AK-47 "Red Russian" wood refinishing tutorial (WASR)

[LifeInPa]

http://forum.pafoa.org/rifles-42/128...re-page-2.html

There you go. Don't mind the beginning. I was getting frustrated with the RIT dye until I figured out how to get it to do what I wanted.

Thanks buddy.

my wood did come out really glossy, but i didn't want it too ridiculously glossy, so i gently steel wooled it to make it look less glossy, but it still does have a nice shine

Your AK looks good but I like a bit more gloss myself.

[Dogpupkus]

It could also just be the white background and better camera.

You're probably spot on. The white probably has something to do with it. IMO I love the way it came out. It's fairly glossy, but certainly not a gym floor.

The only sanding I did was the initial sanding before any work was done. Coarse grain, followed by the finer 220.

To finish up, only two coats of semi-gloss. I let the first coat completely dry before applying the second.

I got two or three drip/run marks in the stock when my dumbass let it set to dry in my cold garage. I kinda just pressed the dry drips in with my fingernail before applying the second coat and it worked to not make it that visible unless you're really inspecting detail.

The second coat I let dry in a small bathroom where I left a space heater blasting for a day on max. I guess the fast drying allowed a pretty nice and flat finish. Probably lucky the house didn't go up in flames.

Some tips: As you suggested, I really didn't let the RIT Dye dry on the wood. I just let it sit maybe an hour before applying the stain. It was still wet looking, but not runny. I left the stain to sit for a few hours to completely dry, and I wiped everything down with a microfiber cloth afterwards. It picked up dust I couldn't even see, which otherwise would have been coated in the polyurethane.

[Asmodeus6]

If you let RIT dry on the wood it will crystalize! The salts in it will form little rough crystals that feel like sand paper. And look like SHIT. You will have to literally rinse and rub them off and it is not an entertaining experience to fix it once it happens.

Being as impatient as I am, and working inside (for the staining portion) I condensed all of that procedure to about 25 min. (The coats of RIT, which were still wet-wet when I applied the stain over top.) After rubbing that in with a cloth after about 5 minutes I set it to dry for about a half hour / hour in front of heater. And immediately poly'd it. It was still a bit tacky since I didn't try to rub all of the stain or dye off the stock. And it blended in with the clear. I got a few runs as well so I sanded them down with 1000 grit (lightly) and gave it another layer of clear.

And the rest you see in the pics.

[Dogpupkus]

After rubbing that in with a cloth after about 5 minutes I set it to dry for about a half hour / hour in front of heater.

Ah you're right, now that I think about it I only let the stain sit for about 5 minutes before I wiped it all down, then poly'd.

The impatience paid off! It's the best looking, easiest, and quickest process for some good looking ak wood !

[bell22]

I was thinking about just doing this to my forestock and swapping out my buttstock for a polymer one when I change my grip to a different grip but after seeing these pics I think i'm gonna keep both wood furniture and redo in this fashion. Really looks great and looks like a fun project to stamp my gun with some of my own labor.

[Trap9]

I'm just gonna do an 11 month bump

[LostinGermany]

Thats some great looking wood, good show, sir.

[LarryD1130]

The red stock makes the Wasr look so much better. I'm tempted to do mine but I don't want to mess anything up.

[Trap9]

The red stock makes the Wasr look so much better. I'm tempted to do mine but I don't want to mess anything up.

I'm sure you wouldn't mess up WASR wood too bad no matter what you do to it. And thanks Germany!

[JackBriggs]

Useful information! I love beautiful wood but have always been afraid to try stripping and refinishing. I think I need a cheap small piece to practice on in case I goof it up. I really just need a couple key ingredients....time and patience!

wood refinishing