Russian SKS Finish

I went and bought some Tung oil. I'm going to give that a try. If I'm not happy with the finish, I suppose I can still put some oil based poly over it later, right?

I've read good things about Tung oil, but I've never tried it...
 
No need to put any top coat on top of Tung oil. Is yours "polymerized"? Hope so. It dries much faster than not.

Can't remember if you want a gloss finish or satin, but follow the instructions on how to apply it to achieve a satin finish if yours is glossy.

One more thing - oil finishes like Tung oil, boiled linseed oil, etc need to have the rags spread out flat to dry, or disposed of in water. A crumpled rag can spontaneously ignite and start a fire. I lay mine flat to dry on concrete and then when they are hard (completely dried), then they can be tossed in the garbage.

What is the state of the stock right now?
 
jimbo14 said:
No need to put any top coat on top of Tung oil. Is yours "polymerized"? Hope so. It dries much faster than not.

Can't remember if you want a gloss finish or satin, but follow the instructions on how to apply it to achieve a satin finish if yours is glossy.

One more thing - oil finishes like Tung oil, boiled linseed oil, etc need to have the rags spread out flat to dry, or disposed of in water. A crumpled rag can spontaneously ignite and start a fire. I lay mine flat to dry on concrete and then when they are hard (completely dried), then they can be tossed in the garbage.

What is the state of the stock right now?
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Right now the stock has the thick shellac on it. I'm going to strip that off with furniture stripper, re-apply the stain if necessary, and then use the tung oil on it. I think I'll probably have to wipe on several coats of tung oil over a period of days and then see what it looks like.

I don't think it's real Tung oil though. It's Minwax Tung Oil Finish: http://www.minwax.ca/wood-products/specialty-products/minwax-tung-oil-finish

If it looks good then I'll just leave it at that.
 
mdmaroon said:
Right now the stock has the thick shellac on it. I'm going to strip that off with furniture stripper, re-apply the stain if necessary, and then use the tung oil on it. I think I'll probably have to wipe on several coats of tung oil over a period of days and then see what it looks like.

I don't think it's real Tung oil though. It's Minwax Tung Oil Finish: http://www.minwax.ca/wood-products/specialty-products/minwax-tung-oil-finish

If it looks good then I'll just leave it at that.
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I tried that minwax oil on somes shotguns, work great. 4 coats provide a nice mat-satin finish. More coat you add, more gloss you get so you can control quit well.
Joce
 
mdmaroon said:
Okay, so I'm going to do about 47 coats and see what happens. ;)
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It'll end up very glossy. :)

That Minwax stuff is a blend of things and will be ok. I used pure polymerized tung oil for my refinishing job. There may be a couple tips in here that can help you. Cool thing about woodworking is there are always many ways to do things. :)

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...wly-updated-SKS-wood-stock-refinishing-thread

What I'd probably do in your shoes is strip the shellac and then make sure what's left isn't too oily. I'd break out the alcohol and give the stock a good cleaning and even out the stain, by preferably using alcohol (or maybe something stronger) to spread it around and remove as much oil as possible. The end goal being to have the minimal amount of colourant in the wood to achieve the colour I want, while minimizing any residual oil.

Then as I did in my link (above), I'd try a sample on a test piece. Grab a scrap piece of birch (or maple) and put that same stain on it. Get it as close to your stock as possible.

...now break out the tung oil and finish your sample piece and see what you get. I know it'll drive you crazy, waiting to mess with your stock, but haste got you here in the first place. ;) We've all been there so don't feel bad. :)

Good luck!
 
The furniture stripper I'm going to use is Circa 1850. It contains Dichloromethane and Methanol. It'll strip the shellac right off like nothing. Doesn't damage the wood.

The stain I'm using is this: http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=595 in the "Cabernet" colour. It dries really fast and doesn't seem oily at all. I don't think it's an oil based stain. Not water either, judging by the warnings... I don't know what it is, but they say you can apply varnish in 20 minutes on top of this stuff!
 
That stain has ethanol, water and raw linseed oil in it, according to the MSDS. Not much linseed oil though (which is good), but if those tubes are anything like my artist oil paints, the oil can separate inside the tube. I'd still let it dry for quite a while before a top coat. The worst thing you can do when it comes to finishing a project is to rush the job, because then you get to do it again. :)
 
mdmaroon said:
The furniture stripper I'm going to use is Circa 1850. It contains Dichloromethane and Methanol. It'll strip the shellac right off like nothing. Doesn't damage the wood.

The stain I'm using is this: http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=595 in the "Cabernet" colour. It dries really fast and doesn't seem oily at all. I don't think it's an oil based stain. Not water either, judging by the warnings... I don't know what it is, but they say you can apply varnish in 20 minutes on top of this stuff!
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________________

^^^^^^
hmm, ..... and THAT is just touching up the shelac, and keeping it as original as possible.... OK.

