Rust Stains

[GrampaJack]

Hi folks.  Not sure if this is the right place to post but I couldn't find a better one.  I am in the process of restoring a percussion double and after many decades of dealing with the problems involved in this area have run into something new.  Over the past 40 odd years I have fixed a lot of broken wrists that had been wrapped with wire but they were usually done with either brass or copper wire.  This one was done with iron wire and has left a black stain where the wire was.  I have raised the impressions left by the wrap but after 4 days in the "soak" the stock is nice and clean and the oil is mostly gone but the black stain remains and amounts to a black band around the wrist about 2 inches wide.  The stock is a great piece of very dense burl walnut and the stain is a real problem. (because of the wild grain in the stock splicing in a section is not a good option)  Nothing seems to touch it.  The 4 day soak was lacquer thinner.  Any one have any thoughts on removing iron stains?  Thanks, Jack

[Dennis Glazener]

I assume you have an equivalent to aqua fortis generated over the years. Have no clue how to remove it but you might, save as a last resort, using wood bleach. When I was in high school Industrial Arts shop I once used wood bleach to bleach a walnut gun stock that had a dark stain on it. It came out snow white! (used aluminum powder to fill the grain but that's another story!) I would try that if nothing else works. I would think once you got it white you could stain/tint to match the rest of the wood.
Dennis

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

My Dad talked about bleaching wood and removing stains with oxalic acid. I don't know how to use it, but it might do the job.
Mark

[rich pierce]

Try a little hydrogen peroxide on a q-tip and see if it turns it red.

[GrampaJack]

I have used bleach before on a water spot and it did work but I never did get the "tracks" of the bleach out.  It was a military musket so I'm sure there was a lot of oil in it which probably made a difference.  I have never heard of oxalic acid.  Will look into that for sure.  Hydrogen peroxide, like the acid , I have never used but that will be the first test.  Now to steal some of my wife's Q-tips.  Thanks for the information.  Some new stuff I have never tried, that's cool.  Jack

[HIB]

Gentlemen, Oxalic acid was a very popular product 25 years ago. Basically it was sold by boating supply stores in powder form. Its primary use, in the boating community, was removing rust stains from gel-coat fiber glass hulls and stainless steel fittings . I would guess the gel-coat and fittings to be considerably more dense and less porous than wood.

A final solution might be to re-wrap the damaged area with new wire. Pretty much covers your repair work but it would put the gun into the 'Restored as last used' category. Regards, HIB

[Brent English]

oxalic acid is a powerful and well known wood bleach.  I've used it on maple flooring to remove old stains.  I don't know if it will work on your staining or not.  If it does, you may need to bleach the whole stock to get the color even and then restain the stock to the color you're looking for.  Something to approach cautiously.  My guess is you'd find this same staining in the inletting where metal parts have contacted the wood.  You could test it there.  Good luck with your project.

[T*O*F]

Just a thought.  Perhaps you could try some diluted CLR applied in a discreet area with a Q-tip.  The idea is to find something that will convert the rust into a soluble compound that can be wiped away.

The prevailing mentality here seems to be to remove the staining in one fell swoop, whereas conservators usually work on small areas over a fairly long period of time to protect most of what is being worked on.