Ramrod scraping

[Kermit]

I recently suffered a greenstick fracture of the 3/8" diameter hickory rod. Okay, so I have a couple of replacements waiting in the wings. A 5/16" rod was a fallout fit, and a 3/8" was a nogo. So out comes the handy ramrod scraper.

Which brought to mind a question of sequence.

Do youse guys do all the final scraping/fitting before or after you soak your rod ( ) in paraffin/coal oil? I've always kept a couple spare rods unfinished and dry until needed, but got to wondering if there's a better plan. Seems that's nearly always the case with me...

[Pete G.]

I have always tapered and stained before going in for the soak.
Don't know if the soak helps; I don't guess it would hurt.
I've never broken one so treated and the only one I've ever broken was not soaked.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I don't soak mine, and (knock wood) have never broken one.  I have replaced lots of rods for people who do, though.  A good straight grained piece of hickory has to be abused to break it. 
For a 3/8" rod, I start with a 1/2" - 7/16" blank and taper it.  For a 5/16" rod, I start with 7/16 - 3/8" and taper it.  Tom Curran's scraper makes this a breeze.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Like Taylor said

[Hungry Horse]

Scrape, and stain, first. Then soak in linseed oil, and turpentine, for a month.

                   Hungry Horse

[JTR]

So what does soaking a ramrod in linseed or turpentine do?
I've heard this before, but not why.
John

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

The liquid apparently allows the fibres of the wood to slide and stretch rather than sever with the tension of a severe bend.  I'm sceptical.

[smylee grouch]

I have soaked alot of ramrods in keroseen, I dont know if it helped any at all but it sure stunk the place up.

[JTR]

Thanks!
John

[David R. Pennington]

I have a section of copper water pipe with a cap soldered on the end and two small holes drilled in the opposite end to insert a wire bail. I put the ramrod blank in and then fill it with kerosine and hang it up in the shop while I'm working on the rest of the rifle. The wire bail keeps it from floating out and gives a way to hang it up. You'll need 3/4" pipe if you do 1/2" rods. It takes very little kerosine to soak one this way.I don't really know if it helps, either but I always heard the oldtimers say they did it and I've never broken one done this way either. Only one I ever broke was a factory rod I got in a kit way back when and the wood was of questionable lineage, not hickory.

[PPatch]

My gut feeling is that kerosene will weaken wood, break down its fiber to whatever extent. Sure it will be more flexible but to my mind weaker for the process.

Just an observation, I have no hard evidence to present.

dave

[Long John]

For those of you who don't like chemistry, skip this post.

Wood is made of a mixture of mostly celloluse and lignin.  Celloluse is a polymer of glucose, a six-carbon sugar.  Lignin is a polymer of  ribose, a 5-carbon sugar.  Sugars have OH groups all over them.  The cellulose and ribose are held together with water molecules that form a "hydrogen-bond" via those OH groups.  Kiln-dried wood is still about 7 to 8 percent water, by weight.

Since it is water that holds the wood fibers together water is the key to getting the wood to bend.  That is why steaming works.  That is why heating an inlay helps get a nice tight fit.  The steam and heat make the water molecules responsible for hydrogent bonding mobile.  There is NOTHING in the chemistry of wood that is consistent with the notion that soaking it in kerosene will prevent breakage. 

If you want to improve the flexibility of a hickory ramrod it would be better to humidify it and then finish it with a water impermeable finish.  Most finishes are not impermeable and some are brittle - not good.
Taylor - you are right to be skepticle!

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[Bernard]

I tend to agree with PPatch. I have broken a ramrod through mishandling and would have broken any rod or bent a metal one. Good wood selection is most important for ramrods. Get a straight grained piece and split out some pieces that can be scraped and or planed down to rod dimensions. Taper the rod so it passes through the pipes easily and fits snugly in the forward tip.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

I have a plain ol Hickory RR that was never finished. I use it as a range rod and for all my cleaning (gets it wet a lot  )  It is tapered to 5/16" at the threaded end. It has pulled at least half a dozen stuck balls as well.  I am going to see how many years it lasts.  BTW it was never soaked in Kerosene.....petroleum and wood? Don't make any sense to me....  Thanks for the facts John. I always love having my ignorant judgement vindicated with facts!! 

[hanshi]

I have my doubts that soaking ramrods makes much difference.  However, it has never been proven to me that it is harmful or damaging.  I remain a little skeptical but open minded.  With all that most of my rods have been soaked in kerosene, by a friend, and I've yet to break one.  I've broken three over the decades and they were NOT soaked.  Still this is not proof, IMHO.  Since it seems to do no harm I see no particular reason not to soak them if doing so appeals to you.

[Acer Saccharum]

We've been caught by the wood police!

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

How many of you have seen Winchester rifles all black around the action, with wood crumbling, split, chipped and missing.  It's usually in the butt stock as most people squirt the action full of oil (exaggeration, sorry) then stand it up on the butt plate.  The oil soaks into the walnut and over time, deteriorates it.  I've seen the same phenomenon on muzzle loading guns too, with over oiling the lock.