What product or what is a good way to remove wax from walnut gun stocks. My first project will be a custom 257 Roberts with "French/English" walnut stock that has been oil finished then waxed. It is beautiful wood. I don't want to damage it but I would like to resurrect the oil finish. I don't know the difference between French and English walnut. I have been told the stock is French walnut and I have been told it is English walnut. It looks like carmel cake mix with dark brown and almost black swirls, streaks and veins in it. There is a great deal of contrast in the color. It is a very cool rifle and I would like to make it look as nice as possible. Thanks
Lacquer thinner but go easy with it. Saturate a piece of Burlap or other rough cloth and use the friction as much as the solvent to take it off. If you flooded the stock with thinner it could start to lift the oil negating the age an oxidation of the original finish.
If it is an all oil finish a slight amount of wax will rub out and mix with the oil. So you don't have to take every little bit off.
I'd use mineral spirits, myself.
Mineral spirits or naptha which evaporates faster, lacquer thinner is way more aggressive than you need. I'd probably reach for the VM&P naptha. A quick wipe with lacquer thinner probably(!) wouldn't hurt on a true varnish/oil finish.
Mineral spirits has worked or me. Lacquer thinner "might" do more than you want. Ken
Mineral spirits of course.
Murphy's oil soap works great w/o needing hazmat.
Uhhhh........ Assuming no one was fool enough to use a silicone car wax on the stock... Just rub on your oil heavy and wipe dry, exactly like oil is always applied. Wax in the finish is not a problem... Again, assuming the garbage they put on cars was not used anywhere near the stock.
Did I mention how useless car wax is on guns? Silicone oil is a mess and if your finish fisheyes you will have to go through a bunch of steps to get rid of it.
art
Darn it, Art got there ahead of me. To further add to that, the solvents typically found in commercial "oil" finishes that act as carriers will dissolve the wax for the most part.
Another product to keep the heck away from your guns is Armor-all. Major source of fisheyes too. (For that matter keep it away from your car too. Airborne molecules attached to the painted surface- as in overspray from the dashboard- will give a paint shop fits of holy cussing. The stuff is insidious and never goes away. Ditto WD-40. We don't even allow it in the woodshop for any reason as the airborne molecules play havoc with any finishing schedule taking place.
When you say, "..it has been waxed", I assume you mean a wax for wood floors, like Johnson Paste Wax. On the can, it says to use mineral spirits and rubbing with a soft cotton rag to remove the wax.