Wood repair

[JWKilgore]

I'm trying my hand at restoring an old Remington 572 (.22 pump). It's in rough shape; dinged and scraped aluminum action, rusted/pitted barrel, gouged stock, sloppy action. I'm going to smooth and cerama-coat the aluminum parts; sand and cold rust blue the iron parts; and putty and restain the stock. I've already ordered a few screws and parts from Remington and Numrich to replace non-stock/broken/striped parts.

 

It's not worth anything from a collector's standpoint. I'm just trying this to see if I can and to (hopefully) have a nice gun when I'm finished.

 

My main concern is the escutcheon that connects the forend (pump handle) to the action bar. The wood of the forend is sound, but the hole around the escutcheon has been "wallered out" as my dad would say. It's got about 1/8" of play all around, so it flops back and forth when you work the action. I don't want to order a replacement forend, but how can I repair it?

 

I'm thinking about two options:

 - Cover one side of the opening with wax paper, pack a putty-style 2-part wood replacement epoxy (like PC Woody) into the hole and let cure. Then drill/sand a new hole for the escutcheon. My worry here is whether the epoxy "ring" can stand up to the impact stress of racking the slide over the years.

 - Directly epoxy the escutcheon into the hole in the stock using an ultra-strong gel-style 2-part epoxy. This will make the escutcheon a permanent part of the forend and be ugly, but it will be much stronger. I'll need something to cover the epoxy joint, either a washer or maybe a wood laminate.

 

Any other ideas or suggestions?

 

Jason

[Hozzie]

Can you give us some pictures?  May have some ideas if I can see it.

[Trekbike]

I'm not familiar with that rifle so this might be a dumb idea.   Can you drill out the area making a larger hole and then insert/press/glue a "bushing" with the original size hole for the ID?   You could make the "bushing" out of wood, plastic, or metal to suit your need.  

[Garufa]

FYI, depending on how badly the wood is "gouged" you might be able to steam it out with an iron.

[TrickyNicky]

Drill it smooth and wood glue in a dowel then re-drill. Quick easy and a strong repair.

[Guest kingarmory]

^ this is the recommended method

[JWKilgore]

I'm home now, so here is a picture:

 

There is a gap all around the metal piece. I believe the retaining nut (missing, I've ordered a replacement) will cover the gap. But with two people suggesting over-drill/glue dowel/re-drill, I think that's the way to go. Thanks!

 

You can also see one of the "gouges" in the picture. In addition, the stock is missing a few chunks at the corners. Steaming won't help me :(

 

A picture of a second missing chunk:

Edited May 30, 2014 by JWKilgore

[JWKilgore]

Next question... the aluminum receiver should be fairly easy. Remove old paint, clean, repaint, and heat treat. But... there's always a big stinky but. There are small dents/nicks on one side. It looks like the gun was sitting on something sharp behind the seat of a pickup.

 

I'd say block sand them out, but they're immediately adjacent to the lettering, and deep enough to be concerned about removing that much metal: 

 

I need to fill the nicks with something without filling the lettering. I'm thinking of filling the lettering with a soft material like drywall putty that can easily be removed later. Remove the paint, sand down all raised edges, apply the putty, sand smooth to the surface of the metal, then carefully remove all putty except what's in the lettering. Assuming no one points out that this is a stupid idea, my question has to do with what to use to fill the nicks. As before, I have two ideas. First is standard Bondo automotive dent filler. Just apply and sand flush. Second is multiple coats of the Wheeler Cerama-coat paint I eventually plan to use to coat the entire receiver and trigger guard. Spray on a thin layer, let dry, sand flush to face, repeat until nicks are filled.

 

Then pick out the drywall putty, paint everything, and heat set.

 

Will either of these ideas work?

 

Incidentally, I looked up the manufacture date. This gun was born in March, 1967, and it is showing every one of those years.

[TrickyNicky]

Looking at the pics, I would wait until the missing part arrives and test fit. If it's still loose, go ahead and and plug it, but the spacer might fill the gap perfectly.

[JWKilgore]

Oh, yeah, that's a given. I plan on waiting on the parts before I start modifying anything.

