Rifle makeover in a day, a step by step guide
Well, yesterday i wanted something to do in the sunshine.
I remembered a buddy of mine wanted me to throw together a guide for home refinishes to help others wishing to refinish their firearms and make them look better.
My MAK90 looked like serious crapola, so i chose it for my demonstration here since these gun websites i frequent are mostly assault rifle junkies unlike me the Bolt action junkie. I am sure there are a few here at Gunbroker that have a rifle that needs attention too so i will also post it here in the case it will help someone else get ther rifle or pistol grips looking better again.
NO, i do not refinish other peoples firearms so pleae dont ask me to, its just a hobby thing for me.
Here we go, Start with a rifle or pistol grips that really look like crap. SERIOUSLY, only beater firearms and well loved Hunting rifles usually need this treatment.
Take a photo of your beat up rifle or pistol sporting the crappy wood.
Now take the firearm apart, take ALL the metal away from the wood because the stripper will eat at most finishes besides parkerizing.
Lay out cardboard, i save nearly every large cereal box, Eggo box or whatnot just for these projects.
Lay out your wood on the cardboard.
Get a tooth brush, new, used but above all a toss away one, you wont use it ever again except for anohter makeover, NITRILE GLOVES ONLY, get some, i couldnt afford them today so i suffered and have a burned finger now. The acids in the Kleen strip are nasty and eat latex gloves..
Spray the parts liberally
Come back to them 15 minutes later and spray on some more, now put your gloves on.
Grab the tooth brush and work the parts over, spraying little by little as the goo dries up a bit.
this is the nastiest crap ever, but its bad ass on getting the job done fast!
Save your coffee lids, they are your friends when doing this type of stuff, now they are scrapers. No need in buying plastic putty knives unless you wish to be cool and only use the cool stuff.
my toothbrush i found in my tool box with the wrong type of gloves for the stripper, great for the finish spray though!
Brushing in the goo and releasing all the prior finish on the wood, spraying a little bit here and there as the gel dried up.
ok, now that you have all the finish stripped, heres where you RUN these parts past your wife before she see's what the hell you are doing. Fill the tub with hot-warm water, dont forget to grab the dish soap on the way through the kitchen from the garage or patio.
throw the parts in the tub.
now, run back out and grab the tooth brush and the dish soap you forgot to grab on the way through the kitchen like i said to do.
coat the parts liberally with soap and throw them back in the water.
Scrub them well with the brush removing all the goo and rinse with HOT water (this raises minute little dings in the wood) it also opens the pores of the wood.
Rinse them well and let them completely dry.
Now while the wood is drying, lay out some clean cardboard, get your gloves on again, grab a wad of paper towels, fold two layer pieces into a makeshift brush and dip it in the stain. Apply the stain liberally and wipe it off FAST with the rest of the paper towels. the longer the stain is on the wood the darker it will get.
here, i wiped the wood down really well and let it sit awhile. Usually 8 hours or more.
Today i chose to sand mine wet, i wanted the stain in the pores and grain and the sanded wood filled the grain well in doing so, but its a pain in the ass and i have blisters from doing it this way. BUt it worked well!
OK, i made a rack to hang the parts on, and sprayed a little bit of finish on the parts for a tack coat and let it sit 15 minutes.
Sprayed more coats every 20-30 minutes, the stuff i sprayed today dries to the touch in 30 minutes.
notice the runs? dont stress over them, usually just finish with your steps on extra coats every 30 minutes until you reach 5 coats.
You can wet sand the high areas after 3 days and spray on a single thin coat to finish spray to finish off the job if you are using oil base sprays. I used waterbase today, so i just let it be and it all leveled out for the most part, besides i am not worried too much about a couple runs with this spray, it flattened out well enough and this is just a fast makeover to complete this post foor you guys wanting to refinish your firearms yourself in the future
OH YEAH! make sure to choose a spray that has the blue spray buttons, not the type like the crappy red one i used today, the blue ones lay down a beautiful layer and its directional, meaning you can turn the nozzle to spray vertical or horizontal. i like the blue ones best.
the old fashioned one on the left sucks!
ok, this was completed in only ONE day, from ghetto mismatched pile of crap to hey --- thats a nice looking MAK90!
