Refinishing wood, Yugo M70B1.. insight needed on oil finishes.

**Paintwerk** · May 25th, 2010, 03:16 PM

Ok , so last weekend I picked up a M70B1. The wood furniture needs some attention. I know we have some guys here that know a thing or two about wood, so If I may I`d like to pick your brain(s).

Edited to add: I finished restoring the wood, here are the before and after photos.
Before

After

As you can see, the wood is currently unfinished. The buttstock appears to have no finish, & the handguards appear to have some finish remaining, but I will be stripping them this afternoon.

I plan on using a bleach and water solution to lighten the handguards a bit for a better color match to the stock. I had done this before on a set of yugo M70 handguards and it worked pretty well.

So cleaning, stripping, sanding, etc. Is no problem. What I need to know is regarding the oil finish I will be using.

I have heard Boiled Linseed Oil is what was used originally. However I have heard that it never completely dries, and that some people have had problems with it softening up during use, once it gets warm/hot.

I contacted Watco to ask about the oil finishes they produce, and was told the "teak oil" is boiled linseed oil with a bunch of chemical agents to assist in penetration, drying, etc.

So basically, what oil do I want for this project?

Any tips, recommendations, or information you can share that will help with this project will be greatly appreciated.

**Azzy** · May 25th, 2010, 03:43 PM

Tung oil is what I used, and it worked very well on my stock. Only issue I had with heat was after about 700 rounds or so in an afternoon, the handgards oozed a smidgen of cosmoline.

Best part about an oil finish... wipe down with more to clean, let it dry, and you just cleaned and made it better.

**Paintwerk** · May 25th, 2010, 04:03 PM

Do you have any pics of yours?

**Paintwerk** · June 12th, 2010, 10:04 AM

All finished. Looks pretty good to me.

More information can be found here:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=4&f=89&t=128956

**Bender** · June 12th, 2010, 10:31 PM

the color match is near perfict good job!

**dteed4094** · July 7th, 2010, 08:16 AM

AZZY says it all. Tung oil works great. Apply 3 or 4 thin coats then 0000 steel wool lightly to remove imperfections. Then a few more coats using steel wool between coats. When you are satisfied with the finish, lay it in your lap while watching TV and start rubbing with your bare hand and moderate pressure for a couple of hours. You'll be delighted with the end result. This is what is meant by a hand rubbed finish. When you are completely thrilled with the results, apply a paste wax and polish it off. This method may require sunglasses.

**Bama Man** · July 20th, 2010, 08:33 PM

I use Watco Danish Oil on all my rifles, and wood pistol grips.
I use the "natural" finish, although Watco also makes a "Walnut" colored finish, which I have never tried.
They Danish oil is very similar to Teak Oil, but a tad thinner.
I use my fingers and smear a lot on for the first coat, and try to swamp the wood with it, and then rub it out with the palm of my hand until it is "hot". It will almost dry overnight, then recoat by dipping your finger in the oil and re-coating it. I will do this for several days in a row, then, evry once in a while, I will dip my fingers and re-coat.
Let your "final" coat set up a couple of hour, and use some old nylon Panty hose to wipe it down, Buff it well.
This works for me quite well, and, if the finish gets scratched, or damaged, it's easy to wet/dry sand with the Danish oil and 600 grain paper, and remove the blemish.
By the way, nice looking wood.