i pretty much followed your instructions to the T (or is it Tee?).  i think mine came out a little more purple, but that's fine by me.

I think yours came out a little darker than mine did, it looks good.   Mine also has a purple tint no surprise there, wine is dark purple.  I went with the wine colored Rit dye because, I did not want the candy apple red look.  I was trying to duplicate Lancaster’s Russian Red.  I think the wine colored Rit dye comes pretty close.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=217938&page=97
Damn that looks very close to the Poly Tech dark purple that I've been wanting to try to re create.  Beautiful.  Now I know how I'll do it.  Thanks

I have two sets of furniture stripped, and bought my Rit dye this morning. If they turn out any good I'll post some pics in a few days!

thats a beautiful gun you got there! gotta love russian red

I refinished my two WASR 10's following your instructions, and think they look 100% better. Thanks for sharing those instructions...



Couldn't get any good pictures today, they really look a lot better in person. Here's what they used to look like...

Those came out great.  Did you have any trouble dyeing that laminated butstock on the top pictured rifle?   I tried dyeing a laminated stock set a few weeks back and couldn’t get the color to take,  I think the wood was too dense.

Thanks! Nope, the top set was actually just as easy as the bottom set. I had to play with the laminated set some since it didn't match very well to begin with, had to put more coats on certain parts, etc. It  soaked it right up though... I used Citristrip Gel on both sets beforehand, three coats if I recall correctly.

Looks good ,I used red mahogany Minnie wax

Got my stocks in the mail yesterday, can't wait to get on this.

Btw, what type of wood is that?

I think "russian red" has become a catch phrase of sorts.

I would love to see the psl :)

Just one more qucik question that no one has seemed to ask. Where can I buy the stripper and dye? Wally World be sufficient?  Just bought a SGl-21 and was already thinking some wood would be nice, but after seeing yours, I gotta atleast try it. Also I will probably be buying the Apex Bulgarian Furniture, Noticed that it does not come with a sling swivel. Any one know where to get one? Or will the one off the SGL plastic stock screw right on?

Thanks,
Shawn

Menards, Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart for the stripper. You can usually find RIT Dye at craft and hobby stores(Michael's/Hobby Lobby) , possibly Walmart and I know some grocery stores also carry RIT dye.

wow great job!!

That looks nice!

I'd like to do that same thing.  I will keep the K-var US made pistoll grip.  What's the easiest part of the rifle to swap for a US made part to make it 922r compliant?  I won't bother changing the mags, just the rifle.  Thanks!  

If you don’t want to alter your magazines, swap out the gas piston.  That will give you 6 US made parts.

Trigger group (3)
Muzzle brake (1)
Pistol grip  (1)  
Gas piston (1)

I did not want to give up the Russian gas piston, so I altered the magazines.

Yeah, I read a bit about swapping the gas piston and it seems like more work than I'd like.  I guess I'll just have to wait for Ironwood to have a sale.    Thanks for the info.  

I recently refinished a Bulgy stockset for my Centerfire AK-74 using a similar method. I wrote it up to post it here an then saw this thread, so I thought I'd jsut add it on:

I did up a set of dingy Bulgarian wood using directions in a thread from SurplusRifle Forum. Candyman runs the stock care section there, and he's a wizard at restoring milsurp stocks.

Here's the before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v714/radionicist/akwood.jpg

This is how the wood looked after stripping off the remnants of the old finish. I used KleenStrip, followed up with mineral spirits to remove all of the stripper. Then, after a day to dry, I did a scrub with acetone, let it dry again for a day, did a Fantastic scrub, let that dry overnight, then wiped it down with an acetone dipped rag. Why the extra steps? The acetone gets out much of the grunge, and the Fantastic (or similar cleaner) gets the dirt that is water soluble. Wood stocks hate water generally, and using acetone and straight cleaner avoids the problem of soaking the wood.

Next I prepared a RIT dye stain mix, using a combination of Scarlet Red, Dark Brown, and a hint of Black. I strain denatured alcohol through a coffee filter that holds the dye salts, and use a rag to wipe the stain on the stock. I let that dry, buff with steel wool to lighten or tone the appearance, and let sit for a few hours.

Then, I applied the first coat of boiled linseed oil by hand (though I wear gloves). I like to rub it in until the wood gets slightly warm. Here's how it looked after curing for a day:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v714/radionicist/akwoodafter.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v714/radionicist/akwoodstock.jpg

I'll wind up doing three or fout more coats, and will buff lightly between coats to increase the glossy texture. The BLO will also darken the color a bit.

This is an easy finish to experiment with, and it delivers excellent results. The only drawback is that it takes time to do right. Give it a try!


Tony

Wow, I like the worn, aged look.  It looks like that stock has been that color for years.   I’ve looked at using dry Rit dye and may play with it on my next project.   Thanks for sharing.    How long did you wait between coats of BLO?

Thanks for the kind words.

I usually leave 48 hours between BLO coats, and lightly buff each coat before applying another, as it helps to build a sheen to the finish. I find a good BLO or Tung Oil finish to be very durable, and it gives a satin or glassy finish without the "plastic" look I see on some stocks finished with polyurethane.

I've found that you can alter the color of the RIT dye by buffing. For instance, this stock was darker than I wanted after the first staining, so I did some buffing with 0000 steel wool to get the shade I wanted.

Good luck!


Tony