Russian SKS Finish

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mdmaroon

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I'm in the process of decosmolining a Russian SKS which is going to be a safe queen. It's an unissued, non-refurb, so I want to keep it as original as possible.

Of course the Cosmoline has caused some damage to the finish on the wood and I want to fix the damage. I'm not stripping the original finish, just repairing the very minor damage near the extremities of the stock and hand guard. I'm removing the Cosmoline using only heat, patience, and mineral spirits only once I can't get any cosmo out with the heat. So far the hand guard is done, feels nice and dry, and the original finish is not damaged very badly.

So, does anyone know if the red shellac flakes that they sell at Lee Valley are the correct finish? I want to fix the finish the way an artist repairs paintings for a museum, not splash polyurethane all over it destroying any collector value.
 
jimbo14 said:
...then leave it alone, as-is! Don't mess with it.
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The finish is damaged whether I remove the Cosmoline or not. I'm not removing more finish, just to be clear.

Once the Cosmo is gone, I could just leave it alone, but I think a touch up with the correct finish would enhance its full communist glory. I have a spare ugly stock to practice on and get the finish perfect before I do the good one.

I just want to know if red shellac actually is the correct finish.
 
Red shellac is the correct finnish... however shellac naturally gets darker over the years... even if you use the darkest red shellac,it will be much lighter then the rest of the aged rifle... if you can get your hands on a cheap refurb sks.. and refinish the entire stock, that will give you a great idea if you can match color.

Google "woodessence"..get the dark garnet shellac... he is a great guy to deal with.. very helpful... and he won't sell you old product
 
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Yes, "woodessence" is a great source. I think Lee Valley only has the orange shellac flakes. Or you could try Mohawk in Vancouver and see if they have the garnet shellac. Final colour matching will be tough though.

That said, you have an unissued, non-refurb that you said will be a safe queen. So if you honestly want to retain that "non-refurb" status, leave the gun alone. I get that you only want to touch it up, but then technically it's repaired by you and not 100% original anymore. So consider your motives for this and go from there.

:)

Good luck!
 
Basically, I want to return it to the condition it was in just after the assembly line, but before the Cosmoline dip.

It doesn't matter to me if the finish was applied by the mighty paintbrush of Boris the Russian factory worker, or me, as long as it is the correct type of finish.

Besides, if I screw it up then I can talk myself into buying another SKS. I see no downside. (But I probably won't screw it up. I'm usually pretty good at this kind of stuff.)
 
On my handguard the finish was kind of thin and the cosmo damaged it a bit causing some to flake off. I want to touch that up.

The actual stock has a really nice finish. Once I get the cosmo off I might not have to do anything to it. Don't worry, I'm not going to remove any existing finish!

If I want to keep one covered in cosmoline, I'll buy another! This one is getting cleaned, but not bubba'd!

There will be photos in this thread when I'm done...
 
Well, some people have to learn the hard way, and I'm one of them. Refinishing an SKS and having it still look like an original is next to impossible. Maybe if you could buy surplus shellac from the Tula arsenal, sure, then it could be done.

The one on the left is a Chinese SKS refinished with Minwax "Gunstock" stain and polyurethane varnish. The one on the right is Russian, finished with Varathane "Cabernet" stain and dark garnet shellac. I'm not happy with the shellac finish, so I'm going to strip it and use polyurethane.

...and since this is now bastardized, I bought another one which I won't mess with. :)

The photo is not very good and doesn't show the grain of the wood. They look better in person because you can see the grain.

SKSChineseRussian_zps20a7e2f1.jpg


Here's another picture of the Chinese. I don't have any closeups of the Russian.

SKSRefinish1.jpg
 
If it is going to be a safe queen don't even remove the Cosmo. Just leave it be. As the Cosmo would protect it for years to come


Edit I was too late he already did it
 
I am now in the habit of buying extra stocks and refinishing them... So I can still play bubba in the garage... But don't have to destroy an all matching rifle
 
Shellac can be tricky to apply. Next time, before you give up and break out the dye stain and do something permanent to a stock you'd rather keep close to original, post a note here and we can help you out. :)
 
jimbo14 said:
Shellac can be tricky to apply. Next time, before you give up and break out the dye stain and do something permanent to a stock you'd rather keep close to original, post a note here and we can help you out. :)
Click to expand...

My biggest problem with applying the shellac was that it was slightly repelled by the cosmoline. I got most of the cosmo out, to the point where the stock just felt like a dry piece of wood, but you can never get it all.

So, I had to apply the shellac thick to get it to cover the spots where it was being repelled, and then it developed an orange-peel finish, which I wasn't satisfied with.

Oil based polyurethane varnish won't have the same problem covering traces of cosmoline, so I'll be able to get a much flatter finish. I think the end result is going to be much better than original, as far as aesthetics go, but collector value will be zero. That's why I bought another one, which I won't touch!

More pics when it's done...
 
poly, like shellac, is a "film finish". This means it will essentially lay on top without penetrating much. So it can chip, flake, etc. If the surface is in poor condition (like spotty oil residue), then it will have trouble adhering. An oil finish like Polymerized Tung Oil will soak into the wood and harden inside the grain, making an extremely durable finish that won't chip or flake away. It's a better product for gun stocks than poly.

....it's also more expensive than poly. Nothing is perfect. :)
 
mdmaroon said:
The one on the right is Russian, finished with Varathane "Cabernet" stain and dark garnet shellac. I'm not happy with the shellac finish, so I'm going to strip it and use polyurethane.
Click to expand...

Shellac is intended to go on dry wood.... that stain below the shellac would repel as stain is oily... Using dark shellac to give you dark color.. light shellac would be clear... you can tint the shellac to change its color with special tinters that are intended to be used with shellac...

Stain changes the color of the wood and changes it, as parts of wood will suck up more stain then other parts.... think of shellac as a tinted window... wood that is wearing sunglasses
 
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I've put shellac over oil stain lots of times, but I wait until the stain is dry (a day or two...or three), or at the very least there are no oily spots on the surface. Keep wiping with rags until you are certain there is no oil left - and then let it dry some more.

The orange peel sounds like a symptom of putting on too thick of a coat. Shellac likes multiple, thin coats. Each new coat blends in with the old coat since the alcohol in the new coat dissolves the old coat. That's also why you need to be careful applying it. Overworking the shellac can liquify a "thick" area and then it can create more orange peel and other issues. Or if you have a previously stained surface and are applying your first coat of shellac, "working" the shellac too much may make the alcohol in the shellac pick up some of the stain and make a muddy finish.
 
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