Back in a former lifetime I did a lot of stuff with experimental aircraft and used a lot of epoxy. I recall an epoxy product advertised as having extreme penetration on 'rotten' wood like an old boat. I now have a rifle stock that is 'softer' than I want so wonder if anyone has used some kind of 'penetrating' epoxy on a gun stock?

Minwax makes a product. Can't remember the name. You can find it at a home center or ACE Hardware.

Never used it on gunstocks, but Elmers wood stabilizer does a good job on soft and even rotten wood. Not sure if you can stain it though.


https://www.amazon.com/Elmers-...84207577034671&psc=1

Minwax Wood Hardener. Great stuff and absorbs faster than water. Great on rotted door/window frames.

quote:

Originally posted by Dall85:
Minwax Wood Hardener. Great stuff and absorbs faster than water. Great on rotted door/window frames.

https://www.minwax.com/wood-pr...rmance-wood-hardener


Knife makers also use cyanoacrylate glue, sometimes diluted with acetone, to stabilize wood knife handle scales. Woodturners do the same, particlularly with spalted woods. Before CA glues, they also used epoxies, thinned with acetone to aid in absorption.

Used a product called "Git Rot" on a boat back in the early 70's. Worked to harden the wood.
Looks like it is still available.
Don't know if it's any better or worse than other products. There've been lots of technological advances in adhesives.

quote:

Originally posted by ssdave:

quote:

Originally posted by Dall85:
Minwax Wood Hardener. Great stuff and absorbs faster than water. Great on rotted door/window frames.

https://www.minwax.com/wood-pr...rmance-wood-hardener


Knife makers also use cyanoacrylate glue, sometimes diluted with acetone, to stabilize wood knife handle scales. Woodturners do the same, particlularly with spalted woods. Before CA glues, they also used epoxies, thinned with acetone to aid in absorption.

This is exactly what in used to do with wood arrows. We called the Massey Finish because the Alaskan archer Jay Massey kind of introduced it for arrows.

Thin long-set epoxy with acetone, wipe on with cotton t-shirt, dry and do it again.

I would find lost arrows in the woods after a year that were perfectly fine other than the exposed ends.

Thanks, Gentlemen. I will give it a try.

the minwax works- used it to fix peer and beam sheds on the farm - jacked them up, used the hardener, put them back down 2 days later - far as I know, still standing ... i wonder if it's hydroscopic and follows the wet

Years ago, before retiring, I lived in Michigan. My neighbors had a wooden boat that was used as a flower bed and left partially exposed and partially buried for years. When they "dug" it out I asked if I could have it. The wood was rotten in various places but I had heard of an epoxy that soaked in and might save it. It came from the ship building Goshen Brothers in Bay City Mi. If I remember correctly, it went by the trade name WEST products which stood for wood epoxy saturation techniques. I have to tell you that stuff really worked! I used the little dingy for several years before giving it away. I can also tell you it really added quite a little weight to it. Don't know if they're still in business but one could probably google them up. Best of luck...

They are (were) the Gudgeon Brothers and are world famous in the high performance composite boat hull business. That said, I am not sure the boat epoxies are the best for what you want. While they saturate, their ultimate goal is encapsulation for protection, not complete saturation. From my experience the Get Rot types of product will give a more complete saturation and add more strength to punky wood. If it is confined to a stock head or one area, weight shouldn't be an issue. Staining will be unless you add dye to the epoxy when applying.

I have finished a lot of rifle stocks, but have little experience at it as I have done exactly the same thing every time. I sand and feather and then fill with spar varnish, sand with steel wool, and then use true oil - several coats. I intend to use the miniwax wood hardener instead of the spar varnish. We will see! Might cut down on the hanger rash!

From your initial post, I for some reason assumed you had an area of soft inletting which needed support for mechanical strength. If it is just soft wood under the finish, you are on the right track. I have built a lot of musical instruments in addition to stocks, and in the instrument world, TruOil and epoxies are makeing huge inroads in the high end market. This field has been totally laquer based for 100 years, driven by the need for thin finishes that don't alter the tonal properties. Epoxy filling followed by TruOil has become a popular finish. System Three was the preferred epoxy, as it is in a lot of the boat business. Boats are driven by the flexibility of use over West and by cost, which is really high for any size boat.

Recently, a product called Z-Poxy has really moved to the front in the instrument market. I did three guitars in rosewood last spring and it is a real improvement. You can apply it with a rag and rub it in. Two coats will fill about anything. Sand it down to a smooth surface that is acceptable for TruOil then apply a normal finish. The real difference is the hard smooth surface of the epoxy. Just a few heavy coats of TruOil let dry and rubbed out and you are done. I haven't done a gun yet but I will in the next month or two on an old Parker stock I want to rejuvenate. I am going to try to work it in with sanding to fill some gouges and scratches before the finish. I have tried (as other people have) epoxy filler for gun wood, but was never totally satisfied. This new product is made for wood finishing and is a huge leap forward.

Go to lmii.com. They are a well know luthier supply shop and carry the Z-Poxy. Enough for 2-3 guns or guitars is about $20.

If you have actual damaged wood to repair and strengthen, go the Get Rot route.

Excellent for some of my projects as well Thanks, Brian

Look at System Three epoxy.

Ive used Brownells clear glass thinned with Epoxy thinner thin to water like liquid on soft spots, worm holes in mesquite and it work great...

I have some left over hardwood floor coating I have considered trying on a gunstock. I have no idea how it would fare or how it would penetrate softer wood, but the stuff holds up extremely well against constant shoe sole abuse for years. Anyone ever tried that stuff?

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Originally posted by Wstrnhuntr:
I have some left over hardwood floor coating I have considered trying on a gunstock. I have no idea how it would fare or how it would penetrate softer wood, but the stuff holds up extremely well against constant shoe sole abuse for years. Anyone ever tried that stuff?

What ever you use make sure it is suitable for exterior use ! One very good varnish I use is Waterlox, they make floor and marine products for exterior use.
BB

I used that floor stuff on a softer cheap wood stock some years ago, may have been Waterlox?? It worked pretty good..It was pretty commonstuff available most ever paint store...

I have a fair amount of experience using epoxy on my boats. I have used WEST, System 3 and epoxy from US Composites in Florida. I have also used Git Rot which is obscenely expensive. To make epoxy flow into soft/rotted wood I now thin regular epoxy with 10% acetone. The acetone helps the epoxy saturate the wood and then flashes off leaving the epoxy behind.

Epoxy totally seals the wood. Any type of finish that is meant to soak into wood won't soak into epoxy coated wood. It will just sit on top of the epoxy.

Also epoxy is sensitive to sunlight and will degrade over time if not protected. Some high grade varnishes will protect the epoxy. Varnish also degrades in sunlight and needs to be periodically reapplied.

Since I have very limited experience using epoxy on gun stocks what I plan to do on some up coming projects may not be right. Be that as it may I plan to coat the inside of the stocks with epoxy. The barrel channel and the action inletting. On the exterior I am going to use tung oil.

That's my 2 centovos for whatever it is worth.

The Z-Poxy sounds good. However I would be concerned about the oil just coating the top of the epoxy. What does a finish with just Z-Poxy look like?

Im not fond of two things in gunstock finish and thats epoxy as a filler or finish and I won't use steel wool on wood......