So here's what I'm working with.
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It's a 70+ year-old piece of Bastogne (European) walnut, and it has some cracks that need to be repaired so I decided to do a full strip and refinish. Gun oil soaking into stocks is a common issue and the longer it's there the deeper into the wood it seems to get. I've gotten most of the oil out of this one using a mixture of acetone and whiting powder (calcium carbonate) but there's still some oil seeping out of some areas:
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I'm thinking that at this point some of the oil that is left, especially in the cracks, is deep enough that my acetone/whiting mixture is not getting to it. The acetone in that mixture evaporates pretty quickly so it works well only with oil that is near the surface. A common method among shotgun restorers is to soak the entire stock in a solvent like acetone. With a shotgun that has a two-piece stock each piece is small enough that it can usually fit into an aluminum baking pan and requires less than a gallon of solvent to fully submerse. If it's viable it is the best method I have seen but that's the problem with this stock--I don't have and can't easily find a big enough acetone-safe container to submerse this entire thing. I've been looking around for metal tanks big enough for this stock but the cheapest option I've seen so far is $50 plus shipping, and it would probably require $25 worth of acetone as well.
So I want to explore other solvent options or other methods of getting oil out of the cracks. Finding a plastic container for the stock isn't too difficult so if there is some solvent that is compatible with plastic that might be viable. Maybe naphtha?
Anyone have any experience with issues like this or any ideas?