “last resort.”
If I knew what was used this would all be pretty simple as there is a chemical remover for everything but most are unique to a certain finishes and not interchangeable so to speak.
Click to expand...

Given the brief period(s) that any of today's over-the-counter finish removers will be in actual contact with your wood, I'd be VERY surprised if they had any affect whatsoever on that glue-bond laminate. Except, of course, in areas where the laminate had visibly separated. In such areas, you'd naturally have to use caution. But NONE of the stuff you're likely to buy at Ace Hardware or Tru-Value could be termed "super", as they're no longer putting methylene chloride in finish remover.

Same holds true for water, IMO. If you left that stock in a tub of water overnight, you'd have problems. But to wipe off remnants of that Play-Skool finish remover with a damp rag, and blow the wood dry with compressed air? No worries!
 
I agree with R.W. and Yellowkid, just want to mention that I've had my best luck with repeated applications of Jasco stripper followed by lacquer thinner and a green military gun cleaning toothbrush. you may need the popsicle stick or tongue depressor in certain areas too, just don't get aggressive on the markings and yes, water is your worst enemy because it raises the grain, swells the wood, can warp it and may help to delaminate the wood like Yellowkid says.
:happy0180:
 
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White glue stock water soluble?? Never heard that. I have heard the glue is not as good as the red but I doubt they would put them into service if water soluble. Water is just bad as it raises the grain.
 
mto7464 said:
White glue stock water soluble?? Never heard that. I have heard the glue is not as good as the red but I doubt they would put them into service if water soluble. Water is just bad as it raises the grain.
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Raised grain can easily be flattened by carefully boning the stock. I have used this method to restore the original look of stocks in areas where wrist cracks had been repaired or pieces spliced in. Smooth butter knife handles or 3/4" diameter steel rods are ideal for the job. I used the latter to restore a battered comb of a South American Mauser walnut stock.
 
mto7464 said:
White glue stock water soluble?? Never heard that. I have heard the glue is not as good as the red but I doubt they would put them into service if water soluble. Water is just bad as it raises the grain.
Click to expand...

I have to believe that the white glue was at the very least "water resistant", but perhaps it wasn't truly "water proof".
I can say that I've seen more white glue stocks with delaminations than stocks with the red glue.
It'd be interesting to throw a chunk of it in water for a week or so and see if it tries to come apart.
:googlie
 
swjXE said:
It'd be interesting to throw a chunk of it in water for a week or so and see if it tries to come apart.
:googlie
Click to expand...

Hopefully I won’t have some test samples here.
Getting ready to wipe on/wipe off something that I pray won’t leave me in tears when I’m done.
Guess I’ll know shortly.

EDIT: For any future explorers of the unknown Acetone was totally worthless.
Waiting the 15 minute official soak time on the do-all chemical stripper which I’ll follow with a scrapping. Been the only thing so far to put a dent into whatever is on there.
 
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DukeIronHand said:
Hopefully I won’t have some test samples here.
Getting ready to wipe on/wipe off something that I pray won’t leave me in tears when I’m done.
Guess I’ll know shortly.

EDIT: For any future explorers of the unknown Acetone was totally worthless.
Waiting the 15 minute official soak time on the do-all chemical stripper which I’ll follow with a scrapping. Been the only thing so far to put a dent into whatever is on there.
Click to expand...

Must be polyurethane! I've always hated that stuff!:googlie
 
swjXE said:
Must be polyurethane! I've always hated that stuff!:googlie
Click to expand...

Luckily the chemical stripper (“Strypeez”) worked like a champ with the proper scraping this time. Worked last time too but I just wiped it.
Gonna let it sit for the day and look at it in the sunlight tomorrow to see if I’m done or it needs it again. Looking good though in my semi-poor indoor lighting.
 
R.W. Parker said:
Maybe those rifles were only intended for desert use.:laugh:
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Gave this some thought and maybe it is water soluble until it drys or cures. Have to believe rifles got wet at the front - sometimes very wet for an extended period - and it can’t be too soluble unless linseed oil is just working real well keeping the water out.
 
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