Enjoy! Have fun giving your firearms a facelift if they need it!
I only use WET/DRY sandpaper period! rinse it off and use it again!
220 grit, 320 and 600.
I started this rifle at 1:00PM, finished and back together ready to wast a crapload of ammo at 9:45PM Peace!
thanks for reading my stupid topic.
Phish.
I remembered a buddy of mine wanted me to throw together a guide for home refinishes to help others wishing to refinish their firearms and make them look better.
My MAK90 looked like serious crapola, so i chose it for my demonstration here since these gun websites i frequent are mostly assault rifle junkies unlike me the Bolt action junkie. I am sure there are a few here at Gunbroker that have a rifle that needs attention too so i will also post it here in the case it will help someone else get ther rifle or pistol grips looking better again.
NO, i do not refinish other peoples firearms so pleae dont ask me to, its just a hobby thing for me.
Here we go, Start with a rifle or pistol grips that really look like crap. SERIOUSLY, only beater firearms and well loved Hunting rifles usually need this treatment.
Take a photo of your beat up rifle or pistol sporting the crappy wood.
Now take the firearm apart, take ALL the metal away from the wood because the stripper will eat at most finishes besides parkerizing.
Lay out cardboard, i save nearly every large cereal box, Eggo box or whatnot just for these projects.
Lay out your wood on the cardboard.
Get a tooth brush, new, used but above all a toss away one, you wont use it ever again except for anohter makeover, NITRILE GLOVES ONLY, get some, i couldnt afford them today so i suffered and have a burned finger now. The acids in the Kleen strip are nasty and eat latex gloves..
Spray the parts liberally
Come back to them 15 minutes later and spray on some more, now put your gloves on.
Grab the tooth brush and work the parts over, spraying little by little as the goo dries up a bit.
this is the nastiest crap ever, but its bad ass on getting the job done fast!
Save your coffee lids, they are your friends when doing this type of stuff, now they are scrapers. No need in buying plastic putty knives unless you wish to be cool and only use the cool stuff.
my toothbrush i found in my tool box with the wrong type of gloves for the stripper, great for the finish spray though!
Brushing in the goo and releasing all the prior finish on the wood, spraying a little bit here and there as the gel dried up.
ok, now that you have all the finish stripped, heres where you RUN these parts past your wife before she see's what the hell you are doing. Fill the tub with hot-warm water, dont forget to grab the dish soap on the way through the kitchen from the garage or patio.
throw the parts in the tub.
now, run back out and grab the tooth brush and the dish soap you forgot to grab on the way through the kitchen like i said to do.
coat the parts liberally with soap and throw them back in the water.
Scrub them well with the brush removing all the goo and rinse with HOT water (this raises minute little dings in the wood) it also opens the pores of the wood.
Rinse them well and let them completely dry.
Now while the wood is drying, lay out some clean cardboard, get your gloves on again, grab a wad of paper towels, fold two layer pieces into a makeshift brush and dip it in the stain. Apply the stain liberally and wipe it off FAST with the rest of the paper towels. the longer the stain is on the wood the darker it will get.
here, i wiped the wood down really well and let it sit awhile. Usually 8 hours or more.
Today i chose to sand mine wet, i wanted the stain in the pores and grain and the sanded wood filled the grain well in doing so, but its a pain in the ass and i have blisters from doing it this way. BUt it worked well!
OK, i made a rack to hang the parts on, and sprayed a little bit of finish on the parts for a tack coat and let it sit 15 minutes.
Sprayed more coats every 20-30 minutes, the stuff i sprayed today dries to the touch in 30 minutes.
notice the runs? dont stress over them, usually just finish with your steps on extra coats every 30 minutes until you reach 5 coats.
