Stock Oil/Solvent Barrier?

[commygun]

After unknown years of absorbing who-knows-what, one of my 1912 SMLE's recoil blocks disintegrated under recoil, splitting the forestock fore and aft of the magazine well/trigger guard. Someday, I'll work on fixing the damage to the the original but, for now, I'm fitting a newly manufactured replacement stock. Which has been interesting, as the SMLE forestock must have twenty points of contact, all of which have required some degree of fitting.

Anyway, I'm almost done with that and my thoughts are turning to staining and finishing. The exterior of the stock will be finished with linseed oil, to match the original. I'm wondering if there's something I could coat the interior of the stock with that would at least resist the future absorption of oil and solvents? Would polyurethane have any value in the role?

 

[herrwalther]

I'll take a swing at this one. Is the new stock finished already or is it bare? What you can do with the stock depends on what has already been done. On bare wood stocks, after sanding and inletting, you normally apply a sealer to seal the grain before applying finish, stains, top coats etc. I use polyuerethane as a top coat on furniture but I would not trust it to an impact area like a recoil lug.

 

[beag_nut]

Epoxy. WEST System.

 

[film495]

Epoxy. WEST System.

Marine Epoxy would sure do it. Good stuff.

Cause it is faster I just put Ren Wax on the inside of stocks, to just seal the wood and maybe I'll do it again every 10 or 20 years. Just me ...

 

[BWS]

Yup on epoxy. You can thin it with acetone and/or use heat. Warming epoxy helps the two parts mix so you're not having to whip, which introduces air bubbles. Also,warm the area you want it to penetrate... this will open the pores and as it cools the epoxy gets sucked in.

Use rubber gloves and don't breath the vapors. Uncured epoxy isn't real healthy. I don't wear respirators but DO use positive ventilation..... which is simply a slow,1-2 mph(about a walking pace) gentle breeze in a VERY predictable direction. This is SOP for most "finish" work,even with face masks,and pretty durn easy to do.

Grinding cured epoxy gets a bit more serious,but not significantly any worse than a LOT of wood species. There's just no reason to not have good,positive circulation in the workshop. It's instant gratification. Turn off you shop lights and use a flashlight, you should see the dust movement.

Probably more than you wanted to know but having spent 50+ years in shops.... good ventilation really brings a smile at the end of the day. Good luck with your project.

 

[Blue68f100]

If you go West System Epoxy use the slow hardner. Do not add heat to the epoxy or it will trigger a set. You can heat the stock but it's not needed. West System Epoxy was designed for working with wood on boats. With the slow hardner your pot life is around 15-30 min at 75F. But your work time is closer to 1 hr once it's spread out. This epoxy will trigger a set if it thick, spread out over a large are where it's thin you have plenty of work time. A nice feature on this epoxy is there is a window during the set process that allows for another coat. Hitting this window and the multiple coats cures out as 1.

I've used over 11.5 gal of this epoxy doing a major boat rebuild. So I have a little experience using it. This epoxy is not cheap, but its the best out there. It mixes at a 5:1 resin to hardner ratio. This can be done by weight or volume. I used the special dispenser pumps when I did my boat because it made the measuring easy, 1:1. For doing small jobs I just use syringes to do the measuring or my scales. This epoxy can be colored too. The slow hardner will dry almost perfectly clear, the fast hardner will have a slightly brown hue. They do make a special harnder that will dry clear, used for casting.

 

[BWS]

We use gallons of Smooth On EA40 in trad bow building. Been at it for 40+ years. It is the base stock for what Brownells rebadged as accraglass. Actually,it's even better.

I also use it nowadays for making CF gun parts. Have posted pics of using it in barrel channels.... and will say,CF/EA40 is the final word in this arena. Think about a bow limb. Their very nature makes gun stock work rather anemic.

And yes,the industry std is to warm the epoxy prior to mixing. I didn't think it up,the manufacturer did. We use big hot boxes for curing. Takes 12 hrs @170*. Here's a single layer of CF to be used as an adj cheek rest. Two pieces of 18g metal gets used as the "bread" in this glue up sandwich. The "ham" is the CF. Pony springy clamps supply just the right ooomph. We use pnuematics on the bow limbs.