Anvil 092: K98 major flood damage recovery 

No part two to this, unfortunately. The job was cut off as soon as the TRUE condition of the bore was known. The wood was something I wanted to explore on video, and an entire episode on nothing but wood is next. This unit went home in a bag, essentially. We just wanted to show what was possible, at the very edge of salvation. Wasn't "winging" this as much as you might think. The first and most important thing is to get a look at the bore. IF the bore is still good, everything else happens next, so the wood gets done while the metal parts are being converted. Many other problems ganged up to say that it was ruined as an item that the owner was willing to put money into, so he cut it off, and it is barely a shooter. There is a rhyme to the reason......

I'll give my K98k a hug after watching this

The drop time and date just worked out this way. Merry Christmas........

Cunningham's Law states "the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer."

I'm a train mechanic. Everything I work with is big and heavy and ugly. Never layed hands on a gun but alot of what you teach transfers across many areas and I love watching your videos. You have taught me a thing or two and for that I'm grateful. Keep it up Mr Novak. All the best from sunny Ireland.

This channel is massively underrated.

I don't care what these comments say. You are a walking book of knowledge. I'm currently taking classes for gunsmithing and your videos or teaching me alot. The gunsmithing classes teaches function operations design you are teaching so much more. THANK YOU SO MUCH

My Grandfater hide a K98 he found in field in the last days of war,in a space under the stairs. (He was 10 years old at this time) later in the late 60s after he went for a hunting licence he dug it up and got it officially registered.He later gave it to my uncel after he had passed his hunting licence, too. He still use it for driven hunts in it orginal setup.

Mark, my dad was a gunsmith , I enjoy watching you. He taught me a lot. He really hated it when someone would bring a gun in after they took regular tools and tried to fix it. He called them " the hammer and tongs guys ". It takes a lot of patience to be a gunsmith. Thanks

When my uncle was a boy in Cologne German soldiers dumped weapons in the canals. He fished them out to trade to the American Army. Looks like he missed one.

I find the comments about his talking too much annoying as hell. The man has a tremendous knowledge base. Shut up and listen and you may learn something if you are capable.

Christmas, a cigar, some blue label, and Anvil. What a night.

I've been able to do some amazing work on my vintage military rifles thanks to your help. As always, thank you for sharing your craft!

It is rare that I can sit through videos of this length, mostly because the typical content creator has a tendency to spend too much time with empty talking or getting into something that is irrelevant or not interesting. This video was fantastic and easily stayed engaged. Personally, I was engaged by the various pearls of wisdom dropped here and there and the "tutelage" feel of showing the viewer what to look for regarding various aspects of breakdown and fixing.

"Can you fix this up for me? I don't wanna put more than about 50 bucks into it."

I don't know who writes the intro scripts for you Mark, but they deserve a raise. If it's you - well, pat yourself on the back.

Really enjoying this. This is reminiscent of fixing my father's reproduction colt 1860 army black powder revolver. Apparently my parents had gone shooting 10 plus years ago and never cleaned it. His response to seeing was "if you can fix it it's yours." Worked on it off and on for a few years. Only had to replace the cylinder and a leaf spring. Thanks for bring back good memories.

Please ..please..put up the rest of this video ....I love what you are doing ..Mark you are a true professional...your experience shows ..thank you for sharing your knowledge..

This gun was likely lost in a boating accident.

Wow - If I had seen that 98 at a gun show I would have said " might have some salvageable parts " But WOW ! ..You brought it back back from the brink ! Thank you for showing this

Mark, you have certainly rekindled my long lost appreciation of history (never thought guns would do that). I have literally found myself watching videos of firearms I didn’t know, or care, existed just to watch you work. And In doing so I have found myself duckduckgo’ing (I refuse to use google anymore) the historical relics you work on. That eventually lead to me re-reading some things I read as a child. And those are good memories. I’d like to thank you.

