What to do?

[newknapper]

Hello, I am the point no i have whiskered the stock of my rifle once. But i doing so I left the stock pinned to the barrel, and in the course of sanding it numerous times I have accumulated a dark area on the wrist below the tang that I assume is small amounts of metal. My questions are (1) should I unpin the stock from the barrel and continue (2) is the dark spots OK, if not how do I get rid of them,and (3) will thee metal shavings have an effect on the staining of my stock. I was going to try Ferric Nitrate but not if there will be a chemical reaction with the metal dust. Thanks, this  is my first build so I have no idea what i am doing.

[EC121]

Try a big pencil eraser. 

[Daryl]

The white eraser only, not orange.

[Mikecooper]

metal dust from the tang is iron and so is ferric nitrate so any reaction should be the same,  although it may be darker in that area.   I would think that the metal dust is just in the surface cells of the wood and could be removed back to clear white wood with careful sanding or scraping. 

[PPatch]

Do the eraser thing before you do any other removal method. Generally the eraser removes 90% of the "dark" stuff. What metal remains will not effect anything during finishing.

dave

[newknapper]

Thanks a lot guys with your help. I was worried about it. I can't carve so I wanted the finish to look as good as possible.

[T*O*F]

Maybe the eraser gets rid of the dirt on the surface, but does it also burnish any metal into the wood.  Aerosol brake parts cleaner flushes everything away.

[Mike Brooks]

Don't worry about it.