Refinishing a Yugo SKS stock?

[firestar]

I just got a new unissued Yugo SKS but the stock could use a little work. It is a little rough, probably from the cleaning off of the Cosmoline. Who has done it and how did it turn out? Post pics if you can.

I am a oil finish man so what are my options? Is there a way to make the stock redder or bring out some red highlights in it with a certain type of oil finish? I have seen some SKSs that had this reddish type of finish and I really liked it. Right now my stock is blond but it has nice grain just waiting to come out. I am a relative newbe on stock refinishing, I have done a few sets of grips and the best results have been with Outers Stock Kit using the oil finish. I can get these kits for free so if that will work, thats what I want to use. Is there a reason why it won't work? Do I have to go nuts removing any oil on the stock or doesn't it matter?

 

[cabinetman]

Well, you've got a lot of questions which I'll attempt to answer.

All Yugo SKSs have an oiled finish as far as I've seen. All of the other SKS iterations appear to be shellaced, even the very old Russian ones. So, as an "oil" man, you'll be happy to know that.

If your stock is too blond for you, the proper way to add color to it will be to use a dye. Today, dyes come in an alcohol-like carrier. The beauty of this type or colorant is that it has NO OTHER FINISHES in it, unlike everything else you'll buy or try, including the Outers stuff. The brands I like are here:

http://www.cheyennesales.com/catalog/behcchart2.htm

Behlen is the retail branch of Mohawk commercial finishes. I'm a cabinetmaker and use them all the time. They are great because they can be altered to your liking. You can use denatured alcohol and remove most of it after it's applied, or you can continue applying it until you're happy with the depth. Dyes pigments are extremely small. As a matter of fact, if a particle of stain was the size of a golf ball, a particle of dye would be the size of a head of a pin. It penetrates deeply into the stock wood and provides you with very deep color penetration. Stains lay on the top of the wood, obscuring it.

What I'd do is scrub the stock with mineral spirits and 0000 steel wool so it's as clean as you can get it. Then let it dry. Now appy a dye that has a color of your liking. It dries in about 3 minutes or as soon as the carrier leaves. Once you get your color in, you can simply apply tung oil finish. Don't use pure tung oil. I like the BEHR brand found at Home Depot but most of the Tung Oil Finishes work just fine. Tung oil finish will build quickly and provide the best finish an oil can provide. Boiled Linseed Oil is not a good finish for this purpose. It's very poor at protecting the surface of a stock. When used on a brand new stock by the arsenal, it is heated and the stocks were dipped into it, allowing the BLO to really penetrate. Tung Oil is lighter, won't darken as much, and build to a nice sheen after about 5 coats. Also, do not use Tru-Oil. That's a polymerized version of tung oil and will build a very hard, shiny varnish finish like a shotgun would have.

Apply your first coat of tung oil finish with steel wool, using the tung oil as a lubricant. Flood the surface. The wool will smooth the surface nicely. Let it hang and soak in. Now apply subsequent coats with a clean rag, letting them dry for an appropriate time. When you're done, the stock may have too much of a gloss to it. Simply take a clean piece of 0000 steel wool, dip it into the oil, and rubout the entire stock along the grain. Then wipe it down. That will give you a beautifully burnished finish on that Yugo.

Hope this helps. Come visit us a Parallax if you'd like more stock cleaning/restoration info.

http://pub109.ezboard.com/fparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforumsfrm34

Rome

 

[DMK]

Don't use pure tung oil.

Just curious, why do you say not to use pure Tung?

 

[cabinetman]

No one uses pure tung oil for finishing in the cabinet business. Pure tung oil is just too heavy and takes too long to harden. The longer it stays tacky, the more "stuff" it will attract, too. It will eventually harden but takes forever and a day. Tung Oil Finish, otoh, is thinned, has driers and solids added, penetrates really well, and builds quickly.

The Tung Oil Finishes by BEHR (Home Depot) and Formby's as well as others are really suited for fine finishes and will provide the best finish an oil can possibly provide. That's really the only reason but it's a good one in my book. Hope this helps.

Rome