Really good video. I'm not doing gunsmithing at all, but I do sometimes repair or refurbish old toys, tools, kitchen utensils etc. I learn a lot. Getting some confidence it can be done.

Probably the best Christmas Present I received this year... A Mark Novak video.

This guy is beyond PhD...best I have seen in 63 years.

I can actually see Mark going up to a shelter and adopting the one puppie with the dodgy leg. Love this man and his sence of care

Such a joy to see someone who knows what he is doing. Great video.

This video has taken me to younger times when I would visit my armourer under any excuse and then sit for hours watching him do his trade an explaining every step; honestly I would love to get a big pot of tea and sit across from Mister Novak to get advantage of his great knowledge while trying to learn something new. Beautiful video, thank you for the memories you brought back. Excellent job. God bless you.

Thank you Mark and Bruno for all your hard work in sharing your work with us. I have an old Dutch Beaumont 1871/88 that I am about to conserve thanks to your help.

Just a short little list for those out in restoration land of what was left IN THE WHITE with K98's: 1. bolt disassembly disks (always, no exceptions) - the disks both sides of the butt 2. buttplates (always, zero exceptions) - note: the inner face of buttplates were painted with red oxide primer 3. EARLY bayonet lugs (up to 1943, when blueing was done on this part) 4. firing pins 5. sears 6. rear sight leaf tops (the scale) were linished back to white after the unit was blued 7. stock recoil/cross bolts Everything else was RUST BLUED up till 1939, and thereafter CAUSTIC (hot) blued (Mauser invented caustic bluing). Bolts were NEVER in the white on K98's - disregard EVERYTHING "Mitchell Mausers" has ever and will ever do! Entirely blued bolts (except the firing pin) up to late 1944, when many were phosphated (not parkerised, as the manganese dioxide was not in the mix) Incidentally Mark, the rifle you show is a Sauer made rifle.

Subscribed after the first minute and 15 seconds when he saig "pre-breathe your helium... down the rabbit hole and it's flooded." I like the cut of this guy's jib.

When you pulled that handguard off, I said "what the actual F**k!" It has been wet for quite a while. The rust scaling on it is just horrendous. Doing Gods work Mark.

Mark. I am a structural engineer and my life has changed with the discovery of PL Premium MAX... it is also a loctite Premium MAX. It is black and cures to 1275 PSI. I have been speccing it for repairs to wood trusses... the force it will take is epic. I wonder if that stuff transferred to a syringe might be better and blacker than gorilla.

If Bob Ross had found a different canvas, this might be it. Thanks for another great restore.

There must be something wrong with me. These videos could last 4 hours and I wouldn't get bored.

I love your conversion videos mark. I always learn something listening to your stuff. Keep it up my man

That was the quickest 49 min. I can remember in a long time. Thanks, Mark & Co.

Another advantage of scotchbrite: it doesn't leave liitle bits of steel wool jammed into the grain of the wood.

Borax & water kills mold, then I use isopropyl alcohol to drive out the water. A 90+ year old clock maker turned me on to using Go Jo waterless hand cleaner to remove metal corrosion from hardwoods, and by God, it works GREAT!

"If you see me talking to myself, I'm just getting expert advice".

I know nothing about the guns but the techniques of wood and metal conservation shown are invaluable. I need to rewatch and take some notes.

Mark Novak's first words on a 49 minute K98 video: "Oh my." Me: "Oh my." Sulu: "Oh my."

The before shot looks like something straight out of the classic firearms or RTI catalog., I can imagine the description."NRA GOOD/VERY GOOD CONDITION *CRACKED STOCK*, RARE KRIEGSMARINE K98K SALVAGED FROM THE BISMARK, LIGHT SURFACE RUST, $1800 ONE OF A KIND."

that scotch brite tip was the best info I've gotten. I had a Mosin M44 with a bolt as brown as the stock, Scotch brite and elbow grease polished back to clear silver. Even found a few hidden factory marks underneath the grime

There's always a lot i can learn watching your videos. Thank you for your work and Merry Christmas, Sir.

your work never ceases to amaze me

When you take the joke it fell off the boat to seriously.

