refinished my Norinko. What do you think

[futurerider103]

Not sure if it fits here but since I finished college at the end if June and haven't found a job yet I decided to do something productive and refinish my SKS. Just a Norinko but I thought I'd like to get my feet wet on refinishing.
I stripped it all the way down to bare wood, naked it in the oven to get the cosmolene out, ironed all dings and dents out, stained it black walnut and put 7 coats of gloss spar varnish on it and wet sanded between each coat.
I just put the finishing coat on it and it's drying and waiting for final wet sand.Here's a little taste. I'll post the rest of the progress pics when it's done tonight

I also painted my dads spare parts for his Harley

 

[MJ1]

Did this school teach spelling or just body-shop spray booth 101?

 

[Dracozny]

Did this school teach spelling or just body-shop spray booth 101?

yours clearly taught you how to be a Grammar Nazi instead of realizing the "I" and "O" are right next to each other on a keyboard and its easily missed by many typists.

 

[Dracozny]

Not sure if it fits here but since I finished college at the end if June and haven't found a job yet I decided to do something productive and refinish my SKS. Just a Norinko but I thought I'd like to get my feet wet on refinishing.
I stripped it all the way down to bare wood, naked it in the oven to get the cosmolene out, ironed all dings and dents out, stained it black walnut and put 7 coats of gloss spar varnish on it and wet sanded between each coat.
I just put the finishing coat on it and it's drying and waiting for final wet sand.Here's a little taste. I'll post the rest of the progress pics when it's done tonight



I also painted my dads spare parts for his Harley

very nice finish on that stock

 

[classicshooter]

Well lets see the rest

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Wow, careful guy; the gleam on that sucker is like to put a person's eye out...!

Funny though, the first stock I ever refinished was a Norinco SKS, and it gleamed nearly as brightly as your does. Nice work, such as it is.

Greg

 

[sierracharlie338]

Nice work but show the rest man!


Sierracharlie out....

 

[MJ1]

If the stock was not kiln dried in a vacuum for a week before sealing it in plastic it will then trapped moisture will warp in time and then turn to a milky white in a little more time. I have no dog in this race it's his rifle I'm just recounting a fact. Good luck.

Draco did you miss school the day they talked about proofreading your work? Also the c key and k key are nowhere near each other and use opposite hands. NORINCO, PLA owned arms factory. Thank you for your comments.

 

[BobC]

I'm not much on glossy finish on gun stocks but that is still a nice job on the finish on the rifle stock and the Harley parts.
MJ1 you would have a ball with my spelling.

 

[MJ1]

No I have enough trouble with my own and I do try and read/proof but I still miss enough to lots of egg on my face. LOL

It's not easy to lay on paint. Clear coat is all but impossible with out booth and air filtering system. I wounder if chrome is in this rifles future.

When it comes to military wood I'm an oil and wax kind of guy.

 

[futurerider103]

Sorry for the late post but I've been doing done work on a friends car lot so she's been keeping me busy. Yea the spelling sucks but I was posting from my phone and it was auto correcting when it shouldn't and no I went to school to be a heavy equipment mechanic no body at all.
I didn't kiln dry it but I did bake it in the oven to get all the moisture and cosmolene out
Anyways the pics are bad because I have low light and just a cellphone

Stripped

Getting glossy

Finished

.

Could use a bit of polishing but I wanted it to sit a few weeks to make sure it's good and hard.

 

[BasraBoy]

I recognise and admire the skills required to do this and, such as it is, I think you've done a good job.

But, a high gloss finish on a military rifle?

Sorry to say it's not for me.

FWIW I'd say strip it back and try to do something more in keeping with the original, a more "sympathetic" restoration. Practice the high-gloss stuff on cars/bikes/trucks.

Learning to do a pukka oil/wax finish would grow your skill set and, if you're intending to do this as a business in future, would also expand your opportunities and potential customer base too.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

I believe similarly about a high finish on a service rifle in combat. However, my M14 was shiny enough to attract the attention of Gen Bruno 'Bear' Hochmuth during final pre-deployment inspection (to 'Nam) in late Summer 1966, and the Co. Commander promoted me to LCpl on the spot after the formation. Made it through deployment without it getting me shot, so the concept may have a loophole or two in it. The joke was that it didn't matter if they saw the rifle as long as they didn't live long enough afterward to do anything about it, but that would be the utterly purest BS.

The key is in understanding that the finish needs to be in the grain, and not on the grain. The process needs to be a series of cycles where the finish goes on, and then gets cut back to the wood's surface using steel wool. When the time comes when the finish gets cut back, but the wood is filled and smooth without any finish on it, the grain is finally filled. At that point, I dampen a bore cleaning patch with finish and rub it into/onto the surface, leaving a microscopically thin layer of finish on top. The entire work piece is then put away for several weeks to harden up. The result should be a satin finish that has depth. It can be quickly cut back lightly with steel wool and then rewiped with another damp patch just like that last step, to renew the finish as needed. Obviously, I'm working with an oil finish; my usual is Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil.

The problem with Urethane finishes is that they can't be repaired without removing them down to the wood, then rebuilding them from there. Varnish can be repaired by a process similar to French Polishing, which involves solvents. This is what I used to repair the finish on my 1930's/1940's Mosin-Nagant 91/30's. As the ad shows, several color tones are available. This method is preferred by collectors because it restores the finish without removing and replacing it. My rifles are shooters, not collectors, but that's still no reason why not to restore their finish.

