steaming out wood stocks

what is the most a piece of wood can be steamed out?
I have a stock that has A 1/4" cut out and missing on a shotgun face (stock to receiver) its been chipped from being loose and the recoil flinged off the wood like a chipper! its gone.
the rest of the stock is rare enough to consider an attempt.
looking for someones experience in this matter.
thanks.

Do you mean a 1/4" deep? If that's the case I doubt you'll be able to steam it out flush with the surrounding wood. Worth a try, but don't get your hopes up too high.

that's what I was hoping.

bobski said:

that's what I was hoping.

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The problem is that the wood is missing. It's fairly easy to steam a dent, since the wood is just compressed, so forced moisture will usually fill the pores (expanding the wood) unless they are already filled with oil or finish of some kind. If you post a pic of the damaged area, I might be able to suggest another way to handle it.

neehhh, thanks gang. its a shame. the stock is pretty rare but not any more. the damage and unprofessional attempt to fix it was pretty sad. im going to hand it back.

bobski said:

neehhh, thanks gang. its a shame. the stock is pretty rare but not any more. the damage and unprofessional attempt to fix it was pretty sad. im going to hand it back.

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That being the case, you could probably salvage the wood for pistol or knife grips. I wouldn't just toss it in the fire.

I have filled small missing areas by sanding a part of the wood that isn't normally seen, mix the sanding residue with a little wood glue and fill the ding.

The fix for cut outs is a fillet piece, carefully let into the stock, glued and smoothed flush. Its a tricky job, but worth it on a collector's piece or just a gun you own and want to practice on, like this K31:





That one was relatively easy, because the fillets are only fitted on two sides. I used to do diamond patter ones on grips when I didn't get the screw holes in the right places. Mess one up on a typical semi-auto and you had to do 4 diamonds to make it all look right :mrgreen:

Here's another option (looks better than filling with random wood):
https://www.constantines.com/inlays.aspx
It's easier to do than checkering, and looks quite good. Many choices of inlays. I used to buy from that company when they were based in NY; they are good.