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Refinish PolyTech funiture
3/30/2010 9:34:02 AM
I bought a Galil sidefolder recently and it needed a little TLC. I was raised on a horse farm, and while messing around the old barn the other day I saw a big bottle of iodine on the shelf. Well turns out that iodine thinned with a little isopropyl alcohol makes an almost perfect dye for PolyTech furniture. I don't know if regular iodine works as well but I've got enough of this stuff to last a lifetime. Picture of the newly dyed wood next to brand new PolyTech set. I'm not finished with this set yet but I'm sure it's going to turn out just as close as I need. I just thought I'd share this for anyone wanting to refinish their Chinese wood., 
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, ,3/30/2010 10:27:54 AM
that looks pretty close. i always wondered how they got that honey color. thanks for the tip.
3/30/2010 12:36:23 PM
I've been using iodine in my AK refinishing for a while now. You can reproduce the finish on Russian laminate perfectly using iodine and garnet shellac (which is basically what the Russians used). Here's an example of some of my experiments using the iodine and shellac:
This was done on an old muzzle loader stock that a friend had me refinish for him:
This was done on an old muzzle loader stock that a friend had me refinish for him:
3/30/2010 1:13:43 PM
Originally Posted By JacksBlackToys:
I bought a Galil sidefolder recently and it needed a little TLC. I was raised on a horse farm, and while messing around the old barn the other day I saw a big bottle of iodine on the shelf. Well turns out that iodine thinned with a little isopropyl alcohol makes an almost perfect dye for PolyTech furniture. I don't know if regular iodine works as well but I've got enough of this stuff to last a lifetime. Picture of the newly dyed wood next to brand new PolyTech set. I'm not finished with this set yet but I'm sure it's going to turn out just as close as I need. I just thought I'd share this for anyone wanting to refinish their Chinese wood., http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/JacksBlackToys/AKs/DSC00895.jpg, http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/JacksBlackToys/AKs/DSC00894.jpg,http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/JacksBlackToys/AKs/DSC00894-1.jpg
I bought a Galil sidefolder recently and it needed a little TLC. I was raised on a horse farm, and while messing around the old barn the other day I saw a big bottle of iodine on the shelf. Well turns out that iodine thinned with a little isopropyl alcohol makes an almost perfect dye for PolyTech furniture. I don't know if regular iodine works as well but I've got enough of this stuff to last a lifetime. Picture of the newly dyed wood next to brand new PolyTech set. I'm not finished with this set yet but I'm sure it's going to turn out just as close as I need. I just thought I'd share this for anyone wanting to refinish their Chinese wood., http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/JacksBlackToys/AKs/DSC00895.jpg, http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/JacksBlackToys/AKs/DSC00894.jpg,http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/JacksBlackToys/AKs/DSC00894-1.jpg
Looks damn good. How many parts of iodine to alcohol if you don't mind me asking?
3/30/2010 3:46:44 PM
Looks damn good. How many parts of iodine to alcohol if you don't mind me asking?[/quote]
I don't know I used about an ounce of alcohol and just kept adding iodine until it looked dark enough. Sorry, I'm sure thats not the answer your looking for.
3/30/2010 3:48:46 PM
I've been using iodine in my AK refinishing for a while now. You can reproduce the finish on Russian laminate perfectly using iodine and garnet shellac (which is basically what the Russians used). Here's an example of some of my experiments using the iodine and shellac:
Where do you buy "garnet shellac"? Home Depot, Lowes or Walmart are pretty much my options unless I can find it online somewhere
Where do you buy "garnet shellac"? Home Depot, Lowes or Walmart are pretty much my options unless I can find it online somewhere
3/30/2010 4:59:50 PM
Originally Posted By JacksBlackToys:
I've been using iodine in my AK refinishing for a while now. You can reproduce the finish on Russian laminate perfectly using iodine and garnet shellac (which is basically what the Russians used). Here's an example of some of my experiments using the iodine and shellac:
Where do you buy "garnet shellac"? Home Depot, Lowes or Walmart are pretty much my options unless I can find it online somewhere
I've been using iodine in my AK refinishing for a while now. You can reproduce the finish on Russian laminate perfectly using iodine and garnet shellac (which is basically what the Russians used). Here's an example of some of my experiments using the iodine and shellac:
Where do you buy "garnet shellac"? Home Depot, Lowes or Walmart are pretty much my options unless I can find it online somewhere
http://www.shellac.net/
Awesome to deal with. I ordered a bunch of their sample packs (mainly because I didn't know if the site was legit or not) and they all arrive nicely packaged two days later.
ETA: Make sure you get DEWAXED flakes! And a neat trick to get the flakes to dissolve super fast is to buy a cheap coffee grinder (got one for $10 at Walmart) and grind the flakes into a super fine, almost talc like powder.
3/30/2010 9:49:21 PM
Thanks again... I've got a Russian stock set that the forend and butt stock don't match very well like so many you see and I'd love to refinish the but stock so I'll have to give this a try.
3/31/2010 10:00:42 PM
You can also add your iodine/alcohol stain directly to amber shellac to really amber it up! I think the russkies favored a "one step" method so the wood refinishing process could be done quickly when they rearsenaled those 10 kajillion surplus rifles! You can also mix universal colorant cut with alcohol and mix it to your shellac until you get the right tone.
4/1/2010 1:11:33 AM
Originally Posted By 10mm4ever:
You can also add your iodine/alcohol stain directly to amber shellac to really amber it up! I think the russkies favored a "one step" method so the wood refinishing process could be done quickly when they rearsenaled those 10 kajillion surplus rifles! You can also mix universal colorant cut with alcohol and mix it to your shellac until you get the right tone.
You can also add your iodine/alcohol stain directly to amber shellac to really amber it up! I think the russkies favored a "one step" method so the wood refinishing process could be done quickly when they rearsenaled those 10 kajillion surplus rifles! You can also mix universal colorant cut with alcohol and mix it to your shellac until you get the right tone.
+1 on the one step process, I really get that feeling too and that the type of wood used had just about as much to do with the final color as the color shellac
4/2/2010 5:14:28 PM
Awesome work guys.
6/9/2010 8:29:30 PM
Does anyone have a "formula" that resembles the orange Chinese furniture?
6/10/2010 2:12:33 AM
Awesome stuff Jack!
I'll definately keep this in mind next time I do a refinishing job on some AK furniture
I'll definately keep this in mind next time I do a refinishing job on some AK furniture
