How can I fix what I've done to this stock?
Well Ive been talking about it enough, now look what I did. I cleaned the stock, removing all the cosmo. It looked clean and smooth until I rubbed it with boiled linseed oil. It didnt turn out how I had envisioned and I'm not all that happy with it right now. I was looking for more of a honey color...I thought the oil would give it more of an authentic look which it did but now I know thats not the look I really wanted. It's not nearly as clean and smooth looking as I had hoped. So what can I do to fix this now? Take a look at the pics below, any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
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What "look" were you looking for? It actually looks pretty good to me.
It does look as if it could have used more sanding before the finish went on, could just be the photo though. If it was me I'd sand it some more and finish again.0 -
looking for a color similar to the stock on my old .410:
shane0 -
Yes it looks like more sanding may be the answer.Try some fine
paper or fine steel wool.
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not,
and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is.0 -
Sweaver - more sanding is the right way to go, but I'd really try some heat on the stock, wiping as you go. Sand it lightly first, and then wash it down with some mineral spirits when you're done with the heating process. It will pull the cosmoline out, (in addition to the BLO you just put on), and the grain will more readily accept oil. Areas like the top of the grip, right behind the receiver where the grain is tight, hold an incredible amount of cosmo. It'll weep out from there long after the rest of the stock dries.
If you're looking for more color, I'd go with a red mahogany stain (Yugo stocks don't accept stain quickly at all, so don't be afraid to go really dark with the stain color). After you de-cosmoline it one more time, lightly dry-sand the stock with 100 grit paper, clean it off with mineral spirits, then mix 1 part of the stain with 1 part tung oil and 2 parts mineral spirits. Get some 220 grit wet/dry paper, dip it in the stain, and "sand it in". You'll develop some paste from the stain/oil mix and the sawdust on the surface. Wipe it off across the grain, and do the whole process over with increasingly finer paper. Let it dry overnight each time, and scrub it with 0000 steel wool between each coat. For the last coat, use rubber gloves and rub the stain mix in by hand.
If you're looking for a high-gloss hard finish, rub 2 or 3 coats of Birchwood-Casey's gun stock finish in (thin coats) with your fingers after your final coat of stain dries, again using steel wool between coats. I assure you the wood will have an "off-the-rack" finish that will be glass-smooth when you're done. The wet-sanding process fills in the grain, plus it distributes the oil/stain very evenly.
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last.
Winston Churchill0 -
Sanding is the way to go, along with almost everything Marlinman said.
I'd try Behr Deck Stain in a nice honey/almond till I got that color, then dry, sand lightly, and add 3-4 coats of Johnson's Paste Wax for sheen.
"Qui non est hodie cras minus aptus erit" --OVID0 -
Light coat of amber shellac over everything. Let thoroughly dry.
Apply 4+ coats of BLO or tung oil finish (I think better). Apply the oil finish with 0000 steel wool to help it adhere to previous coat and cut down on glossy shine.
This should give you the depth and color you're looking for [8D]
What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? Deut 4:70 -
So in order I should:
Sand
Heat
Clean with Mineral Spirits
Shellac or stain
Tung Oil or wax paste
That sound about right?
shane0 -
Maybe the color you're looking for is the figure in the wood of the rifle that has the color you like. Most of the Slavic made SKS's have a birch stock as this grows quite freely in Russia, anyhow. In fact, the laminated Romak PSL stock I have looks like Baltic birch plywood, available at Home Depot.
Birch is very white and shows little figure or grain, something that can be imitated with a darker stain in certain areas. In fact, my Russian SKS has a blotchy staining on it although I doubt this was done for the rifles they placed in service and may be more for their assumed taste in our market. If you're looking for the gloss, however, I'd recommend using a sanding filler to fill the pores of the wood. One Kentucky rifle builder I corresponded with used equal parts of turpentine, linseed oil and tung oil for this. I wouldn't recommend using anything with oil in it if you plan on an artificial finish, though (tung oil really isn't oil, linseed oil is).
The sanding filler is put on and sanded wet, allowing the wood dust to work its way into recesses as you sand with finer papers. Start with 220 or 320 and go finer as it smooths out. Some guys go as far as 600 grit on wood but you'll spend a lot on sandpaper this way. When you have it pretty smooth you can "whisker" it by wetting with a wet rag and using steel wool to remove the fibers the water raises from the wood.
Linseed oil finish: Used on a lot of guns, apply liberally and hand rub, once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for year, once a year for life.
This will provide a real wood finish that stands up to the elements and is little maintenance after the first year anyhow. Depending on the prep, you can wind up with a nice finish.
As for the color not being the same, from your pics it looks pretty close.
"You can build a man a fire and keep him warm for a couple hours or douse him with fuel oil and keep him warm the rest of his life"0 -
function over form 0 -
sweaver,
This project seems to have gone very badly for you. I have experienced similar projects. Sometimes you just have to wash your hands of the whole thing and get rid of it. I would be happy to pay the shipping[:o)]
sonandfather0
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