Absolutely love watching this and learning! Thanks for sharing all the information Mark.

What a perfect Christmas present!!! Absolutely an awesome episode! Thanks Mark!

Oof. As someone who saw how quickly the fungus of dry rot can bite in a wood hull sailboat, I applaud your use of alcohol, but I am by no means certain that is enough. With some trepidation, I am showing my age here,and my local pharmacy of many years ago used to sell Formalin bottles to the microbiology students at university. Formaldehyde, either painted on or simply in a fume cupboard,was the recommended method of stopping fungus in its tracks. That was then,this is now. As long as that wood remains dry,shouldn't be a problem,but who knows what further use succeeding owners will make of that old girl. The rifle has presumably been completed and returned to the owner,so any comments here are after the barn door closed. But formaldehyde is a whole lot more capable of dealing with what is after all critters that come from the soil and return dead tree carcasses to the soil. And are very long lasting critters. Hey I could be wrong and the alcohol is plenty good enough. Hoping so anyway. I doubt college kids nowadays have their hands in Formalin solution like we did. And a good thing too.

I don't use these videos as a guide, however, you have a ton of helpful knowledge in these videos for aspiring gunsmiths, thanks a ton!

So rare an honour to watch and maybe just learn from a truly genuine masters many skills repairing to us broken objects to their full and previous near perfection,, an enjoyable time had , thank you so much.

Every time I view one of Mark's vidios, I learn one more way around problems I have run into. Keep it coming Mark.

I come for the amazing weaponsmithing, I stay for the incredible intelligent wit

I like this craftsmanship. Thank you for showing your art.

Mark... Just discovered you and your work. Its fantastic! Youre funny, knowledged and gifted! Thank you for what you teach.

Nice timing. Great way to spend the end of a Christmas Day. Fun to watch and relaxing.

It's Christmas. A bomb blew up not too far from my house, but my internet is still working and there's an Anvil episode to watch.

A gun that actually got lost in a proverbial "boating accident"...

By far the most interesting channel I watch on You Tube. Thanks for the effort.

I just love these videos! I cannot get enough of it. Awesome video as always, thanks Mark! Merry Christmas my friend!

Glad C&Rsenal pointed out your channel to me have a great Christmas season MR Novak

Can't wait to see how the rest of the project looks! Merry Christmas mark.

One of your very best. Thanks for all the hard work putting these together. It really shows.

So therapeutic, so nice. Ian and you are my favorites.

I really like the supercuts at the beginning, I feel like I'm getting ready to watch an episode of top gear.

48+ minutes just sailed by, Thanks for your hard work!

As an amature pistolsmith in Canada love your videos this type of information is just not available. Thank you for the time and effort it is greatly appreciated. Oh and Merry Christmas

Absolutely love your work Mark! Thanks for another great video. Happy Holidays!

I used to do a bit of restoration work. I could taste what came out of that bore. It hurts my soul.

The condition of this rifle makes me think of the rifles coming back from the government arsenal in Nepal , some were 120 plus year old Martini Henry’s. This really wasn’t an Arsenal but a centuries old palace with only some windows and lots of weather. In one of the forums a fellow used Kramer’s Best Antique restorer to clean up a rifle.This is a blend of all natural turpentine, vinegar, waxes etc. Twelve components in all . The point is that there is nothing in this mix that will contaminate the wood and soften it. However it will slowly dissolve the gunk and rust. Screws frozen in the wood would release with no damage to the wood. The wood was cleaned with all the patina remaining and all the makers marks clearly visible. Converting the rust is clearly the superior treatment for the metal and in my opinion and experience Kramer’s is the best way to clean up wood be it a milsurp or a prized antique . Thanks for the hours of meticulous work, you are a craftsman..👍 The article: www.gunboards.com/threads/kramers-antique-restorer.122451/

Mr. Novak, Thank you for showing some bad chips, cuts, mold and dents being repaired on the stock. I mainly so wood refinishing and have always underestimated scrapers and scotch brite pads. This information is very useful to me as I have some old stocks I have been worried about working on.

