Questions about refinishing the stock

tofuboi8

tofuboi8

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Hi I have done a search on surplusrifle.com but haven't really found anything.

For refinishing, would it be ok to soak the stock in Varsol to remove seeped in cosmoline in the stock wood, the nasty finish and the built up grime ? Would that soften/damage the stock in any way ?

I know there is the low heat cosmo removal method, but I can't use my oven because my mom bakes alot with it. (Yea I live with my parents.... but I'm only 18 lol).

Thanks !

(Oh the rifle I have is a Chinese version)
 
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Well first of all, you'd need one hell of a lot of varsol. I think it might soak in a little more than you think, and you'd risk the finish (varathane, stain, whatever) that you later put on it bubbling up or peeling.
I was lucky and mine had pretty much no cosmoline on it. It kind of depends what you want to do with the stock after. I've heard of people putting stocks into the dishwasher with some success, but I've never tried that...
 
So should I just wipe down with varsol and end up steam cleaning the stock ?

I'm planning to apply a hand rubbed Dainish Oil (with pre-mixed in stain) finish (probably with some bees wax after I've acheived the desired staining effect.)

Haha, this is the first time I've ever attempted this... so all opinions and reccomendations are welcomed.

Thanks !
 
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Easy Off oven cleaner works. Spray it on, rinse it off with hot water. It removes everything.

Say, maybe you could just put the stock in the oven next time mom cleans it.....:D
 
spray down with easy off oven cleaner (get the low odor stuff) or spray down with simple green and let sit for 30 min, then scrub down with fine steel wool with hot water.
Let it dry overnight and check for patches that weren't fully removed.
 
I put mine in the dishwasher it stripped everything off in one cycle. It also raises the grain in the wood which got rid of a bunch of light scratches. I really should get around to sanding and finishing it one of these days.
 
hmm ok, i think i should just use easy-off method for stripping, and just steaming the stock with my steam cleaner to raise dents/dings.

joe-nwt: yea i should haha... that probably won't be for a while... and i want to shoot my SKS soon haha.

Thanks everybody!
 
I have used Circa 1850? stripper on both standard and tung oil finished SKS stocks and it worked great
here are the two finishes compared, it was a quick job
2006_0530SKS-FS0002.jpg
 
tofuboi8 said:
hmm ok, i think i should just use easy-off method for stripping, and just steaming the stock with my steam cleaner to raise dents/dings.
Click to expand...

If you are sure you are going to use this method, be sure to remove every bit of oven cleaner out of your stock with dish soap and water. The active ingredient in Easy Off is lye (NaOH) it's very caustic stuff. If you leave some behind, the lye will continue to eat away at the stock. Also, don't do more than two applications of ten minutes each. Rinse in between applications. Let dry for 24h before lightly sanding.

Personally, I'd just use furniture stripper (Circa 1850, you can buy it anywhere). It takes a little longer but it will not damage the wood in any way. Lye, and water can be very harmfull to a bare stock.
 
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