Release Agent

[cavemanforester]

OK Folks, I'm hearing Pam, Johnson's Floor Wax, Paste wax, grease, and shoe polish for a release agent. What's the best, and who has other favorites. Also, is there any prep before I glass bed an action in a Ramline stock? Its pretty flimsey.

 

[nicholst55]

I have used Johnson's Paste Wax extensively, and it works very well. Kiwi neutral shoe polish is another favorite. I wouldn't trust Pam as a release agent, but I've never tried it.

First roughen up the interior surfaces of your stock, to give the epoxy something to stick to. Otherwise it will chip out. Then use something to thoroughly degrease the interior of the stock. Simple Green, Purple Power, 409, etc., will all work to remove the mold release agent from when the stock was manufactured. Failure to do this will also likely cause your glass to chip out and not stick.

 

[cavemanforester]

Thanks. Would you recommend drilling into the stock to create the locking effect described in the directions?

 

[natman]

+1 for Johnson's Floor Wax. I have also heard good reports on Kiwi Neutral shoe polish. I wouldn't use Pam, you want something solid you can use to fill voids.

You need to clean out the inletting on a synthetic stock to remove any traces of the release agent used to get it out of the mold. Here's some tips on bedding with a synthetic stock: (page down)

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168944

 

[Bart B.]

I like Simonize car wax. Rubbed thin after applying, it seems to give a tighter fit than the shoe polishes or other waxes I've tried. The only stocks that had problems with epoxy sticking to them were wood ones that had the metal parts coated with too much oil or grease that worked into the pores softening the wood. Epoxy won't stick to oil and grease. Never made any difference if the wood or synthetic stuff was smooth, rough or had anchor holes drilled into it. The Devcon or Duro plastic steel I used stuck to anything that was dry.

A few folks have used Pam with success, but they all said they had to use a very thin coat. Rubbing it thin seemed to be a good idea. Side note....When I worked at HP, a new product called a Digitizer was in development. It had a 20 by 25 inch 1/4th inch thick epoxy screen with X and Y axis wires in it to sense the stylus' position outlining artwork or drawings placed on it so the data could be sent to a computer. As different release agents were tried in production to make that part come out of the mold leaving its surfaces clean and smooth. A girl on the production line team said she would bring in a spray can of Pam from her kitchen to try; some of the engineers laughed at her. They tried it and the results were perfect. They bought several cases of it. The girl got the award for the project's "best production idea."

 

[tjrahl]

Johnson wax, neutral shoe polish, no reason whatsoever to pay for a "gunsmithing" release agent, both of the above work as well if not BETTER!

 

[greyling22]

I used the blue stuff that came in teh brownells acraglas kit, then coated it with pam. I like the spray on nature of the pam, it covered areas I'm sure I missed with the brush on stuff. but it was kinda messy and hard to get off. I don't know if it helped, but it certainly didn't hurt.

 

[tango2echo]

Kiwi Neutral has worked flawlessly on over 100 bedding jobs for me.


t2e

 

[Maj Dad]

Caveman, use your Dremel (or pocket knife) to create little footholds for the bedding. You can't go wrong giving more "grab" to the compound - it's a universal recommendation for bedding applications for receivers, and it never hurts to give the barrel channel a foothold, either.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

I use my Dremel to "Hog Out" the areas of the stock where I am putting my Devcon bedding compound.
It cant hurt to give it a little bit more area to grip.
Let us know how it works out - I've never seen a Ram-Line stock bedded before.

 

[loadedround]

I have known people to have used plastic wrap(Saran Wrap)as a release agent. Never tried it but they claim it works. YMMV.

 

[BADUNAME27]

I will only use a commercial mold release agent in aerosol form.

Results vary but here's what I get:

 

[BADUNAME27]

duplicate post

 

[jester_s1]

Nice work. What did you use to dam the front to get such a clean line?

BTW, I have used Meltonian shoe polish several times with nary a stuck action.

 

[tjj]

LongRifles,

That's a beautiful bedding job. Maybe the best I've seen.



I fully degrease the action and spray on a dry teflon lub. Lately I've used the T-Lon, Zep product. Seems to work OK and it's a spray on release for those who like to spray apply.