I happened to stumble across your channel and I love it. You got a new sub. Awesome work and awesome attitude.

42:55 ER doctor: you chiseled towards your hand?

Hope there’s a part 2 in the works! We need to see the finished product!

I knew about the steaming to raise dents but the A to B comparison was really neat!

I have learned so much from your videos! Thanks for such great content. I’m currently practicing your conservation techniques on some old rifles I got from my dad.

I subscribed about 20 minutes into this because you know what the hell you are doing and sharing your knowledge well.

This is SOOOO much better than that one guy that fakes restorations.

What a fantastic episode, I hope you guys are having some happy holidays!

Appreciate the care an dexterity you advocate when working it gives a toolmaker like myself a alternative insight on preservation.

Awesome video, can’t wait for the follow up

Looks like a Royal Tiger Imports "Hand select"

Great video! I definitely learned something today. Thanks, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thank you Mr. Novak for sharing your wisdom.

Ah so that's what Bruno looks like, kinda figured he was an exact clone.

One and a half minutes in and I already know I gona subscribe to this chanel. This style just works for me

Mark, Bruno, that was the best suspense film I've seen since Hitchcock died. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Happy holidays to you!

Beautiful refinishing on that beat up wood, Mark. I learned the secret to boiled linseed oil finishes...patience. What I do is time the coats to the same beat I get laid. About 6 coats a year will allow ample dry time and a durable finish.

All the best craftsmen are eccentric.

Awesome! Can't wait for the rest!!!

I’m subscribed. The in-depth nature of what you’re doing is fantastic. My Dad purchased a Garand from CMP and used the steam method on its stock. That worked wonders. I will be watching the rest of your content.

Merry Christmas, Mark, my good man. Love your work.

have to say this, do NOT stop talking in your videos its part of what makes them so great :) everyone else can STFU!

Have to agree with you on the Danish oil. Then there's my wife's Lee Enfield. She used 9 coats of linseed on an unfinished Boyd's stock. It looks fantastic and actually dried for her. I suspect witchcraft.

Three days late, but I've finally opened this lovely Christmas present you've uploaded or us. Thanks!

Oh the stories these old guns could tell if they could talk!! Appreciate the attention to not sanding the wood also. Thanks for the video

I restore cars but have still learned a bunch of good shit watching your videos. Truly excellent videos, explanations, camera work, audio I mean, everything is spot on down to the cigars. Thanks for the content

Merry Christmas to you and yours, and thanks for all the work you do.

you guys are pulling out a great job at doing the editing, very nice video

Just a word of advice from a woodworker get some (Titebond 3 wood glue) and get some wood sawdust, be sure to get real fine sawdust ... Mix the sawdust and glue and mix it making a wood putty that is very tacky... Step 1 drill out the crack from end to end and lightly run a chisel to clean up the split. Once you have a lil valley in the wood paint the inside of the opened crack with the Titebond 3 wood glue. Step 2 make the putty and pack it in the opened up crack use something(Note: make sure to pack the wood putty in while the painted glue is still wet) to pack the Titebond 3 homemade wood putty in the crack very good, let it sit overnight the fixed wood putty aria and joints will actually be stronger than the rest of the actual wood. You can sand it stain it do whatever you want and you have restored the integrity of the wood furniture. It is also waterproof and will not absorb water and disintegrate or split in the future at the wood weld/glue/putty points. The reason I say make your own wood putty with sawdust and Titebond 3 wood glue is that it is much stronger than over the counter pre-made wood putties from your hardware store and bonds to the wood rather than filling the crack and not bonding very well. Hope this helps =]