Polishing wood stocks

[Pro2A]

My AK stock and rail are obviously wood. When I bought it a few years ago it was never polished and it felt as if they were sanded down and that was it. The wood currently has a roughness to it. I want to stain the wood stock with a nicer looking color and polish it a bit to give it a sharper look.

Any ideas on how to do this at home?

[MrBi11]

I personally wouldn't stain or varnish it, sand it to your liking then just rub it down with linseed oil or something of the like. Then as part of your cleaning process, re-oil as needed.

[mauser]

Linseed oil is the traditional finish for gun stocks but I don't like the smell of it. I've had great results with these two products:

Birchwood Casey TRU-OIL:
http://www.gunaccessories.com/Birchw...kFinishing.asp
Should be available in gun shops, sporting goods stores, large department stores with a sporting goods section.

Formby's Tung Oil Finish:
http://www.formbys.com/products/tung_oil.cfm
Should be available at hardware stores, department stores with a hardware section, furniture/woodworking specialty stores.

Both products are easy to use and give excellent results. Read and follow instructions.
When sanding the wood be very careful around the edges to keep them sharp, a sanding block works well. It's easy to round the edges and give the stock that "refinished in a hurry" or "refinished by an amateur" look.

(Don't ask how I know that).

Use your favorite search engine to find helpful tips about "refinish gun stock", there's lots of information available.

[AKsRule]

My AK stock and rail are obviously wood. When I bought it a few years ago it was never polished and it felt as if they were sanded down and that was it. The wood currently has a roughness to it. I want to stain the wood stock with a nicer looking color and polish it a bit to give it a sharper look.
Any ideas on how to do this at home?

not the greatest picture , but....



I started with a bare romanian wood stock set.

I used a mix of RIT clothing dye in red-yellow-brown to stain it.

Then sanding by hand and 2 coats of minwax satin clear poly.

[Rezin777]

Here are some results I had with a Ruger Mini-14.

I've never refinished a gun stock, or any woodwork for that matter, so I started by doing some research online. I decided to go with boiled linseed oil. I wanted to use pure tung oil, but couldn't find any locally.

I sanded down to bare wood, first with 220 grain sandpaper, then smoothing with 0000 steel wool. I read the BLO technique repeated a few different places: once an hour for a day, once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year, then yearly. I would put a small amount of the oil on my fingertips and rub it into the wood with my palms, generating some heat. After I rubbed down the entire stock and hand guard, I would take a clean cotton cloth, from an old t-shirt, and wipe off any excess oil. Then I was sure to dispose of the oil soaked cloth in a fire pit outside. I ended up doing about 15 coats the first day, then 4 more coats over the next 4 days. I went over it again once with the 0000 steel wool after the first day.

By this point, the stock was looking pretty satisfactory to me, and I couldn't resist putting the rifle together. I'm pleased with the outcome, but I may end up adding some more coats of linseed oil in the future.

Three days after no applications, my hands will smell of the oil after handling the rifle. There isn't enough oil on my hands that I can actually see it though.

The linseed oil does have an unpleasant smell. I've heard you can put a final coat of something like toms 1/3 mix and it will take care of the smell while adding some extra protection. After a week or so, the smell is almost gone.

[ar15jules]

I have used the Birchwood Casey Tru Oil with good results.
Jules

[308man]

It really depends on the look you are going for. If you want a matte finish, sand with 220 to bear wood then take a damp cloth and LIGHTLY dampen the wood. Let it dry ans lightly sand with 320 until the roughness disappears. Then use boiled linseed oil in 2 or 3 light coats. If you are looking for a gloss finish then sand with 220. Get a high quality spray laquer and put a nice even coat on. Scuff with fine steel wool and spray again. Repeat untill desired gloss level is achieved. Remeber when sanding to sand with the grain. The more time you spend the better it gets so don't rush. If you have any questions you can PM me and I can try to walk you through it better.

[Lycanthrope]

Sand the wood down and then hit it with 2000 grit paper. You can steam it with an iron to raise the grain and then knock it off again with 2000 grit paper. It should stay smooth after that if it's sealed.

This may help:

http://forum.pafoa.org/rifles-42/102...fle-stock.html

LycanprettyeasyonanAKthrope

[308man]

Sand the wood down and then hit it with 2000 grit paper. You can steam it with an iron to raise the grain and then knock it off again with 2000 grit paper. It should stay smooth after that if it's sealed.

This may help:

http://forum.pafoa.org/rifles-42/102...fle-stock.html

LycanprettyeasyonanAKthrope

If you are using a spray finish Do Not raise the grain and sand only 220. If you sand too fine some finishes have dificulty adhereing.

[nfafan]

My 2-cents on my WASRs;

Physical prep for stain - cleaning, bleaching, drying, sanding, steam dents, sand again using 3M pads/equivelent so as to not leave steel-wool fibers stuck in wood.

The wood should almost look "good enough" at this point.

Stain - color of your choice depending on color you want to hit and repeat as needed for darkness of color.

Sand stained wood - using the 3M finishing pads to the point where it almost looks "good enough".

Pop the stained grain - use a couple VERY light coats of the almost-clear "Minwax Wood Finish Natural #209" sealer/stain - better to use several thin coats rather than few heavy coats and ALLOW to dry between successive coats. Repeat as desired to bring out the grain.

Polish stained, sealed stock - using coffee filters. Use 3M pads to get a matte finish.

Topcoat if desired - with Formby's Tung Oil that is readily found at any WalMart along with the MinWax and 3M pads.

Top of pic is unfinished, prepped WASR
2nd from top is my "Polski Brown" after coffee filter polishing - NO seal or Tung Oil
Bottom is a version of Russian Red shellac finish