.

 

If its a "sharp" dent, wood fibers may be cut, if its all "gentle" good results may follow. Some would suggest trying a damp wash cloth/clean rag and borrow your wifes iron and "steam" the dent. What do you have to lose?
Worst case, strip and refinish stock if its a bad one and the iron/damp rag dont work.

 

Yep ...damp rag and moms cloths iron works great. Also, I have had the best luck with dripping droplets of water directly on the dented wood and letting it penetrate, then using the damp rag and iron. Repeat until desired result. As long as its a rounded dent you'll be happy. But just as RD said, if the wood fibers are cut your SOL. You'll still be able to raise the dent some but the wood will show damage where the fibers were severed. Also, best if the finish is stripped first so the steam can penetrate the wood. Good luck. JT

 

When you do this, are you just heating the damp cloth, or are y'all pressing the steam button?

 

No need to push the steam button on the iron. Just place the generously damp rag and press the hot iron on the dent. Lift iron and rotate the rag as needed to create as much steam needed to pull the dent outward. To be expected, the steam is hot so keep your hands and fingers away. It may take several attempts so be patient. For superior results, you need to have the dent cleared of the old top coat finish so the water can penetrate the raw wood. i.e. oil, lacquer, polyurethane etc. Good luck. JT

 

only works on oil finished stocks. Wet rag with a dry iron. A soldering iron pressed into a wet cloth also works well to push steam into small dents.

 

If you chose to try the method mentioned above, as was said by Dead-A-Pair, be patient. Be careful not to leave the iron on the dampened rag too long. I have used this method and it worked great to raise an indentation. However, I wasn't patient and by leaving the iron in one spot too long and not rotating the rag it caused a haze, or light cloudy area in the finish around the dent. Good luck.

 

I did the same and caused a haze in the finish of my stock - steam on the finish, not over the dent (upon reflection, the finish on this stock is probably some form of lacquer). I guess the only way to fix the hazing is refinish the entire stock? Any suggestions as to how to reduce the hazing gratefully accepted (it looks worse in sunlight).
Should have left it alone, but unfortunately I am prone to the old adage "if it isn't broken, I'll fix it until it is".
Cheers
Mike

 

I got a huge dent on my Blaser K95 by shutting the safe door on it. (I have since got rid of that safe and will never have a safe with inside hinges again.) I sent it off to Stockdoc https://stockdocusa.com/
Great repair job for an even 150 bucks. Good luck

 

I have used Chris Vendel from PA or Phillip's Gunsmithing in the past

 

I do the same as the rest say, My Tips: use a folded paper towel about 4 layers only the corner and tip of iron on high setting with firm pressure, the use of paper towel helps show you the the amount of heat being applied it will sizzle then dry out keep rotating the paper towel and re wetting it. If it browns you got it too hot let it cool. Press it bout 5 times in a row wipe dry and then let it sit bout 10 minutes to cool down this will give the wood time to lift and to help ease the stress on the finish. Depending on depth can take several sessions, if it starts to brown back off let it cool. 1/16th" depth can be pulled up in a day over 5-10 sessions. 1/8" - 1/4" do 5-10 sessions a day let it sit overnight you got to be patient and give the wood time to lift and stabilize. If its polyurethane scuff it with some 0000 steel wool on the dent first. Ive pulled some big dents most likely you will need to touch up finish afterwards... and thats a whole other topic for discussion.

 

Mark Deprez out of Conesus, NY did mine and did an excellent job. The last I heard he’s no longer doing work like that any more but you could check with him. Here’s his website.

Mark Deprez - Stockmaker, Conesus, New York

mdstocks.com

 

Rod's Custom Stocks is the best I've seen.

 

Well you got some really good ideas to start with , now all you have to do is pick one if i were you i do the wet rag and iron first save you time and money and being away from your gun, good luck with what ever way you choose.