Refinishing a SVT40 stock

MoreMilsurpMoreFun

MoreMilsurpMoreFun

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Took a quick look through recent threads and couldnt find anything immediately so i thought id start a new one.

Most recently picked up a SVT40, the bluing is in great condition but some dummy painted the stock black with a rattlecan. Long story short im looking to refinish the stock with minimal cost, im not interested in making an F-150 look like a lambo but rather just make it look like a nicer F-150 if you catch my drift. Its just one layer of black paint so i dont think ill need stripper, just steel wool and a bit of elbow grease to take care of that. So mostly im looking to you guys for which stain and oil and/or laquer to use.
 
Gel paint striper works well to remove the paint, rinse it wih acetone to remove old oil or remainder paint. A couple coats of tung oil or boiled linseed oil works great
 
Alrighty so you would reccommend gel stripper then? Was kinda hoping to skip that step but oh well sounds like i can do all this in one trip to home depot at least. Thanks for your imput oldguner
 
no "sanding"! The finest steel wool like weasel1 said. number "0000". Don't rub with vigor, simply lightly polish the surface.

Now if you want to stay authentic you will shellac the stock, not oil it... ;)
 
Also, for the parts that are blued that have paint on them would you reccommend to take off the paint? Would paint stripper hurt the bluing? Again thanks for the assistance
 
louthepou said:
no "sanding"! The finest steel wool like weasel1 said. number "0000". Don't rub with vigor, simply lightly polish the surface.

Now if you want to stay authentic you will shellac the stock, not oil it... ;)
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Wasn't the shellac just slapped on after the war to preserve the wood for storage?

Ever war time photo of an SVT-40 I remember shows (what appears to me) to be a dull finish. Which makes sense when you consider that shellac handles terribly in the heat.
 
Lee Valley has the orange shellac in flake form. You have to dissolve it in the appropriate thinner. You can't get exactly what was used for thinner back then since it's banned now but the modern substitute seems to work well. You can control the color (how dark orange it is) by how much you dissolve into the thinner and how many coats you apply.
 
MoreMilsurpMoreFun said:
Alrighty so you would reccommend gel stripper then? Was kinda hoping to skip that step but oh well sounds like i can do all this in one trip to home depot at least. Thanks for your imput oldguner
Click to expand...

Using a paint striper will save you a lot of time. Just use whatever your local hardware store has . Mine carries the circa 1850 brand. I have done true oil, linseed oil, tung oil, shellac. And almost any other coating for wood on gunstocks And if you are up for it a fun recipe is 4 part turpentine 2 part linseed oil and 1 part beeswax and one part pine tar bring all ingreadent to boil( outside) and apply hot for a mat finish look. If using a oil finish I usually use 0000 syeel wool to wet send between coats
 
Great input guys, thanks again.
Seems like ill be going with tung oil after stripping the paint off.

As for the acetone do i just have to rub it on with a rag or??

Ill make sure to post some before and after pictures when i get it all done up!
 
louthepou said:
no "sanding"! The finest steel wool like weasel1 said. number "0000". Don't rub with vigor, simply lightly polish the surface.

Now if you want to stay authentic you will shellac the stock, not oil it... ;)
Click to expand...

Can you shellac after oiling? I've been doing a lot of refinishing lately, but its been on hunting rifles. So far, they've been stained and then tung oiled. I love how oiling makes the wood grain pop, but I know some folks like a shinier finish.
 
weasel1 said:
Can you shellac after oiling? I've been doing a lot of refinishing lately, but its been on hunting rifles. So far, they've been stained and then tung oiled. I love how oiling makes the wood grain pop, but I know some folks like a shinier finish.
Click to expand...

Ideally, you'd want it dry. Any oil under the shellac will come right up through it if you ever shot it enough to warm up the hand guard.
 
I've used heirloom furniture stripper on milsurps in the past with good results and it can be picked up at cdn tire, for stock oil I use tried and true boiled linseed oil which is just straight polymerized linseed oil with no additives and you can get this at lee valley. you can also get some shellac flakes from lee valley and use ever clear as a thinner and get a very nice finish.
 
Shellac will remove with denatured alcohol. Denatured alcohol will be packaged as methyl hydrate or similar in the paints section of your hardware store.
Using furniture stripper should only be used to get through polymers and Varnishes - imho.

It is my understanding shellac was used post war refurb and proper wartime finish would be either tung or linseed oiling only.
 
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Before...

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After!

Thanks for all your guys' imput
 
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