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Posted: 8/15/2016 8:21:33 PM EDT
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After trying a couple ways to reach you and failing I figured this is a good way to ask you for some help.
I found this old thread from 2014 and had a few questions I wanted to ask you. I was impressed with the color on your stocks and I feel your the right person I need to ask to do mine. :) This is the thread I found today. https://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=4&f=64&t=155040 I am in the process of redoing my wood stock for my ak47 Yugo Pap rifle. I have been holding off on finishing the stock as I am just not happy with the regular stain that Ive tried with it several times. So today I thought of a new search term and found your posting on here from 2014. I see you used the Tandy pro dye cordovan leather dye but being its not available any longer youre recommending the fiebings cordovan or the tandy red, timber brown, and yellow dyes. I found the fiebings but its only the 4 oz bottle. Would 4oz be enough to do the handle, butt stock, and fore grip? I saw ebay was another source that has the cordovan color. Buyt again only in 4oz. Is the Fiebings thinner/reducer the only stuff that will thin it? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks |
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Sorry, just saw this.
4 ounces should be plenty to do a stock and handguard set. "Usually" you have to only use one good coat, depending on what dye you use. The solvent based dyes will dye DARK very fast so thin it and experiment on some white pin to get a feel for what you need. As far as I know (Note the qualifier) the thinner for most of the solvent based dyes is denatured alcohol. I could be wrong though, so to be safe you can just buy the Fiebing's thinner. If you thin the 4 ounce dye will go even farther. I used some wool daubers to apply it. You can order them from Tandy, or just use a piece of cloth or sponge with rubber gloves. Remember, the actual Russian Red is actually various shades of orange. 
Here's my finished AK-74 Ironwood Designs laminated stock and the original Birch upper hand guard and European walnut lower hand guard. After dying I used a couple of coats of Minwax semi gloss Poly. Gloss is too shiny. The camera still makes it look redder then it is, especially the hand guards. 
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Thanks or the reply.
That is one sweet looking color on your AK. Love it. Ive been trying to achieve that since the beginning of this project and tried several ways w/o success or happiness. lol! Really glad I postponed from trying anything else and finally found a search that was useful to me. I had a few other questions. If I wanted to go the route of the Tandy Water based Eco Flo leather dye, would the Scarlet Red, Sunshine Yellow get me to the cordovan color as you mentioned in that post from 2014? I was wondering if they changed the names on the Red and Yellow. Also would you know what adding the Tandy Dark Mahognay to the red/yellow mix result in, instead of the Timber Brown? I was just curious as Im not sure and thought maybe it would be better to add a darker color? I havent decided on which to go with as I understand my NPAP has either Birch or Beech wood from what Im guessing. I also was told it was USA wood. I do know it is hard wood and stain does exactly what you say it dose with hardwood, (sits on top like a puddle without penetrating into the grain. I was wondering if I went with teh water base would it give me the results you got with your stock from IWD. That was when I was thinking the solvent base Feibings leather dye may be better for my stock. I also read about Transtint Reddish/brown and Zinseers Amber Shelllac but was told it wouldnt work well with my wood. |
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Below is a Before and After photo of mine.I ended up stripping the finish on it and reshaping the buttstock due to cheek slap. I havent tried it out yet but I think it should take care of it.
I have replaced the pistol grip with a wooden one and I think the wood is yellow birch. So I know its going to be a project to get all pieces to match up. The buttstock seems to take stain well in some places but I get a whitish area in it that Im not to happy about. Is there anything I can to do prevent that? It seems the pistol grip takes the stain the best as the upper and lower hand grips are very light and hardly took the stain at all. Before 
After 
I found a guy on another forum that has a Yugo m70ab2. He only has the upper and lower hand girps but it appeared to be the same wood as mine. So I thought, I could be wrong. 
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When I saw the results he got on them I figured between Fiebings leather dye, and possibly Transtint Reddish/Brown with Zinseer's Amber Shellac or if they didnt change the red and yellow by Tandy's Eco Flo Leather dye, one of them should get me in the ball park and have a nice finish on my AK.
So I contacted the guy and he used the Feibings which I take it is the solvent base stuff as it has a flammable warning on it. He messaged me a photo of what he used. 
Originally when I first started this project and due to having to reshape the buttstock, When I found this one I thought to mimick it as I really liked the color of it. Im not sure if its reddish/brown or just walnut or Dark mahogany? But its a type 2 AK. I even added a nub to mine which isnt as nice as the lower hand grip on this one since the Zastava is fairly flat bottomed. But it mimicks it so it keeps me happy. lol! Do you know if the type 2's had a reddish/brown color? 
Sorry for the multiple post. Im a new member yet and they have a 2000 character limit on my posts. |
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Tandy changes the names of dyes every few years, but the colors tend to remain the same, just with different names.
Basically, most any red and yellow dye will give you orange and the current Tandy names are pure red and yellow. If you add brown you'll get a more red-brownish color, similar to Cordovan which is a red-brown that looks like the first stock on the Russian Red stock picture, which is what I was shooting for. That looks like the Russian AK-74 stock color that was what seemed most common in Afghanistan. A true Cordovan which Tandy used to sell turns a very red tinted brown on light wood. You may need several coats to darken it enough depending on the mix. Again, I recommend getting some pine 2x4 or other "white" wood and test the mixes you want to try. I used a 5 gallon paint stir stick as the test wood and allowed it to dry completely to see the actual color. Most paint stores will give you a 5 gallon stir stick. I mixed a small cap full of each color to test mixes until I found the color I wanted. Then I mixed up a larger amount to do the staining, using the mix ratio that looked like what I wanted. To thin the water based dyes I used alcohol. The water stains soak in instantly and I'd imagine the solvent based Fiebing's would soak in even faster if that's possible, but might be too dark un-thinned. |
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Thank you kind sir. I have ordered my dye and cant wait to get it in to see what I can mix up.
Ill have to make a stop by the store for a couple 5 gal. stir sticks or dig around the garage to see what I have laying around but I dont think I have any pine or white wood. So store it will probably be. lol! Either way thanks alot for the help. Much appreciated. Let ya know the results once done. |
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Again, sorry, I haven't been checking in much lately.
From recommendations from expert wood workers I thin my poly before use. To get a good penetration they say you can thin the first coat almost 50-50. After the first coat thin 3% to 5% to improve brushing. A key is letting it dry all the way before re-coating. Lightly sand between coats to remove roughness and improve adhesion. You can also use Scotchbrite pads instead of sand cloth. I brushed on two coats, then sprayed on the final coat with an airbrush to make it a little smoother and more uniform in gloss. To get the "real Russian" look you want some brush marks. If not, light sanding between coats, being careful not to get any runs or sags, and airbrushing the final coat will give a nice smooth finish. Remember that Russian wood is not coated inside the handguards, the underside of the buttplate, the stock where it enters the receiver, or even under the sling swivel. These areas are left uncoated and you can see the light wood around the buttplate, where the stock enters the receiver, and inside the handguards. |
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Much thanks for the detailed information. I greatly appreciate it. Hopefully I will start this project come winter. I have ordered the dye in both water base and solvent base.
I picked up some brush on Minwax semi glass poly as well. What works best to thin the poly? |
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