Refinished my sks

When I did my stock I used paint stripper to remove the stain. After I had it to bare wood I tightly wrapped a few layers of paper towel around it and then wrapped that with masking tape. After that I put the stock inside a black garbage bag and wrapped it up. I put it on the dash of my car in the sun in 30 plus weather and left it bake for a few hours. I also made sure to pack the end of the stock with towel and where the barrel inserts. When I would take it out of the garbage bag the towels would be covered in cosmoline and I kept repeating this until the towels come out clean. This process took several day and after that I sanded and stained it with no varnish afterwards.
 
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FreedomIsn'tFree said:
When I did my stock I used paint stripper to remove the stain. After I had it to bare wood I tightly wrapped a few layers of paper towel around it and the wrapped that with masking tape. After that I put the stock inside a black garbage bag and wrapped it up. I put it on the dash of my car in the sun in 30 plus weather and left it bake for a few hours. I also made sure to pack the end of the stock with towel and where the barrel inserts. When I would take it out of the garbage bag the towels would be covered in cosmoline and I kept repeating this until the towels come out clean.
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smart advice, you possess a rare quality called common sense
 
Outwest1213 said:
That looks awesome, would love to do the same to one of mine, can u go into detail a little more of the process u went through to get it looking so nice?
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Took everything off the stock and put it in the oven at 170f (lowest mine goes) wiping cosmonline off every 10-15 min for about an hour and a half with mineral spirits.

Used a palm sander for the bulk of the sandin starting with 60grit (careful, takes off a lot of wood, used to to shape the hand grooves to more comfortable bevels) then 110 then 220 the 440

Then hand sanded with a ultra fine sanding sponge (piece of foam with sandpaper on it) until smooth
Wiped the dust off the stock then applied 4? coats of Minwax Special walnut 224 stain every 4-6 hours using a clean cloth.

Sanded the stock again using the ultra fine sanding sponge to get rid of any blotching. Wiped the dust off

Applied 5 coats of Miniwax polyurethane with a foam brush, lightly sanding with 440grit sand paper then wiping dust off in between coats until I was happy with the finish.

I left some fine brush strokes in the direction of the grain on the final coat, for a bit of extra grip.

Good luck :}
 
Brendan10 said:
smart advice, you possess a rare quality called common sense
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If the cosmoline was still in my stock I would know it, because 30 degree plus weather is normal in the summer where I live. When I take it out to the range, on a hot day, it has been fine so far. I think that the oven idea is good also, the main thing is the heat that is needed and taking the time to make sure the cosmoline is gone.
 
Brendan10 said:
At what temperature does cosmoline wake up
and start wondering around.

The danger for you is due to the fact that you have encapsulated the wood
meaning it cant breath anymore,
this will make Mr Cosmoline angry because now you have put him in jail
and when your gun gets hot he will form into a angry Boil or large Zit that
will explode sending hot cosmoline into your right eye and burning it so bad
that you will loose the eye and they will have to cut it out and push in a purple
marble as a replacement/false eye.
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I think it's melting point is about 140f. My oven only goes as low as 170 otherwise I would have done it at 150.

It had thick glossy shellac on it before, so I don't think it's going to breathe any less than it did before. Time will tell.
 
Old trick to remove old deep impregnated oil from old stocks , soak ( immerse ) it in acid atone till the it remains clear , wipe dry , leave it for a week in a warm well ventilated space .

Light sanding and Finish as desired , but I like the Bake in the car idea too , less expensive than acid atone and faster .

Beautiful rifle you have there !!
 
WOW really good work, i have had a tendency to not like the lam stock sks rifles but however if i did come across one i would buy it and i would do my best to replicate your finish, great job
 
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