machine oil spill on maple

I accidentally spilled some machine oil on the raw wood of my rifle around the lock mortis, Now I hve a light stain that will, I'm sure, give me fits when trying to apply the acqua fortis and any coloring stain down the road. Any suggestions how to resolve the problem?

Stain it all with the same oil then sand off?

I’d start with mineral spirits washes, all over, not just there.

Lacquer thinner or acetone will be your friend.

soak a rag in acetone and apply it to the wood and hold it on so it wicks it out

Acetone is good to remove petroleum oil from wood. Just don't do it in a closed space. Acetone will do stuff to the outside , and inside of the human body , that's very undesirable. I use it , but strictly out doors. It's very flammable as well. You can do it.

Brake Parts Cleaner. No lube in it. It'll wash the oil out of the wood.
Think I paid $1.50 a can on sale. Buy 2, they're cheap.
Good for getting "sticky" off lots of stuff. I ALWAYS keep a can or two around just in case.
Kills Yellow Jackets too.

Unfortunately the area is permanently discolored no mater what you use the fibers have changed absorption ability and every cleaner you use will effect the stain absorption think spilling bleach on clothing.. Your best chance is to spread the machine oil in a large enough area then use acetone as suggested that should make the absorption less obvious. but it will be there Minwax make a pre stain sealer that you apply before applying stain to reduce blotching you basically did that with the oil Search minwax pre stain and it be clearer then I can explain here

I'd just wipe it with mineral spirits or acetone and forget about it. I always get some cutting oil on my guns as I drill/tap the lock plate, tang and trigger plate while in the stock. I've never had a discolored area from oil. I mainly use AF or iron nitrate and sometimes tannic acid first with hard maple. It could be possible to get a little discoloration if you were to try finishing with just wipe on stains I suppose.

holzwurm said:

I accidentally spilled some machine oil on the raw wood of my rifle around the lock mortis, Now I hve a light stain that will, I'm sure, give me fits when trying to apply the acqua fortis and any coloring stain down the road. Any suggestions how to resolve the problem?

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Sounds like natural discoloration from use, or patina, or antiquing, part of the natural aging process, etc, or whatever you want to call it…… Probably best to leave alone not worry about. Not the first nor last time something similar will happen. Plus likely only noticed if pointed out.

how about a heat lamp to boil it out. i have done this on oil soaked military wood. heat, oil will come to the surface, wipe ,heat, wipe, on and on.

also try Ether, that stuff sucks oil out of your hands, dries anything out fast, but it also evaporates quickly too.. Ether is very gentle on plastics so its pretty good all around degreaser

Do NONE of the above- you will only drive the oil deeper into the wood.

Go old school- get some powdered chalk aka “Whiting” and mix it with denatured alcohol to a paste about like pancake batter. Slather it on the area and let it completely dry. As it dries it will draw the oil out of the wood fibers.
Brush off the dried paste with a stiff natural fiber brush.
Repeat as needed to pull all of the oil out.

2 shots said:

how about a heat lamp to boil it out. i have done this on oil soaked military wood. heat, oil will come to the surface, wipe ,heat, wipe, on and on.

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I've used a heat gun to pull oil out of marksman stocks on Win. 52's and Rem 40X's. I'll use lacquer thinner or acetone to wipe it down a couple times then take a heat gun and heat a small area. The oil will boil to the surface, when it does wipe with a clean rag, rinse and repeat. Be careful with a heat gun, you can scorch the wood if you're not paying attention.

Has anyone ever used K2R Spotlifter?
I have used it on model airplanes to pull fuel/exhaust oil out of balsa wood to make repairs.

The process was using a heat gun to pull a good bit of the oil out then K2R to pull the rest out.

As BPtactical said, Whiting works great, a tub will last many projects. It saved my southern rifle from a botched finish after oil leaked out of the touch hole and onto the bare wood around the lock and wrist.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...strippers/old-fashioned-whiting-prod1133.aspx

Forgot to add- use an oil based stain when you do your final finish, a water based stain will not take anyplace the oil was regardless of how well you think you got it out.
It’s still there on a molecular level.

holzwurm said:

I accidentally spilled some machine oil on the raw wood of my rifle around the lock mortis, Now I hve a light stain that will, I'm sure, give me fits when trying to apply the acqua fortis and any coloring stain down the road. Any suggestions how to resolve the problem?

Click to expand...

An ancient compound called whiteing, will draw the oil out without drama. I think Brownells still sells it. Military used it for decades.

Nor Cal Mikie said:

Brake Parts Cleaner. No lube in it. It'll wash the oil out of the wood.
Think I paid $1.50 a can on sale. Buy 2, they're cheap.
Good for getting "sticky" off lots of stuff. I ALWAYS keep a can or two around just in case.
Kills Yellow Jackets too.

Click to expand...

Brake cleaner is acetone?

I agree. Browning's Old Fashioned Whiting. Still available from Brownell's.
I tried some on a stock I had incorrectly stained and it worked very well.