Has anyone ever steamed out a dent in a stock?

[Limestone]

Have question about removing dents in a stock. I have an old percussion shotgun I am thinking about refinishing. The current finish has some kind of varnish that has been in a hot place maybe an attic? Finish is sorta bubbled up? Also has some penny sized dents. I have seen a video on steaming out dents. Wish I could post a picture not able to right now. Anyone that has stripped the finish on a gun and removed dents, I would be interested in suggestions. The gun is not a high end item. Just a project. Thanks in advance.

[Dave B]

I have raised a number of dents using a wet wash cloth and a clothes iron. I have done it over the finish without too much trouble, if you dont have torn wood. They pop right back up after a couple treatments. It may go easier and better if you strip the finish first. I just never did it that way yet.

[Daryl]

I have used little pads of water soaked cloth to raise dents when pressing a red-hot bent large screwdriver end on the cloth. Works very well. Makes sure the folded cloth
is larger than the object you are pressing onto it.

[sdilts]

I've steamed out bunches of them using a wet cleaning patch and a soldering iron. The soldering iron makes it a bit more precise. Steamed them out with the stock finish on or prior to finishing; works the same.

[kutter]

I raise dents on stocks a lot.
I soak the dented wood itself with water for a time by just placing  wet piece of cloth or cotton on the spot.
That makes the wood drink up the water and soften up the fibers as well as giving the process more moisture for generating steam to expand the fibers.

When I go to actually use heat to create the steam, I use a soldering gun.
Very easy to control and does not cool down while you are using it.
Plenty of water on a cloth patch again placed over the spot. Geerating steam does the work. As the cloth is dried out from the heat, move the cloth around to another section of it that is still plenty wet and continue.

It takes some patience and not all will always respond by leveling out to the old surface. But many can be brought back up if the fibers are dented and not severed.

[AMartin]

No but I added quite a few dents ... on purpose !!!

[davec2]

I also have steamed out individual dents with or without finish over them and with good success.  However, on a complete refinish job (and I did this often with WW 2 guns like the M1 Garand) I stripped the finish and then put the whole stock in the dishwasher on the "Pots and Pans" cycle.  Between the hot water and the heat to dry dishes, the stocks come out clean and ALL the dents are raised.  The stocks are then sanded completely and refinished.  Unless the wood fibers are actually cut, or a chunk of the wood is just missing, I have always been amazed at how well this works.  Of course, this wouldn't work for a longrifle stock (unless you have one heck of a big dishwasher) but for shotgun stocks, it would work great.  Just a thought.

[satwel]

I had a lot of success raising the dents of a beat up Krag-Jorgensen stock using a wet flannel wash cloth and a steam iron. The worst areas needed multiple treatments but I was amazed at how the damaged areas responded. As stated previously, if the stock is gouged and wood is missing, there's nothing you can do.

[Pukka Bundook]

A felt insole or piece of boot liner works well. good and thick and holds plenty of moisture.

[nemovir]

I have a Veneer Edge Banding Sealing Iron. What actual temperature would I put it?

[Eric Krewson]

When I started restoring some beat-up TC stocks, I went to a thrift shop and bought an old functionable steam iron for $2; my wife would have been upset if I used her state-of-the-art new steam iron.

 

[JTR]

It wasn't a dent, but I steamed this warped stock back straight using my wife's clothes steamer.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Raising dents with steam is a worthwhile exercise.  As for how much heat, start low and add heat until you get the results you expect.  I use an old fashioned soldering iron with a big copper tip, and sometimes just a spoon.  It is likely that you'll raise the dent so well that you will have to use a block and sandpaper to cut it all back down to the original surface, after it has dried, naturally.

[alacran]

I had a piece of steel fly off my bench and ding a stock I'm working on. After a few profanities, I got a small piece of rawhide, and set it to soak in water.
After a half hour or so it had hydrated enough to use. I got my soldering gun out and placed the rawhide between the tip and the dent. I kept moving the rawhide till the dent had been raised sufficiently. Today I will sand it and see if needs more raising.

[Limestone]

Thanks to all the replies to my question. Will give it a try.

[jrb]

youtube,  The Grumpy Gunsmith of Williamsburg. Clay Smith shows steaming out a small dent in one of his finished rifles.  video #29

[Eric Krewson]

The last TC stock I bought was really beat up, I steamed every ding out of it but one huge one that steamed mostly out but had some wood missing.

I cut a matching piece of walnut and tried patching the missing wood with a plug that looked like a pin knot, it came out OK.





I used superglue which left a darker glue line than I wanted, my macro lens makes everything look like a wart on a supermodel's nose, the patch isn't very noticeable normal light.

[GrizG]

The last TC stock I bought was really beat up, I steamed every ding out of it but one huge one that steamed mostly out but had some wood missing.

I cut a matching piece of walnut and tried patching the missing wood with a plug that looked like a pin knot, it came out OK.

....

I used superglue which left a darker glue line than I wanted, my macro lens makes everything look like a wart on a supermodel's nose, the patch isn't very noticeable normal light.

It's a workman like repair and it looks quite good... only you will notice it in the future!

Using epoxy that is tinted black works great too... it too will look like a small knot when finished. This technique is used by woodworkers to fill voids in burls, bark inclusions, and other "defects" when a smooth finished surface is desired. I recently made natural edge walnut slab window stools, and a kitchen service window counter top, for my sportsmen's club. I used that technique to fill voids in the crotch walnut slab for the counter top. The finishing process was done to furniture quality... everyone touches them.    Another technique I've used is applying alcohol based black die from a craft store to small repairs that were done with wood filler.

[oldtravler61]

 After reading the comments I thought I would try to remove a very bad dent in a stock I have. What I used was a flat brass end piece on my wood burning tool set. Soaked a round cleaning patch and pressed the wood burning tool on. Totally surprised how well it worked . The best part was how accurate I could do with that little 1/2 inch round brass piece.
Steamed it right out.... Impressed indeed