in a gun stock,
After reading RedFeathers post and being a Levi wearer myself I pulled my Beautiful RWS 48 out of its case.Gave it a once over as I was out shootin all day friday but didn't give it a second look as I wiped it down and put it away until next time.DAMN I did the same thing.Now here is my Question
How do you go about steamming out these dents???I have read about people doing it many times but have never been told the proper way to do it.
If someone has the time and would like to explain this process to me I would be a very happy fellow airgunner.

Thanks to anyone who has time to explain.

Bob Schlund
Michigan

Springers are Neat! One Shot One Bullseye!

I used to build custom, professional electric guitars...when the wood on the back of a guitar would get dimpled (compressed) NOT (gouged or deep scratched where wood is MISSING), usually from belt buckles, rivits on jeans, etc...I would:

Lightly sand the clear finish down in a dime sized spot around the dimple to raw wood. The rule of thumb is sand area to 3 times the diameter size of the dimple.

NOTE: Just trying to sand a spot big enough to expose raw wood around the dimple. GENTLY sand the inside of the dimple too - GENTLY - Trying to remove the clear finish, NOT the wood!!!

REASON: Ya don't want any of the clear finish left TOO close to the dimple or water can get under the clear finish and make it turn a milky white or blister and lift up.

Then take a paper towel, get it dripping wet, wad it up in my fist and squeeze all of the water out of it so that it was just a bit more than damp.

Place the about 3-4 plys of the wet paper towel on the sanded spot ON THE DIMPLE and touch an ALREADY hot soldering iron to the paper towel to make it steam (4-10 seconds)....press firmly but not hard enough to make the dimple worse.

Lift the paper towel and check the spot to see if the compressed wood has risen.

Continue this process using a different spot on the paper towel each time, giving the soldering iron time to get HOT again (30 sec to 1 min).

What you are trying to do is to force steam into the wood and cause the wood fibers to "rise up"...thus, no more dimple!

Refinish with stain (alcoloh based aniline stain - NOT water based) and clear coat and rub out - it IS possible to apply clear with a CLEAN cheese-cloth material BUT the best is a NEW, SMALL, fine artist's paint brush(NOT used for gosh sake)that has first been soaked in alcohol to clean and degrease...after clear is applied, start sanding with 1000 grit - to 1200, then buff. Coarser grits make the work go faster but you run the risk of taking off TOO much....better to go slow and be safe.

Buff and wax...that's it.

Solution Type Number 2:

If the dimple is small enough, use a heavy body Crazy Glue OR a drop of clear coat of the same type as the clear finish that you are working on...automotive lacquer, acrylic enamel, etc.....I generally use Crazy Glue as it is compatible with all finish types.

Drip a drop of Crazy Glue into the dimple gently...don't want any air trapped between the dimple surface and the glue/clear

I personally wait 24 hours for the glue/clear to air dry (DON'T force dry like with a light or hair dryer)

GENTLY rub on the glue/clear starting with 800 or 1000 grit wet/dry automotive sandpaper (use it DRY)...

Sand till the glue/clear is flush to the surface that you are working on and smooth to the touch.

Check to see if you can see an uneven (not level) spot by shining a light around the piece and looking at the surface shine.

Use very FINE rubbing compound to buff IF needed....if not, then wax area and buff with soft cloth



I use these methods on gun stocks that I build or repair, and on very fine furnature too...Even works on Corian counter tops, etc.

Other techniques exist that can be used depending on the situation.

Here is a link to Stewart MacDonald's Guitar Shop Supply in Athens Ohio...the link will take you to the EXACT page that has the typs of stain that I use...they sell other types, but this selection is the best and has the best color selections (which can also be mixed for a custom color)

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Colors,_tints,_and_stains/ColorTone_Concentrated_Liquid_Stains.html

Here are two links to Setwart MacDonald's abrasive page that has the Micro-mesh "sand papers"...cal look at other pages on their site for other abrasive papers....BUT ONLY look at the products that say MICRO-something (micro mesh, micro paper, etc)

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Abrasives,_polishes,_buffers/Sandpaper_-_Finishing_Paper_Sampler_Package.html

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Abrasives,_polishes,_buffers/Micro-Mesh_Finishing_Abrasives_Kit.html

Hope this helps...if ya neen more info, tell me and we can phone or email.

-Curtis

Another great post from Curtis's Correspondence School of Fine Woodworking and Gunsmithing! If you keep posting and we keep reading, we'll all be experts on this bus.

I'd love it if my next lesson was in dis-assembling, polishing, and lubing the T01 trigger on my 460. I saved your 350 trigger post with pics, but the one thing I'm not sure about is removing the upper lever and the leg spring. Since it' sounds like that spring is fairly powerful, I'm wondering if it's even necessary to remove it to get a little polishing compound on the sear with a Dremel? And is it correct that polishing the corresponding surface on the mouth of the lower lever is the only other work needed to smoothen up this trigger....along with a little moly paste? (that is, assuming no obvious burrs or mismatching surfaces.)

Thanks,

Duncan

P.S. Would you email me? JMN4LWN (AT) aol.com

That's my course of action. A lot of guys use a damp towel and the tip of a clothes iron on high. If you go with the soldering iron, I think those that are a pointed steel tip on a handle are the way to go. You have to heat them up first, but they hold the heat well. What the steaming does is swell the fibers back out. Then you have to refinish and recoat.

Well thank you my good Sir for the kind words!

I will email you when I get back home (on business trip in CA).

Question 2 U - Did you have a T01 re-fitted to you 460? TO the best of my knowledge, the last guns that went out of the Diana factory with the T01 trigger was in 2001-2002.

The 460 model is a new design, so it SHOULD, if stock, have a T05 trigger unit just like the one that I posted.

The cleanup on the internals of the T05 is pretty straight foward, unless you are modding the unit. Debur all edges and polish all contact points. Unless you don't mind messing around with "small STRONG springs", plates (arms) & pins, leave the UPPER arm in place because if you can't get it back in, the gun won't shoot. If you look at the pics, you can see the back view of the trigger with the lower arm and its spring removed...you can get in there with 800-1000-then 1200 grit abrasives, then polish with Dremel felt tip or buffing wheel and compound.

When talking about the "feel" of a trigger, well, they are all different, like different personalities. A rekord trigger of that of the TX 200 break clean and have a "feel" that is all their own...even after tuning.

A T05 trigger has a feel that is all its own, and the word feel is itself is a relative term...they can and do however get smoother and more predictable. Everybody who does triggers has their favorite lube misture...on my guns here in the desert, I use a set ratio of JM Clear Tar and Molly, with a bit of an additive that is like oil, but is still different in that it penetrates the metal parts structure and micropores at the molecular level molecular and bonds...the metal becomes self lubricating until wear removes a certain level of the metal in the part itself. I don't know the name of the product, but it was spec'ed in the US Military's SaaS program....I might be able to find a NSN for it...wlii have to look when I get home.

I said:

A rekord trigger of that of the TX 200 break clean and have a "feel" that is all their own...even after tuning.


Should have said:


A rekord trigger OR that of the TX 200 break clean and have a "feel" that is all their own...even after tuning.


They are two DIFFERNET triggers...

-Curtis