# Help with AK-47 wood refinishing



## biggs88 (Aug 26, 2010)

Hello all. I posted this up last night, but it was taken down, or something. So this is round two.

I just got an AK-47. The wood appears to just be stained. The wood is also a bit dirty with gun grease.










I want to make the wood the same color of the cigar box behind the gun. Like a deep cherry russian red.

Should I put the wood in stripper, then sand it?
What type of stripper would you all use?

Should I stain it then use polyurthane, or should I just use Min-wax, for tung oil, or schlac, or ect. . . .

I am a bit lost at this!

Any help is great!


----------



## Fishbucket (Aug 18, 2010)

Personally i dont like stripper... too messy. it's easier to clean up with a vacuum after sanding. 
Which is what I'd do. After wiping down with laquer thinner to get the grease off. Dont risk sanding it into the wood. 

I also love a high gloss to my guns, if the bluing is bright. 

But if your's going for a utility look. a Rubbed satin oil finish is hard to beat.


----------



## txpaulie (Jul 21, 2010)

biggs,
If'n you can get all three pieces looking the same after you are done, you will have shown great skill in wood finishing!

Every AK I've messed with has had poorly matched wood.

Personally, I wouldn't worry TOO much about hurting that wood.
I used a gel chemical stripper regularly, and only have holes in my clothes to complain about.:yes:
There's a stripper pun in there somewhere...

After stripping, I think I would start staining and see what's what...
It's always easier, for me, to add color/stain, rather than to remove it.

I expect you will find that, to match pieces, some will require significantly more stain...

Good luck, and keep the pics coming!

p


----------



## AlWood (Apr 18, 2010)

biggs88 said:


> Hello all. I posted this up last night, but it was taken down, or something. So this is round two.
> 
> I just got an AK-47. The wood appears to just be stained. The wood is also a bit dirty with gun grease.
> 
> ...



The wood of the stock look terribly vulgar, like a deck plank or something; what is that, a russian pine? (or chinese pine?) Looks like its layers can easily peel off... If I were you I'd replace it with something more noble-looking, like e. g. cherry... It is an assault weapon :gun_bandana:, shouldn't look like a spade handle...


----------



## jlhaslip (Jan 16, 2010)

You Americans are obsessed with guns.
Does it really matter what the stupid thing looks like?


----------



## AlWood (Apr 18, 2010)

jlhaslip said:


> You Americans are obsessed with guns.
> Does it really matter what the stupid thing looks like?


We, Americans?! And Canadians here to the rescue of the world? For crying out loudly, this is a Russian automatic rifle, "Avtomat Kalashnikova", invented right after the World War II, sold by them by millions all over the world, then the production picked up by Chinese, and sold by them by zillions to all kind of "freedom fighters", in particular to all kind of extremists (Al-Qaida, Hezbala and Palestinians including), God knows how many people got killed by it (Canadians including...)... If the guy wants to have it on his wall as a reminder of where the fire came from, let him have it!:yes: And with a nice looking stock too; the weapon of your enemy -- on your wall, what a sweet deal...:smile:

As to love affair between American and guns ...well, (1) not only Americans; how about for example Swiss and Israeli? (2) certainly not all Americans (not me, at least:no -- but (3) without "right to bear arms" -- there would be no other rights, and no real democracy, anywhere... If only government can bear arms, the Big Brother will rule forever; look at Russia or China...


----------



## fromthehills (Aug 21, 2010)

It's already a nice looking piece. I'd leave it, it looks more authentic the way it is, imho, but that's not going to stop you. Have fun!


----------



## Fishbucket (Aug 18, 2010)

jlhaslip said:


> You Americans are obsessed with guns.
> Does it really matter what the stupid thing looks like?


Your obsessions are no better or worse then My obsessions....

At least, now I know you *think*, you are better then me. 





Isnt the right to choose grand ? :thumbsup:


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

My personal taste would be to black it out. But, we're not talking about individual taste here. If you want to change the color, I would wipe it down with mineral spirits. Then use either stains or dyes to color it to the shade desired. You may have to mix more than one to get the color you want. 

Adding a topcoat to a stained finish will further change the color, so be prepared to do some adjusting with some experimenting.

Waterbase polyurethane will finish clear. Most oil base varnishes and polyurethanes will cast an amber tone.












 





.
.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Oil Finish*

My personal opinion would be to remove all the previous finish down to porous wood,.... type unknown. Then a mixture of dark stain, maybe walnut with a small amount of dark cherry. Like Fishbucket said, I would avoid a high gloss finish for this gun, it's a utilitarian piece not a "show piece" type of firearm. I would add additional coats of dried and hand rubbed oil finish to protect the stain. :thumbsup: bill


----------



## biggs88 (Aug 26, 2010)

jlhaslip said:


> You Americans are obsessed with guns.
> Does it really matter what the stupid thing looks like?


Look at a globe next time you want to hit me with a sly comment. 

YOUR an American too. 


Thanks to everyone for the help. I stained it twice, polyed it twice. I did not sand inbetween any coats and I gave it a light sand before I started. I wanted the wood to remain "ruff". Its shiney as all hell. I may leave it or buff it with 0000 steel. I will see. I will get pics up once the gun is dry and put back together.

*while it was apart, I cleaned all the parts. There was a lot of old storage grease all over it.


----------



## txpaulie (Jul 21, 2010)

> There was a lot of old storage grease all over it.


Cosmoline is delicious!
Put it on a cracker...

Hurry with the pics...




> My personal taste would be to black it out.


I like this idea, may try it in the near future.:thumbsup:
I'm thinking a black dye, so the wood grain still shows through...
Hhhmmm.

p


----------

