Laminated stock refinishing

[Tully]

Hey all,

Finally stripped and sanded the furniture for my SAR-1 and am getting ready for staining and finish but have a few questions before I proceed. First being the stock is laminated and the hand guards are not so there is some color differences mostly because of the dark layering of stock. Is there a way to lighten the stock ie bleaching or is it just how the wood is going to look?

Second I am going to go RIT dye and tung oil and am looking for a dark Russian red can anyone give me a starting point for a color mix and should I try to mix 2 batches one for stock one for handguard to try and match somewhere in the middle?

Sorry if it all sounds silly. It's my first full on refinishing. My mosin I just degreased and oiled.

[imanaknut]

Actually it doesn't sound silly, it sounds like you are doing a great job thinking about what you are going to do before risking parts. I have seen too many people that didn't think it out and wound up ruining something.

I hate to break the news, but the SAR-1 never came with a laminated stock, so if yours has one, it is a replacement. That said, I would recommend since it is different than the handguards, to do what you suggested and make two batches, one lighter for the stock and one slightly darker for the handguards.

Can't help you with a Rit Dye mix since I personally never used it, but everything I have heard about it says it works great.

Someone should be along soon to help with dye mixes.

Good luck, and pictures required after you are done! :biggrin:

Oh, by the way, where on the Island are you? I spent some time in Hempstead and then sent to middle and high school in Plainview/Old Bethpage!

[Tully]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I am trying to get my ducks in a row now instead or redoing it again later.

No worries about dream shattering. My SARs a mutt Im cool with it. It will be wearing a laminated stock from a romy kit that O.S.O.K. was gracious enough to send my way. I actually really like the look of it better and am hopefully going to get the original hand guards to match somewhat. The original was cut down and painted olive green. I am refinishing that too just for practice and who knows maybe I will do a cq build that it'll come in handy for. Or may sone one smaller needs one.

I am taking pictures throughout the process and will get around to posting soon. That's part of the fun of it all.

I am in Eastern Suffolk toward Calverton. Have been for over 25 years. Funny how small the world can be with the Internet. I never thought I'd meet an islander living in Indiana though. Good on ya. What brought you out that way?

[imanaknut]

I have always said that the SAR series was just like an artist's easel, a base that allowed you to customize it into that one of a kind beauty that only you have!


Came to Indiana because I got accepted to Purdue University. Once I found out how firearm friendly this state is, and how much more laid back it is compared to The Island, I just couldn't leave! Still have family in Southampton! Used to bike to Grumman in Calverton to watch the planes takeoff and land. They used to have some interesting things flying in and out there! Was nuts as a kid how much around the island I biked, and my parents weren't too happy, but never stopped me! :D

[scratchthejeepguy]

I'm in the middle of a stock refinish myself, also doing a red color with Rit dyes and Tung oil, so I suppose I could offer a little help... Sorry for the long post, hope it helps...

I'm doing a few AK builds and for my first one, I used Minwax TO, and no stain. I just stripped the old varnish or whatever, sanded it smooth, I think I went to 220 or so, then put on the TO. The directions say to brush it on, wait 5-10 minutes, then rub off. I got a real nice satiny smooth finish, but I was actually looking for a shiny finish in the beginning. I decided that I kinda like the satin smooth look so I left that alone and decided I'd go for red and shiny on the next one.

With some guidance from TXDogblaster on this forum, I decided to go with Formby's high gloss TO this time, and Rit dyes. I thought I'd try it on a pellet gun my daughter has gotten interested in recently first though. This pellet gun I bought new at some traveling tool show once for about 20 bucks I think. It had this horrible thick orange glossy paint on it and I've always hated it. I didn't care too much for this gun anyways so I used a 4" angle grinder with a wire wheel on it to remove that orange crap. Then I used 80 grit, 120, then 220 and got it nice and smooth again. I wasn't actually surpised how quick the wire wheel was, but I was surprised that it didn't chew up the wood as bad as I thought. You couldn't tell I used a wire wheel on there now for sure.

I got the stock all nice and clean, sanded super smooth, then I heard about bleaching it so I did it first. I didn't think the bleach helped much but it couldn't hurt I guess...
Then came the dyes... I used about 3 parts Scarlet Red dye, 2 parts Dark Brown die and 1 part yellow dye, (I used 1 part = 1 spoonfull) put them in a bowl, then added HOT water per the directions, only used about 5 or 6 ounces of water, then mixed it up with a butter knife. Tried it on some close color scrap wood, (ended up adding a little more red,) Then brushed it on the stock in the yard, and used a rag to rub it in and get rid of any runs. I let that dry for about 5 hours in the sun then came the tung oil.

The directions on the Formbys say to apply, rub it in, then wait 12 hours and buff with steel wool then repeat. I really like TXDogblasters shiny deep color so he told me he applied with a foam brush, waited, then applied again, no rubbing or steel wool. He did this 6-7 coats then used Steel wool every 3rd coat or so. He ended up going with 28 or 29 coats I think but it's gorgeous! I'm on coat number 12 I think using his method and it's going great for me so far.

I didn't get a pic of the before (orange) or the bare wood, but here's a pic just before the first coat of TO. I'll post a recent pic soon.