(would be better leaving it in the box, with cosmoline all over it). Too each his own.
 
noway123 said:
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^^^^^^
hmm, ..... and THAT is just touching up the shelac, and keeping it as original as possible.... OK.

(would be better leaving it in the box, with cosmoline all over it). Too each his own.
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Yes, I am in fact a complete heretic for doing this. It's okay, I ordered another one to not mess with. :)
 
Hey mdmaroon, how's the experimenting going?

Just out of curiousity, how did you get from touching up a few flaws with a Q-tip or small artist paintbrush to staining the entire stock? I don't mean to pick at a scab, so to speak, but I'm really just genuinely curious. :)
 
jimbo14 said:
Hey mdmaroon, how's the experimenting going?

Just out of curiousity, how did you get from touching up a few flaws with a Q-tip or small artist paintbrush to staining the entire stock? I don't mean to pick at a scab, so to speak, but I'm really just genuinely curious. :)
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I thought I had all the cosmoline off the stock and then more came to the surface so I used paint thinner to get rid of it, and it ruined the finish in one particular spot where the Cosmoline was really soaked into the wood. That pretty much ended the notion of touching it up.

Anyway, it's going okay. I've put two coats of the fake tung oil finish on it. So far it hasn't really developed any sort of shine. The wood is just soaking it up. They suggest 24 hours between coats so I'll just keep putting one coat on per day until it starts to build up.
 
Thanks for the info.

As for the 24 hours per day between coats, that's assuming optimum drying conditions. Maybe leave it for another day before another coat.

Good luck!
 
Well the fake Tung oil is starting to build up and give the stock a nice shine. There are a few spots that are just soaking it up like crazy and they're still dull. I'll just keep adding more. Eventually it'll stop soaking in, right?

While waiting for that one, I spent about 15 minutes and slapped a coat of the shellac on a spare stock that I have from an SKS that's wearing a plastic stock now. This one turned out great! I think the trick is not to put on too much shellac. Two quick coats, with a few minutes between them and it's done.

I'll have pics once it's all done.
 
mdmaroon said:
Well the fake Tung oil is starting to build up and give the stock a nice shine. There are a few spots that are just soaking it up like crazy and they're still dull. I'll just keep adding more. Eventually it'll stop soaking in, right?
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Correct. Eventually the grain will get filled and the oil will build up on the surface. Don't rush it because the oil may not cure properly inside the grain.

mdmaroon said:
While waiting for that one, I spent about 15 minutes and slapped a coat of the shellac on a spare stock that I have from an SKS that's wearing a plastic stock now. This one turned out great! I think the trick is not to put on too much shellac. Two quick coats, with a few minutes between them and it's done.

I'll have pics once it's all done.
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Correct again. Shellac won't tolerate thick coats. Give it more than a few minutes between coats. The alcohol needs to evaporate between coats and rushing it can leave pockets of alcohol trapped in the shellac that will eventually evaporate, but will mess up the finish. You saw this with applying thick coats.

Do you sense a theme here about applying these finishes? ;)
 
Well, I think I'm almost done with the fake tung oil finish. No more dull spots where it soaks in. It's nice and glossy all over. I think I'll give it one more coat and then let it dry for a while.

I read in a woodworking forum that it is a good idea to put shellac over the tung oil finish once it is completely hardened. This offers protection from water and prevents the tung oil from oxidizing too much and eventually flaking off. So, I might have a use for that garnet shellac after all! (The tung oil should cure for a week or two before applying shellac)

The colour is currently very close to the original finish, but maybe a little bit lighter. Applying a couple top coats of shellac will probably darken it up to almost the perfect colour.

In other news, I received my latest unissued SKS and this one is even better than the refinished one! On this one I really won't even try to refinish it or touch it up in any way. Just removal of cosmoline from all metal parts, and the stock will be gently heated and wiped repeatedly. No solvents, no water, no abrasives of any kind will be going near this one!

Once the refinished one is complete, I'll put up photos of both side-by-side and you'll have to guess which one is the original!
 
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I promised pictures.

One is straight out of the box from Westrifle and the other is the one I refinished.

SKSRefinish001_zpsb72cc4d9.jpg


SKSRefinish003_zpsd6af981c.jpg


SKSRefinish005_zpsa70a9bad.jpg


SKSRefinish006_zpsb0ff5e1e.jpg


SKSRefinish004_zps0b5b362a.jpg


SKSRefinish007_zps54beaf2f.jpg


SKSRefinish008_zpsfaffb7ea.jpg
 
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