questions on repairing dings in stock

[matt068]

I opened my safe for my son to put bb gun away, Its quite cramped in there and he moved my 2 over/under beautys to put his gun away. When moving, the stocks were moved closer to door with door being recessed you guessed it dent city the worst was since it didn't close he tried again leaving multiple dents and dings. After the tears have dried can anybody tell me w/out redoing whole stock howI can maybe at least repair some of the damage. Iv'e heard steaming but am unsure how to attempt. Would be grateful for any help with any methods out there.

p.s.Couldn't be the synthetic stocked guns could it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pawildman]

Here's how I've taken out some dents in wood stocks.... Take a dampened cloth and cover the affected area. Use a hot iron (your wife's when she's not looking) and press it over the dent. Hold there for a few seconds, but not long enough to scorch the cloth as it dries from the heat. Use a little pressure on the iron. Repeat the process until dent is removed Some dents will just not come out, no matter what you do. If the dent is near the toe of the stock, this may not be a viable option.
Give it a try anyhow.............

[8mm/06]

Good advice here with the iron...you may need to do some touch-up on the finish as the hot water/steam can remove a bit of the finish while raising the dent. I've done this with some stocks but mostly on furniture.

[bugsNbows]

Good advice from above. Steam will do a decent job on many dents. I recently used that approach with a stock dent (safe door bite..argh) I put on a new Kimber 84 I had just purchased. The steam raised the dent till nearly invisible, then I touched up the stock with tung oil / mineral spirits mix (suggested by the folks at Kimber). Good luck.

[eldeguello]

The steaming method works. It is most effective for dents in which the wood is pushed in some, but the cord/grain of the wood is not broken by the dent.

[game4lunch]

The wet cloth steaming method is widely used amongst luthiers. Have used it very successfully. But instead of my wife's iron, I prefer to use a 100W soldering iron. A deep dent may require a couple applications.
For any finish touch up, I let the wood dry throughly, lightly sand with 220 or finer sandpaper (or even a scotch pad), and applly several coats of Minwax's wipe-on poly finish. Using either satin, semi-gloss, or gloss, depending on what matches the existing finish. You will probably always know it's there, but short of a complete strip and refinish, it is your best bet at restoring the damaged area.

[matt068]

Thanks for all your input guys gonna give it a go this afternoon its a good couple dents so I think I'll be in the several applications mode, again many thanks!! Thats what makes this site so great if you don'thave knoweledge on something,somebody does what an asset to the regular joe like myself