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/249729_2046729683120_1090746934_32429983_2538795_n .jpg

[Broondog]

well it looks like scratchthejeepguy has the finish technique well in hand so i'll just stick to the color aspect.

this is an Ironwood stock set i did using RIT dye. it was of course virgin wood so it could be likened to bleached wood i suppose, and it IS laminated so it may also help give you an idea of what you will be looking forward to.

i started with a mix of 1 part Scarlet Red, 1/2 part Sunburst Orange and a touch of Dark Brown. the orange i had was powder so i used alcohol to hydrate it so to speak and more alcohol to thin the entire batch down, using an amount equal to the amount of dye i had mixed.

it was regular old rubbing alcohol too, nuthin fancy. i tested it on a scrap piece of whiteboard and ended up adding some more orange so the mix may have ended up something like 2/3 part of the orange. i just kept testing until i was happy.

oh BTW, the reason for using alcohol was the fact that it dries nearly as quick as the alcohol evaporates......no real waiting. :thumbsup:

anyway, i put on one coat but wasn't happy with the darkness of it so i ended up applying two coats. it's not really Russian Red, but i like it.

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii365/broondog007/S6300477.jpg

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii365/broondog007/S6300478.jpg

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii365/broondog007/guns-n-gear/S6300470.jpg

[Tully]

Thanks guys. Stocks look great and it is definately cool that each one will have it's own special touches. I saw the post on the 500+ coats of tung oil and at first thought it was excessive. But then again I have a marlin 75 that I went crazy on and I love the finish. So I will give it as many as I can. The deciding factor will of course be how long I can hold out from shooting it. It is the reason I bought it in the first place! But after seeing all these nice AK's I couldn't help but try and compete.

It looks like the color think is going to be a trial and error until I find a color. Atleast I know the basic colors to start with. Thank you for including pictures. Those are definately the hue I'm leaning toward. I am thinking I am going to go darker to try and balance out the wood but I want to keep the red more than brown. I'm envisioning almost an oxblood but not sure it's feasible.

Any thoughts on bleaching and leaving I. The sun or am I risking damage to the wood?

Will try and post pictures tonight o te stock stripped so you have a better idea what I am working with.

Thanks again.

[scratchthejeepguy]

After mine was completely sanded, I did bleach it hoping it would make it whiter and show the red more. I just wiped it on real heavy then let it dry. I don't think it really helped, but maybe if you soaked it more and sun bleached it... I don't know, give it a try and let us know. I still have to do my AK wood once I finish with this "test" so I'd like to know too. Take lots of pics, I wish I did...

[FunkyPertwee]

Actually it doesn't sound silly, it sounds like you are doing a great job thinking about what you are going to do before risking parts. I have seen too many people that didn't think it out and wound up ruining something.

I hate to break the news, but the SAR-1 never came with a laminated stock, so if yours has one, it is a replacement. That said, I would recommend since it is different than the handguards, to do what you suggested and make two batches, one lighter for the stock and one slightly darker for the handguards.

Can't help you with a Rit Dye mix since I personally never used it, but everything I have heard about it says it works great.

Someone should be along soon to help with dye mixes.

Good luck, and pictures required after you are done! :biggrin:

Oh, by the way, where on the Island are you? I spent some time in Hempstead and then sent to middle and high school in Plainview/Old Bethpage!

I thought I remembered the final batch of SAR-1s coming with laminated Romanian furniture.

[silverstar]

Broondog, what did you use on your stock to get that nice shine? That came out REALLY nice and is more the redness I was hoping for. I'm thinking about stripping mine and re-doing it to get more red.

[Broondog]

Broondog, what did you use on your stock to get that nice shine? That came out REALLY nice and is more the redness I was hoping for. I'm thinking about stripping mine and re-doing it to get more red.

that's actually satin polyurethane. that way if i decide to throw the rifle in the mud i won't really worry too much......the wood is now as durable as the rifle itself.

i save the tung oil routine for old milsurps and such.

[scratchthejeepguy]

Don't mean to hijack your thread but thought I'd post an update to my air rifle stock that I posted about above. Plus I thought someone might be able to use the idea that I took video of at the bottom.

I never took a pic of what I started with, but found this old safe pic of the air rifle and it's thick orange paint. There's a pathetic little arrow at the bottom to show you which one it is:
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/253752_2056969299104_1090746934_32444593_2739641_n .jpg
Then... like I said in my earlier posting, I wire wheeled all the orange off, sanded it, dyed it red, then started coating it with Tung Oil.
Here's a couple pics of what it looks like after 18 coats of Tung oil. I think I'm done with it now. It's got tons of gloss and depth, and is really smooth. these pics are about 12 hours after the last coat. I'll put it together tomorrow. These pics show it almost orange again, which is what I was trying to get away from, but in real life, it's more red than orange. I'm very happy with the color, especially since it's a cheap air rifle.
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/252569_2056971059148_1090746934_32444595_1322968_n .jpg

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/254984_2056973779216_1090746934_32444597_802275_n. jpg

Here is a way I found to stop the runs and drips. Not sure where I got the motor from...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAu9Sbzrqtk

[Tully]

That stocks looks great. Cheap air gun or not. I have an old beat up 22 that may get the same treatment.

However, it looks like my Ak furniture is not. After some looking and fear over the durability of tung oil I have official changed my approach. The inability to get fit in anything near the colors I want anywhere locally and the urge to finally shoot this project have finally won out. So after some testing I have decided on minwax red oak and amber spar varnish. I am hopefull that it comes out how I envision. Will keep you posted and share pictures

[Tx Dogblaster]

That air rifle stock was the perfect piece to "practice" on. It sure looks like you caught on! It looks like you've been finishing wood all your life. That motor is ingenious also! That probably would've save me some unneeded coats of tung oil. I just couldn't be happy until it was glossy with zero visible imperfections.