Stock Refinishing Project

[shda5582]

As some of the C&R's here know, I've been interested in trying to do some refinishing on Mosin stocks to try to replicate the original Russian finish after my first attempt didn't go over as well as I'd hoped (although I did still get a good result if you ask me):

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/107312172/IMG_20140216_133329_528.jpg

So I got lucky and stumbled across a fellow CG'ner that just happened to be willing to part with some spare Mosin stocks for a good price. One of them still having the original finish so I have something to compare my work to, and an already-stripped stock. Left part of the stock untouched so I can experiment with different stains; thinking of trying Sedona Red on the rest. For this I just used Cabernet stain, only one coat so far but I think it's turning out kinda close:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/107312172/20140622_191801.jpg

and looking better with a coat of amber shellac on it:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/107312172/20140622_203639.jpg

although I haven't yet sanded it down or even been close to finishing it yet, I think I'm making some good progress towards replicating the original Russian finish.

[Chaos47]

Uh... just an idea but you might want to resize those photos... 4128x3096 ~5Mb is a bit obscene..

[Vlad 11]

I think i see the Mars Rover on the surface

[shda5582]

Uh... just an idea but you might want to resize those photos... 4128x3096 ~5Mb is a bit obscene..

Oops.

That's what I get for doing a direct upload from my phone I'll change to links since I'm at work.

On the plus side, at least you can see the detail

[shda5582]

Here is the finished results of a month of work, two restrippings and refinishes and a lot more work than this should have taken.

It looks far better in person...more red and the pics don't do it justice.

[billybob_jcv]

Looks a little shiny - but that might just be because I've never seen one that didn't look like it was dragged behind a T-34 from Stalingrad to Berlin!

[shda5582]

That would be the 6-7 coats of clear shellac I spray-gunned on it I wish I had done a better job and not gotten the orange peel that I did though

[SanPedroShooter]

I don't feel like talking about spraying paint, I do it all day long..

But what kind of sprayer did you use? A regular compressor gun? Low pressure usually gives you an orange peel texture.

You can take the shine off a bit with wax if you feel like it.

Where did you get amber shellac? Did you buy flakes and make it?

[shda5582]

I don't feel like talking about spraying paint, I do it all day long..

But what kind of sprayer did you use? A regular compressor gun? Low pressure usually gives you an orange peel texture.

You can take the shine off a bit with wax if you feel like it.

Where did you get amber shellac? Did you buy flakes and make it?

A cheap HVLP one from harbor freight. Only problem is that i have a small compressor so i could only do two passes before it had to recharge.

I didn't use amber shellac (although you can get premixed stuff at lowes.) I made a custom dye, applied that, and sprayed the shellac on so the dye didn't rub off.

[shda5582]

And to note: I went back to the drawing board to get the color just right. None of the store bought stuff was even close to what i wanted.

[MosinVirus]

I always thought that to achieve the proper color usually found on M91s and many other Russian wooden stocks, and when reading the original repair manual, the directions would be:

1. Lightly sand affected area
2. Apply walnut stain
3. Apply linseed oil
4. Apply finish (basically shellac) with non-clear finish of that time.

I got good results when using Amber shellac that turns the red of walnut into a Russian yellowish red. Very pretty and close to originals.

I got better results when using self made shellac (1:1 Ruby and Lemon color) over walnut stain.

It is the combination of yellowish/reddish shellac with the reddish walnut that produce that color. Clear over any stain will not look right.

By the way, I usually slather shellac on with a rag, then lightly go over with steel wool and reapply. Knock down the shine by lightly scuffing with rough denim or burlap.

[fuegoboy]

For what it's worth, I tested a red stain combination on a Tower Pistol kit build which came out like this:



Using a stain called Sedona Red, I added a bit of Ebony stain to darken it and applied one coat of stain to my 1937 Mosin-Nagant.



The finish is four coats of Mini-Wax Tung Oil - Antique, semi-gloss (each coat rubbed with 0000 steel wool). The antique brand of tung oil tends to darken and is less translucent and the semi-glossy finish does not create a complete cover over the wood.

[SanPedroShooter]

Yes! Make your own stains and dyes and shellac colors.

[SanPedroShooter]

Were Russian stocks stained at the factory? I wouldn't think they would bother. Staining is a cosmetic process that I doubt governments would take the time to do a million times.

Coats of oil and later shellac would age and provide the color we see today. Using stain just gets you there in five minutes instead of 50 years.

[MasterChief]

Oil finish applied to mimic shellac. No sandpaper was used in the production of this finish.