Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing steaming out wood stocks

what is the most a piece of wood can be steamed out?
I have a stock that has A 1/4" deep cut out and missing cavity, on a shotgun face (stock to receiver) its been chipped from being loose and the recoil flinged off the wood like a chipper! its gone.
the rest of the stock is rare enough to consider an attempt.
looking for someones experience in this matter.
thanks.

I think only dents which have the wood compressed will respond to steaming. If the wood is missing, I don't think steaming will do anything and the cavity will need to be filled or the surrounding surface taken down to the level. How about a picture?
Phil

Yep, what he said. Once wood fibres are severed that's it, no amount of steaming can resurrect it.

Compacted wood I've been able to raise about 1/8" with multiple ironings over a soaked wash cloth. But as others have said, if it's cut out/missing, ironing might smooth the inside of the gash a little and help you sand/smooth the sharp edges, but it won't fill the gash.

I agree...

With compressed wood it depends on the species a great deal, but even walnuts can be raised higher than the original surface sometimes.

You never know how much the wood will bounce back until you try. I recently did a Marlin 336 that some idiot must have used pound tomato stakes and it had several deep gouges. I steamed it with a clothing steamer and many of them came out all but a small dent, which I was able to remove with sanding. After finishing, they were totally gone.

1/4" deep. Missing wood.

Also try wetting a cotton ball, setting it on the dent and letting the water soak in overnight and then steaming it. If you use your wife’s iron, make sure you clean off any residue or you’ll have more dents to worry about 😃

another project people ask me to do is make inlay cavities go away. ever see those rifles that have art work inletted into the wood like little diamond patterns ? or guys put pennies or favorite coins in the stocks?
the wood is gone.
I never take it in because I don't want to get into it and fail.
anyone ever succeed?

I make it a practice to NEVER remove wood to raise a dent. Filling the dent with ca glue, even if it is large is usually invisible under the new finish. The lights and shadows game will always telegraph sanded repairs from across a room.

If the hole is too deep to fill it needs a piece of carefully installed fill, or a paint job.

I have done a number of them. I fill with a good match of wood and literally paint the grain in to match the surrounding grain. I use a lot of magnification and natural light. Over time the wood tends to change color more than oil paint so I feather the color out quite a bit.

Steam it and then fill. Shellac sticks, epoxy and saw dust or CA glue all can work. I have used indelible magic markers to match the grain, then finish over it. A very light stain with diluted spirit stain and then the CA glue can be sanded down so it is hardly visible. If more than one scratch a complete re-finish is the best option.

Smearing mud in a repair is the best way to make it permanently obvious. Magic markers, even the most indelible have very short lifetimes in any kind of UV exposure. If I am going to the trouble to make a blemish disappear I want it to stay that way.