I cleaned up my first C&R (SKS from AIM) and it looks really great.  I read a hint that Purple Power works wonders on the metal and it does.  I soaked everything in that and it came out great.  The wood however is not as wonderful.  I used a hot iron and a towel to leech the cosmo out of the stock and it helped big time, but is there something else I can do to get more of it out of the stock without damaging the wood?  I know some say put it in a warm oven, but that isn't an option for me.  I haven't used any solvents or anything on it yet, just the iron.  Also the wood is very dark right now (dark oak or walnut is the color) and I don't really know what the original wood color should be?  I've seen a real light wood SKS but I don't think this one is that same type so I am wondering just what color I should be shooting for in order to get it as primo as I can.  Thanks.  Oh, and everyone who says the SKS is a blast is dead on balls accurate.  The thing is killer to shoot.  I would recommend one to anyone.  Great way to start out my collection.

About the only solvent I would rec is ordorless mineral spirits.  For this to work, you would need to immerse the stock in a tray and let is soak.  That will get some of it out.  Unfortunately, we are entering the time of year that makes it difficult to use the sun for this.  A very good way to remove cosmo from wood is to "bake" the stock.  I have used a cheap metal cabinet with a heat source such as a trouble light.  Put the stock on its nose end against the inside of the cabinet.  With a 60w trouble light on and the cobinet closed, it will warm up quite nicely.  Cosmo will ooze out.  Bake and wipe...repeat until you stock getting cosmo.

At this point, begin to rub in BLO.  Once an hour for a day, once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year.

The solvents in the BLO will remove more cosmo.  You will be left with a pretty clean stock.  Afterwards, you may wish to coat it with a reddish or clear varnish (stock) or lacquer.  Stay away from poly urethane.  Tung oil is nice, if you get pure TO and not TO mixed with PU.

Millions of SKSs were made in a dozen countries.  They continue to be used all over the world by local militia, tribemen, rebels, and home guard units.  Many were used in the Balkans in the 90s.

Have fun.

Mahatma

Which SKS did you get?  Albanian or Yugo?

I use the warm oven method for cosmo removal.  I doubt that any chemical process will let the goo completely leach out of the wood fibers as well as intense heat.

Quoted: About the only solvent I would rec is ordorless mineral spirits.  For this to work, you would need to immerse the stock in a tray and let is soak.  That will get some of it out.  Unfortunately, we are entering the time of year that makes it difficult to use the sun for this.  A very good way to remove cosmo from wood is to "bake" the stock.  I have used a cheap metal cabinet with a heat source such as a trouble light.  Put the stock on its nose end against the inside of the cabinet.  With a 60w trouble light on and the cobinet closed, it will warm up quite nicely.  Cosmo will ooze out.  Bake and wipe...repeat until you stock getting cosmo. At this point, begin to rub in BLO.  Once an hour for a day, once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year. The solvents in the BLO will remove more cosmo.  You will be left with a pretty clean stock.  Afterwards, you may wish to coat it with a reddish or clear varnish (stock) or lacquer.  Stay away from poly urethane.  Tung oil is nice, if you get pure TO and not TO mixed with PU. Millions of SKSs were made in a dozen countries.  They continue to be used all over the world by local militia, tribemen, rebels, and home guard units.  Many were used in the Balkans in the 90s. Have fun. Mahatma

The man speaks with wisdom.

He has more patience then me though.  A good day of scrubbing with mineral spirits, followed by coatings of the linseed oil will get you to the 80% solution.

I have removed grease from old stocks with acetone and corn starch. One plan is to mix them into a paste and apply that; another way is to paint on the acetone with a brush (natural bristle probably better) and then quickly dust on the corn starch with a giant salt shaker made from a canning jar.

Obviously you'll want to take precautions so you don't get gassed to death or turn into a human fireball while doing this stuff.

The acetone quickly penetrates the wood, dissolves some of the grease, then returns to the surface to evaporate. The grease, in theory, gets left in the corn starch coating the surface. Which you then scrape off. In practice, this whole operation is a mess that must be repeated several times to get good results.

I used oven cleaner on my first refinish - a beater Arisaka that was Sumac-stained, painted, and cosmo'd. It worked great but took a lot of rinsing and scrubbing with a ScotchBrite.  Here's the catch - it weakened the wood after about the third spraying to the point that even a ScothBrite pad was pulling up splinters.  

I have since used Purple Power to great effect on several C&R's including another Arisaka, a Mosin, a Krag 30-40 and a Yugo SKS.

Here is the method I use (click here to see whole thread):

I disassemble the rifle down to the bare wood except for the take-down hole and band springs. I wipe up and scrape away as much cosmo as I can taking extra time in the action area and barrel channel. Then I use a utility spray bottle to apply the Industrial Strength Purple(or similar cleaner) evenly from the muzzle end down to the buttstock making sure I cover all the wood inside and out. I set the rifle aside buttstock down on a stack of old newspapers and give it a few hours to work. Then I spray on another lighter coat to loosen what may have dried back on the wood and immediately wipe it as clean as possible. If the wood is clean enough at that point I'll spray another light coat on it and let it work a couple more hours the repeat the light spray, immediate wipedown again, then let it air dry for a day or so. After that I'll wipe it down with Windex to remove any crud that might have leeched out and redried on the surface of the stock. If the wood doesn't come clean after the first heavy cleaning repeat that process as many times as is necessary but take care not to bleach the stock from over cleaning. But always finish with a light cleaning followed by the Windex cleaning before preparing the stock for re-oiling or preserving with something similar. I have used a couple of very light coats of Birchwood Casey's Tru-oil. Hope this helps and I'll try to add this and finish the cleanup section of the Overhaul page as soon as possible.

For my SKS, I just used oven cleaner.....

But if you want to do the oven thing, here is the poor mans way..

Take your stock and put it into a black plastic bag. Next throw it on the dash of your car or truck on a hot day. remove it after a few hours and wipe down, rewrap and repeat.

Dashboard of your car. Put some cardboard down. Let it cook!

Quoted: Dashboard of your car. Put some cardboard down. Let it cook!

That's how I used to heat up my lunch in High School!  

Put the stock under a couple of those 500 watt work lights. They put out a lot of heat and can be positioned over the stock.
Jim

What about Easy-Off? (In the yellow can )

The CMP 03 I got had more goo than wood in the stock.  I tried virtually every method out there.  

Oven cleaner, specifically easy off, worked better than anything else.  Mine took three treatments but I eventually found a decent piece of wood underneath it all.

What was your procedure using Easy-Off to get it all out? I have a Yugo SKS that is pretty filled up with cosmo.

Quoted: What was your procedure using Easy-Off to get it all out? I have a Yugo SKS that is pretty filled up with cosmo.

I ask again.

I would not use any water based cleaner on a stock unless it was a "last ditch" effort.  Old wood and water can warp pretty fast.

How about a link to a stock cleaning forum?

http://pub113.ezboard.com/fparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforumsfrm34

This is a folded URL so cut and paste the second part.

Dennis Jenkins

Quoted: Quoted: What was your procedure using Easy-Off to get it all out? I have a Yugo SKS that is pretty filled up with cosmo. I ask again.

Quoted: What was your procedure using Easy-Off to get it all out? I have a Yugo SKS that is pretty filled up with cosmo.

Spray it on, wait fifteen minutes or so, then hose it off in the shower with hot water.  Use rubber gloves.  A plastic scouring pad can help cut thru the stuff.  Set it aside for a couple days to dry.  Repeat as needed.  

Some will say oven cleaner is to tough on the wood but that has not been my experience.

Thanks!