Any Recommendations for Staining and Finishing AK Wood Furniture?

[BLIP]

The wood appears to be a hard wood of some sort and it's not laminated. It may have been stained prior to import as there's some dark areas along the butt plate. When I got it, all of the wood was sanded smooth. How many coats of boiled linseed oil do you recommend?

It really depends on the wood. A little trick is to create a mud with the saw dust from sanding. Leave the sawdust on the stock and work it in with a mixture of 50% linseed oil and 90% denatured alcohol. Don't expect instant results and give the linseed at least four or five days with the first coat to harden lightly sand and add another coat. Sometimes it takes as little as three and sometimes it feels like you could go on forever it all depends on the wood...

 

[BLIP]

Yes shellac is an option and the zinsser's is a good product but it is just as easy to make your own with shellac flakes

 

[Link12]

The shellac never worked good for me. I found that staining to my desired color and coating the this worked great. Just my personal experience with each. It is very easy to get a smooth even coat with it also. Takes a few nights of putting on a coat, lightly steel wool it the next day and put another coat until desired finish is reached.

 

[GAGunguy]

Just make sure you get all the cosmoline out of the wood, or your finish will be crap.

 

[GAGunguy]

Yes shellac is an option and the zinsser's is a good product but it is just as easy to make your own with shellac flakes

Lost art

 

[Sowega86]

I searched the interweb and read a bunch of articles so not sure of exact recipe for the AK furniture, but I dyed the stock with a mix of red rit dye with rubbing alcohol. Then applied a couple of coats of minwax Sedona red stain. Then four coats of polyurethane.

It was on the modern birchlike 922 compliant WASR furniture, not the old combloc laminate.
Here is the before and after...View attachment 2243781 View attachment 2243785

That red finish looks great!

 

[BLIP]

Lost art

It's really not that difficult and it comes out much better than the store-bought stuff. Just get the flakes...
Heck I've made my own stain from boiling walnuts

 

[JDS556762]

I drag mine through the mud and then piss all over it to wash it off then spray some diesle on it to help water proof it and then slap it back on works great! Looks even better!View attachment 2243880

Nailed it!

 

[BLIP]

It's really not that difficult and it comes out much better than the store-bought stuff. Just get the flakes...
Heck I've made my own stain from boiling walnuts

 

[BLIP]

Black walnut stain made with boiled alcohol. Yes you have to be careful