refinishing a chinese sks

R

r.d.m.

Member
Rating - 100%
18   0   0
i sanded down the stock on my Chinese sks, when i tried to put a coat of oil based varathane on it, it will not dry,
i tested the varathane on another piece of wood and it dried fine.


i tried wiping the wood down with laquer thinner first and then painting it but that didn't work either.

i am not sure what kind of wood it is,
 
Chinese SKS are finished with shellac and denatured alcohol will dissolve the shellac.

If there is a different finish on yours use a furniture / paint stripper to get it all off, rather than paint thinner.

No need to sand, just place a damp cloth over the dents and apply gentle pressure with an iron or steam cleaner to raise the wood grains.
 
Last edited:
If the finish isn't sticking, just like having to repaint a back bedroom, you need to go back to the base. I have had great luck cleaning petroleum residue with VERY HOT water and spray engine degreaser. Spray, rinse, spray and rinse. Immediately put on the new finish before the raw steel oxidizes (ie rusts). Wood doesn't need to be submerged, but the same principles apply. As mentioned, shellac is alcohol based. Old fashioned soap and water work wonders on grimy old rifles too.
 
collector67 said:
Chu wood doesn't take refinishing very well. I tried using BLO on my Norinco M305 and it turned out very "patchy".
Click to expand...
That's like saying birch, maple or cherry doesn't take refinishing very well which is complete nonsense. All those woods can be "patchy" and it depends on the grain pattern of the particular piece of wood but equally important, just how much of the original cosmoline you can remove so you have a good base to work from. Most people don't get out all the oil they can and a new finish can look uneven. Especially if you use a light coloured oil like BLO.

Take your time to remove all the old cosmoline and then you can do what you want. Look how even mine came out after stripping and initial staining/colouring (some custom colouring on this pic and more in subsequent pics):

Finish_SKS_7.jpg


The key is to take your time and start from clean wood.
 
Last edited:
r.d.m. said:
i am not sure what kind of wood it is,
Click to expand...
It's Catalpa. It's a softer hardwood (similar to alder) and easily worked by hand. Spend the time to remove all the oil either by gently heating up the stock in the oven at a low temp (wipe it off frequently) or by using a heat gun. With a heat gun, heat an area and you'll see oil come to the surface. Immediately wipe up the oil and repeat heating/wiping that area until you can't get any more oil out. This will take a while to do the entire stock.

Once it's thoroughly clean, then you can do what you want.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom