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Before and After Dishwasher Pics

4K views 31 replies 11 participants last post by  rmrdaddy 
#1 ·
Gentlemen--

I finally had a chance to toss my Greek stock in the dishwasher, and I am very pleased with the results.

Stock in Cosmoline
[IMG=left]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/Eight_Ring/Stock/A1CosmoSmall.jpg[/IMG]

Stock Degreased with Paint Thinner
[IMG=left]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/Eight_Ring/Stock/A1PRESmallPost.jpg[/IMG]

Stock After Dishwasher
[IMG=left]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/Eight_Ring/Stock/PostDishwasherSmall1.jpg[/IMG]

The pictures pretty much speak for themselves--see the big pics if you have any doubts--but I should add a couple notes inre: the process. I opted NOT to use cascade/calgon--I just used liquid Dawn. I filled both the soap cups up--and (shortly after turning on the machine) discovered that I had used WAY too much--the soap was mounding up in there. Oh well, lesson learned. You could probably get away with 1/4 of what I used.

I inspected the stock after the first 1/3 of the drying cycle--my goal was not to completely remove ALL the patina--I just didn't want the stock to look like it had been dragged a couple miles behind a truck. At 1/3 through the dry cycle the wood was damp, almost dry to the touch--and after looking it over I decided that the level of patina that remained was exactly what I was looking for, so I took it out of the dishwasher & am letting it air dry the rest of the way.

I had prepped the stock before putting it in the dishwasher--maybe you don't have to, but I did. I brushed paint thinner on with a disposable brush and wiped the wood clean with cotton rags.

I covered the <serif> P with a little round patch of duct tape, and pressed it on good. It stayed perfectly dry in the dishwasher. I wanted to preserve the initials carved in the stock and the hashmarks--and they survived the process just fine without protection.

I was told that the handguards are fairly vulnerable to warpage, so I had prepped the upper with a zip-tie snugged tight around the groove the band sets in, and on the lower I left the metal liner in place for support, and pulled the front handguard ferrule about 2/3 of the way off the handguard--enough to let the water get at the wood underneath, but also lend some support against warping/distortion. The exposed wood under the ferrule swelled up nice and tight--I'll need to work it back on with a mallet--note: before the washing it had come off easy in my fingers.

The existing cracks in the handguards began to seperate a little in the dishwasher, and when I brought them out into the cold of the garage (no idea why) they really started to seperate dramatically--I'm talking within a couple minutes--and that was all to the good, because I had my little bottle of Gorilla Glue all set and went straight to work smearing glue in the cracks. According to the directions you are supposed to damp the wood up a bit--but the handguards had just come out of the dishwasher & were already a bit damp so I filled the cracks with glue and then worked them gently together with a couple C-clamps. I wiped the excess gorilla glue off with paint thinner--not the seam, just the surrounding area. I've used Titebond carpenters wood glue on other projects and liked it very much, but I figured I'd give the gorilla glue a try. I hear it's good strong stuff--and after looking at all the cracks in the handguards I figured they were going to need all the help they could get.

Last note: the many, many dents and dings steamed out beautifully--even the nastiest ones. I had paid extra special attention to the dents--they are low spots and I noticed that a lot of cosmoline had accumulated in them as I wiped down the stock--after the general degreasing I made sure to work the cosmoline out of the dents with a toothbrush and paint thinner, blotting up the dissolved cosmoline with a clean cotton rag--I figured the more exposed/open the wood the better a chance the water had to swell it--and I'd say it worked. I am quite pleased with the results.

So anyhow--that's about it. I'd rate the dishwasher method an A for my particular (no cartouche)stock--though you might consider doing the upper/lower handguards by hand if they had as many cracks as mine did. All told though, mine needed glueing anyhow, and I wanted to glue clean wood.

Thanks for reading.

--David

Big Pic Links/ 56k warning:

Stock in Cosmoline
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179 ... 1Cosmo.jpg

Stock Degreased with Paint Thinner
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179 ... /A1PRE.jpg

Stock After Dishwasher
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179 ... washer.jpg

Massive post-DW pic
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179 ... PostDW.jpg

Overall Patina Huge pic
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179 ... lenght.jpg
 
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#29 ·
Your pictures may be out of order, but it looks like you have every thing else going in the right direction. I'll be interested in seeing some pictures when they are done.
 
#31 ·
Good Stuff

Jas--nice work space. I could never post pictures of my bench--it usually looks like "Aftermath" pictures of an Armenian Quake. :lol:

RMRDaddy--beautiful walnut--what color are you using for your stain? And what finish?

Lastly--I've heard great things about Doug's Stockpile from everybody but have been a little leery of getting something that doesn't lock up tight--am I missing the boat? I'm still in the single-digits for Garand ownership so extra wood still seems (to me) extravagant--but who knows.

Great pics, guys.

--David
 
#32 ·
well...
Since I don't have any Chestnut ridge other "official" color modifiers...
I went to my local Lowes :)

So, I have a blend of Special Walnut and Red Oak from Minwax (just a stain fellas, easy now...)
and then BLO will be my finish coat.
Pics coming guys, I promise...
 
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