[Dolomite_supafly]

For coating the receiver I would try chalkboard paint then after it dries bake it. I pre heat the oven to 300 degrees then turn it off as I put the parts in. The stuff is very durable once baked and as long as you don't use heavy duty solvents it will last a long time.

[TrickyNicky]

For coating the receiver I would try chalkboard paint then after it dries bake it. I pre heat the oven to 300 degrees then turn it off as I put the parts in. The stuff is very durable once baked and as long as you don't use heavy duty solvents it will last a long time.

+1. It's easy enough that I can do it and is actually a good looking finish IMO.

[peejman]

Next question... the aluminum receiver should be fairly easy. Remove old paint, clean, repaint, and heat treat. But... there's always a big stinky but. There are small dents/nicks on one side. It looks like the gun was sitting on something sharp behind the seat of a pickup.

 

I'd say block sand them out, but they're immediately adjacent to the lettering, and deep enough to be concerned about removing that much metal: 

 

I need to fill the nicks with something without filling the lettering. I'm thinking of filling the lettering with a soft material like drywall putty that can easily be removed later. Remove the paint, sand down all raised edges, apply the putty, sand smooth to the surface of the metal, then carefully remove all putty except what's in the lettering. Assuming no one points out that this is a stupid idea, my question has to do with what to use to fill the nicks. As before, I have two ideas. First is standard Bondo automotive dent filler. Just apply and sand flush. Second is multiple coats of the Wheeler Cerama-coat paint I eventually plan to use to coat the entire receiver and trigger guard. Spray on a thin layer, let dry, sand flush to face, repeat until nicks are filled.

 

Then pick out the drywall putty, paint everything, and heat set.

 

Will either of these ideas work?

 

Incidentally, I looked up the manufacture date. This gun was born in March, 1967, and it is showing every one of those years.

 

 

What do you mean by "heat treat"?

 

 

 

As for the nicks... I'd mask off the lettering with some foil tape and go at them gently with Cratex stones or fine sand paper.  I'm not sure you'll be able to fully remove them, but you should be able to blend them in so they're a lot less noticeable, particularly after being painted.  They're so small that I don't think a filler like Bondo would be effective.

[JWKilgore]

What do you mean by "heat treat"?

 

 

As for the nicks... I'd mask off the lettering with some foil tape and go at them gently with Cratex stones or fine sand paper.  I'm not sure you'll be able to fully remove them, but you should be able to blend them in so they're a lot less noticeable, particularly after being painted.  They're so small that I don't think a filler like Bondo would be effective.

 

The gun-specific paint I was planning on using requires being baked in an oven for final set. I should have said "heat set" or "heat cure" instead of "heat treat". And the comments above about chalkboard paint got me thinking. I may not use chalkboard paint, but ceramic engine paint should work just as well as the Wheeler Cerama-Coat paint (which is out of stock in black anyway) at a small fraction of the cost. I may stop by Advanced Auto Parts on the way home.

 

The more I look at the nicks the more I agree with you on the Bondo. I'll sand the primary surface smooth (nicks will still be there), apply several coats of paint to fill the scratches, cure the paint, sand flush, and apply a final coating.

[TrickyNicky]

The gun-specific paint I was planning on using requires being baked in an oven for final set. I should have said "heat set" or "heat cure" instead of "heat treat". And the comments above about chalkboard paint got me thinking. I may not use chalkboard paint, but ceramic engine paint should work just as well as the Wheeler Cerama-Coat paint (which is out of stock in black anyway) at a small fraction of the cost. I may stop by Advanced Auto Parts on the way home.
 
The more I look at the nicks the more I agree with you on the Bondo. I'll sand the primary surface smooth (nicks will still be there), apply several coats of paint to fill the scratches, cure the paint, sand flush, and apply a final coating.

I tried engine paint before the chalkboard stuff. Chalkboard paint is either more durable, or it sets and cures faster easier. Not sure which, but I managed to put a blemish in it pretty quick. The chalkboard stuff seems tougher , but I may have just done a better job prepping and curing when I used it.

[peejman]

Just don't bake it hotter than 300 deg. I'd stay around 250.