Greg

 

[pmclaine]

Vintage military stocks are a labor of love. Like the skills to use old rifles their stocks must be given attention and time.

I use Real Milk Paint pure tung oil on my stocks. I hand rub the finish. I force the oil into the wood. My mind set is I want enough friction/heat to either cause the stock to combust or to wear the friction lines from my hand. My DNA is forced into the rifle, mingling with the DNA, sweat and blood of the rifles past. In return Im sure the walnut and its history ends up coursing through my veins. The finish is durable in the sense its a wear surface that can be restored with another coat of oil. At every range session my sling frogs leave their mark somewhere but a quick rub of tung oil restores the finish and protection.

You wont get that "intimacy" or durability with a poly finish and its one reason why I see AR's as tools of pure function rather than living objects with a personality.

My Garand is here

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-vintage-sniper-rifles/202603-what-garand-day.html

I have two 03's that get the same care.

I fear that inside that lacquered stock is a commie soldier suffocating for air. He may have once been an enemy but he did his duty for his country and does not deserve to be entombed forever more in liquid plastic.

Im going to go jerk off now.

 

[Veer_G]

Vintage military stocks are a labor of love. Like the skills to use old rifles their stocks must be given attention and time.

I use Real Milk Paint pure tung oil on my stocks. I hand rub the finish. I force the oil into the wood. My mind set is I want enough friction/heat to either cause the stock to combust or to wear the friction lines from my hand. My DNA is forced into the rifle, mingling with the DNA, sweat and blood of the rifles past. In return Im sure the walnut and its history ends up coursing through my veins. The finish is durable in the sense its a wear surface that can be restored with another coat of oil. At every range session my sling frogs leave their mark somewhere but a quick rub of tung oil restores the finish and protection.

You wont get that "intimacy" or durability with a poly finish and its one reason why I see AR's as tools of pure function rather than living objects with a personality.

My Garand is here

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-vintage-sniper-rifles/202603-what-garand-day.html

I have two 03's that get the same care.

I fear that inside that lacquered stock is a commie soldier suffocating for air. He may have once been an enemy but he did his duty for his country and does not deserve to be entombed forever more in liquid plastic.

Im going to go jerk off now.

Wax on, whacks off ...

 

[pmclaine]

Wax on, whacks off ...

Yes the Crane stance a thing of beauty. Wax on, Wax off. Im smoking a cigarette now and using a Kleenex to clean myself up.

 

[MJ1]

A stock is a living thing it breaths and sweats and sealing in urethane is a special treatment only to be done by professionals if it is to weatherproof and stabilized. Early NM/M21 M14s when scope and weather proofed were dried in a vacuum-kiln at around 300F as I recall it was ten days or more to remove all moisture the sealed in a soaking bath or a stabilized urethane that soaked into the wood to a depth that could not be duplicated with a spray. It was duplicated by SA in the early 80s but was so costly a process both marksman unit and SA stopped. Plastic was cheaper. I still have one of these SA rifles.


As for my self 10 or 12 hand rubbed coats of processed linseed oil and turpentine is as crazy as I get.


My skill level with paint is singularly unremarkable. Also I do not believe painting rifles makes them more accurate. LOL

 

[futurerider103]

I do think military rifles look better for the most part not shinny just for functionality but to be honest thisys isn't a war weapon as it was originally intended (unless shit his the fan) and I wasn't looking to gain a higher value. I'll probably keep it forever. It was my first bigger gun I had ever got and my dad bought it for me so I figured might add well look good if I can make it. I was thinking the worst case scenario I'm $20 for a new wooden stock.

 

[Layton]

Looks good. I refinished an old Marlin 22 blonde and glassy like that about 35 years ago. Wasn't practical for squirrel hunting but I liked it. Still have it and it's still blonde and glassy. Hasn't milked over anywhere.

L

 

[pmclaine]

I do think military rifles look better for the most part not shinny just for functionality but to be honest thisys isn't a war weapon as it was originally intended (unless shit his the fan) and I wasn't looking to gain a higher value. I'll probably keep it forever. It was my first bigger gun I had ever got and my dad bought it for me so I figured might add well look good if I can make it. I was thinking the worst case scenario I'm $20 for a new wooden stock.

Your work on it is good and your time shows that you valued the gift your Dad gave you. That is commendable and an addition to its history much better than its previous use at the back of some poor peasant.

It is your rifle and yours to do with as you please.

If you sense some displeasure with your work its not specific to this SKS, in my case it comes from me being a history geek that worships heroes of the past and from being on too many boards and seeing posts where someone has chromed an artillery luger because they thought it improved the gun.

Keep up the good work and take good care of that rifle. Stay safe when you get your bike.

 

[mallrat]

Nice Picked up a mosin nagant a while back that had been "sporterized" &had a thick coat of black house paint over a thick coat of red house paint. Stripped that off with coarse sand paper and attempted something similar. Not as good as yours but good enough for an old mosin. Might havta revisit that project with this inspiration.

 

[Former0302]

Not my "cup of tea" so to speak...but I can appreciate it none the less. On a standard hunting rifle stock that would look pretty nice I guess.

 

[JoshcBoucher]

I'm an old "wood worker", myself. The Varnish, looks great, but I would have gone with the oil finish. More "practicle." You did some fine work, there. You definitely have a talent .I'm packing up 3 stocks, for ya , as we speak! Now that wood's like a new car. Seems it's just "Begging" for a scratch.