Need Help With Stock Repair

[Ben_Rumson]

In the pic below you can see someone has filled a hole with some sort of plastic filler..Maybe AcraGlas? I'm needing suggestions of how to remove the filler...Hopefully by softening it up chemically and then digging it out. I don't have a clue as to what solvent to use & method of application...I've read that sawdust can be mixed with glue and be used for a filler.. I'd use wood shavings/sawdust removed from the butt stock (by drilling behind the butt plate) to fill in the hole..If that is a good way to do it..But any suggestions or pointers or other ideas on how to go about making this a decent repair would greatly be appreciated.

[J Miller]

Ben,

I don't know of any chemical to remove epoxy with. If you're positive that's an epoxy based filler I'd suggest a small wood cutting bit in a Dremel tool. Carefully cut it out till you reach wood.

As it is, it sorta looks like a knot to me.

What kind of rifle is it?

Joe

[Ben_Rumson]

Thanks Joe..I'm not positive it is epoxy...I don't know what kinds of fillers are around.. so I'm hoping that someone that is in the know about fillers and wood working can point me in the right direction..

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

If you try sawdust and glue you eill end up eith something very much like what you already have, what is the point? The proper way to do it is an inlay. FWIW, from what is shown there is a good chance that is just as it came out of the armory. Don't know what you intend to accomplish, but if it is a collector grade gun it can only reduce it's value. I have a model '96 Swedish Mauser that has what looks for all the world like plastic wood in a repair. With the condition of the gun otherwise I have no doubt that it was originally issued that way.

[Tycer]

No matter what you do, it's gonna look like a patch. An inlay is the proper fix, but it will not be invisible, even if done by a pro.

It would be fun to do.

[Sixgun]

Like Tycer says, anything you fill it with will look like a patch job. I have run across your problem many times and the easiest thing to do is to camouflage it. Anyway, get yourself some kind of a tool and make some scratches in the "patch" that look like the wood around it. Then, get some dark stain (I like leather dye) and work it around the entire area until it all blends in. On an old gun, the darkness just looks like oil staining.

If the rest of the wood is like new, the only thing is an inlay or wood replacement.-----------Sixgun

[cas]

Argentine silly putty?

[Modoc ED]

Leave it alone. It gives the rifle "character". At the most, clean the forend and stock with a light wood cleaner (turpentine would do) and give em a coat of wax. Then go shoot the heck out of the rifle and enjoy it as is.

[Gun Smith]

I agree with of the above posts. But if you want to attempt a repair, I have a couple of suggestions for you. First, just cut out the old repair. Try to find some wood that is a pretty close match. Now here's the trick. When you inlay in the patch, don't cut it straight in. Instead lay it in on a very shallow angle. say 60 degrees to the surface. Think about filling a bullet dent in a steel plate with water. When you file and sand the inlay down, you only have a very fine circular line around the edge. This looks much better than a square patch.

[airedaleman]

Years ago, they used varnish sicks to effect small repairs on gunstocks. That's what your patch looks like to me. I'd say leave it alone; it looks as if it aged equally with the rest of the forearm. (By the way, what sort of rifle is that? Looks like a Savage...)

[Ben_Rumson]

Thanks for all the input guys...I would have been happy if the patch had been done with the glue & wood method in the first place and would leave it be..but I can't ABIDE PLASTIC on this old timer...I've got some wood for an inlay..

[octagon]

Gun Smith's advice to use a beveled patch is solid. Try a variety of solvents on the mystery substance using q tips - water, alcohol etc. You might get lucky.
The trick to getting a good patch is to match color, shape and grain orientation. If the patch grain (growth rings as oriented to 90 degrees) matches the stock's orientation very closely or exactly, it is less visible. Find the grain orientation of the stock at the end grain.
You might be able to carefully to harvest a matching patch from the inside of the stock.
The fit of the patch will ultimately depend on how keen the blade is you use to inlet it.

[Ben_Rumson]

Thanks octagon..Ive got an old badly damaged Rolling Block stock I can get the inlay from..I'm going to give a go at removing the plastic putty just to see how bad the damage is under it..Could be more is covered than is really damged..