You can wet sand the high areas after 3 days and spray on a single thin coat to finish spray to finish off the job if you are using oil base sprays. I used waterbase today, so i just let it be and it all leveled out for the most part, besides i am not worried too much about a couple runs with this spray, it flattened out well enough and this is just a fast makeover to complete this post foor you guys wanting to refinish your firearms yourself in the future
OH YEAH! make sure to choose a spray that has the blue spray buttons, not the type like the crappy red one i used today, the blue ones lay down a beautiful layer and its directional, meaning you can turn the nozzle to spray vertical or horizontal. i like the blue ones best.
the old fashioned one on the left sucks!
ok, this was completed in only ONE day, from ghetto mismatched pile of crap to hey --- thats a nice looking MAK90!
Enjoy! Have fun giving your firearms a facelift if they need it!
I only use WET/DRY sandpaper period! rinse it off and use it again!
220 grit, 320 and 600.
I started this rifle at 1:00PM, finished and back together ready to wast a crapload of ammo at 9:45PM Peace!
thanks for reading my stupid topic.
Phish.
0
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Stupid epic hell...I'll save this one for the future. Nicely done! The Chinee would be horrified though; customers might actually start wanting somthing that looks a little like walnut as opposed to balsa wood dipped in elephant dung! 0 -
Yeah, i like the walnut wood myself too. also having it earthy rather than white see a mile away wood.
after i stained it i wiped off the excess really fast then let it dry for awhile, after awhile i sanded the heck out of the wood for a few hours with various grits.
turned out like i thought i might with the grain dark and the rest light. i am pleased with the finished product.
Thanks for the comliment too.0 -
Nice looking results. If you happen to have an automatic dishwasher you can skip the bath tub and just put the wood in the top rack, add a small amount of detergent, set the machine on it's normal cycle (turn off the electric dryer feature if you have it) and run it as normal. I send a large number of beat up M1 Garand stocks through my dishwasher (more stocks washed than actual dishes), they come out looking much improved and you save a lot of time and effort over scrubbing them in the tub. 0 -
i have an automatic washer, but i couldnt get my wife to stand near the sink and even touch these let alone scrub them, so i had to use the Tub and do it myself unfortunately.[;)] 0 -
Anyone use any of this for a projet yet? 0 -
Work looks neat.
I, however, have an antique furniture restoration place nearby. I send them my stocks that have had all the metal removed, and he throws the stocks into the vat when he's doing a [furniture] job.
The stocks come back to me 'in the white', and dry..ready for the finishing and staining.
Joe0 -
quote:Originally posted by phishisgroovin
Anyone use any of this for a projet yet?
Yes but not exactly. Would recommend using the laundry tub instead of the bathtub. I like to use citrus strip. Using the coffee lids is a good sugestion.
With a cheaper wood, it often often doesn't stain well (recheck the pictures above especially the dark areas on the left view of the buttstock). This is a reason I won't stain military wood.
For a finish on military wood, I prefer to use a wax over a poly or oil finish. It looks more original, especially on US military arms.0 -
quote:Originally posted by victorj19
quote:Originally posted by phishisgroovin
Anyone use any of this for a projet yet?
Yes but not exactly. Would recommend using the laundry tub instead of the bathtub. I like to use citrus strip. Using the coffee lids is a good sugestion.
With a cheaper wood, it often often doesn't stain well (recheck the pictures above especially the dark areas on the left view of the buttstock). This is a reason I won't stain military wood.
For a finish on military wood, I prefer to use a wax over a poly or oil finish. It looks more original, especially on US military arms.
Bingo. The wood just won't hold Stain. I think it's Birch.0 -
I lost count of how many stocks I've refinished over the years , but I have yet to wash one with water . A couple wipes with Mineral Spirits gets rid of whatever stripper is left on the wood . When you wet wood you raise the grain , and make yourself more work (sanding) 320 is the finest grit paper to use on the wood . I use finer paper on the finish later on . I think that's half the problem staining Beech or Birch . If you polish the wood , it couldn't take stain if it wanted to ! 0 -
I lost count of how many stocks I've refinished over the years , but I have yet to wash one with water . A couple wipes with Mineral Spirits gets rid of whatever stripper is left on the wood . When you wet wood you raise the grain , and make yourself more work (sanding) 320 is the finest grit paper to use on the wood . I use finer paper on the finish later on . I think that's half the problem staining Beech or Birch . If you polish the wood , it couldn't take stain if it wanted to ! 0
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