I have been experimenting with pine tar and shellac in order to attain that classic Soviet look on laminate furniture.

I've been following some instructions I rec'd from another forum, but with no success. This would be due to my inexperience with PT.

If any of you have any experience with this, would you please tell me what method you used to cut and apply the pine tar?

Some key points are as follows:

1) Pine Tar Mixture
2) # of coats of pine tar
3) Drying time between coats

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Here's what I did...

Made a 50/50 mix of Swedish pine tar and turpentine. I applied the mix to some sample laminate birch wood with a cloth and rubbed it into the wood. The mix was pretty dark. I wiped off the excess and let it dry for a couple of days. I was looking for a golden hue, but instead got a darker stain. Per the instructions, I rubbed in some turpentine and this lightened the color a bit. I let the turpentine dry for a day or two, but it just doesn't look right.

I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Thanks,
Sinatra.

Why pine tar?
I was under the impression that it was used to increase friction on grip surfaces.
Never considered it as a finish.

I wouldn't use it, but for another reason.
I'm allergic to it.

I found the answer to my question. This came from a member of another forum. Here are my findings. I hope this helps you guys as well.


(You have stripped your wood, made sure to wash it with denatured alcohol and promised not to touch it with your bare hands again.)

1.50/50 Mix of Pine Tart and Turpentine
2.Use a 2 inch medium quality nylon paint brush or cloth
3.Use a brush or a rag to apply the pine tar to your wood
4.Keep wiping it down until you have a wet oily sheen on the wood. It should be wet to the touch.
5.Bag the wood up in a 1 gallon ziplock bag, burp out the air and seal it good. Now put another bag over that.
6.Put bag in a warm place (back porch in the sun) for 1 hour. The goal is to cook it in.
7.After 1 hour. Un-bag and look at the color. Like what you see? Your done!
8.Want it darker? Re-wet with with the pine tar, bag up and cook some more. The Russian stock in my picture took 90 min.
9.When it looks like you want, wipe it down with a clean rag. Re-bag it. Let it sit and sweat another 30 min. Give it the big rub down again. At this point you are done. You should burnish the wood with a soft cloth for a few days before you shellac it.

Post a pic, we would like to see the finished product

I will as soon as I finish.

And here you go. This is pine tar first, followed by shellac mixed with dye, etc. Thanks to Into_the_Knight and others for help and inspiration.

That looks very nice. You have commendable wood finishing skills.

Why, thank you sir! I enjoy it.

WOW!! Very nice job there!

Thanks!

Wow,

That looks amazing

Thanks. I'm refinishing a set of AKS-74U hand guards this weekend and I'll post pics once it's ready.

AWESOME! Really Awesome.

Thanks. I really dig working with laminate wood. Pine tar just brings out the best in it.

What grit paper are you sanding to? I don't mean to sound like an asshole but you still have the "orange peel" look going. I love the color but I don' like the texture. To me the bumpiness of the finish detracts from the color and grain of the wood.

Have you tried Tung oil? and if so how does it compare in your experience? I like Tung oil because you can buff out the irregularities and make the finish as smooth as glass and it also lets the grain of the wood show though without the opaqueness that you can get with say satin Poly. You can also leave it as glossy as you want or dull it down to whatever you want. The problem I've found with Tung oil is that it tends to leach some color out of the wood as you finish it. I also think the finer you sand the wood the more the grain pops out as you finish it. I sand to 600 grit.

Like I said, please don't think I'm trying to be an asshole. I love the color you get(I've seen a lot of your work) I'm just not liking the "orange peel" texture, I think it takes away from the grain and color.

More pics of the pine tar treated furniture on my SAR 3.

No worries. I'm not offended and I am open to suggestions. As for the sand paper, I used 150 and then 220 grit IIRC. I agree about the finer grit sanding bringing out a nicer finish. I out to try the finer grit. How many stages do you sand a project in?

I have used Tung oil, but not too often. Can you mix dyes and stains with Tung oil?

I stay away from Polyurethane, not that there's anything wrong with it. I just prefer using different types of shellac.

Thanks.

I usually start at 220 then 400, then 600 for the final. I have been using Formbys Tung oil finish(which is a blend). I usually do several coats in a day letting them dry in between and then buff out with OOOO steel wool and repeat as needed.

Have you tried buffing out the shellack with steel wool to get rid of the "orange peel" texture and have you noticed if it dulls the grain such as satin Poly does?

The thing I love about the Tung oil is it seems to dry very clearly and highlights the grain well. You can then Dull it down to whatever sheen you wish. The thing I don't like about it is that it tends to leech the color from the wood somewhat and often the end color is much lighter than when you started.

I may have to try shellack in the near future though. I love the colors you get.

Thanks for the tip on the sand paper and Tung Oil. I've used TO a couple of times on unstained wood to bring out the grain (usually for blonde wood) and then apply shellac on top. I could use some pointers on buffing the shellac with "0000" steel wool. When I've done it in the past, it seemed to dull the finish and I didn't like it. I think that I should have given the shellac a couple of days to cure before buffing it though.

I need to get the buffing technique down as some guys like the glossy finish and some prefer more of a satin look. What do you recommend for buffing?


Thanks!

p.s.

If you use shellac, you can either make your own from flaked and denatured alcohol or buy the dewaxed shellac. The dewaxed shellac is thin and easier to work with.

I basically use the technique that Matt@Ironwood recommends. Try buffing the shellac between coats. That should smooth out the finish but it will also dull it down. when you apply another coat it should give you the gloss back with a smooth foundation underneath.

When I use the Tung oil I will put on several coats in one day, letting them dry in between. Then I will buff the crap out of it(actually removing a lot of the finish) with OOOO steel wool. But this leaves you a base finish that is smooth as glass.

When I use the Tung oil I will put on several coats in one day, letting them dry in between. Then I will buff the crap out of it(actually removing a lot of the finish) with OOOO steel wool. But this leaves you a base finish that is smooth as glass.



Thanks. How long between coats of Tung Oil?

Wet enough so that it still feels a little tacky but not wet enough that touching/handling it leaves fingerprints.

Thanks.

Here is a set of AKS-74U hand guards that I used the pine tar method with. These ones weren't sanded a lot and I went for more of a dark red color.

Does this grip look like it was finished this way to you guys?

I ordered it on ebay, and it was shipped strait from Ukrane. I'd like to make this look like the grip: