Sounds awesome! I've used everything from iodine to fruit punch Kool Aid to color shellac on AK stocks. Shoot us a picture of it over on our facebook channel!

Thank you! 😊

Thank you!

Thanks! We appreciate it!

What color stain did you use on the lighter "golden" set?

Ive got boxes of them. I should have mentioned them. They work great. I bought a ton of them years ago when doing a cabinet project and they're still good. I was shocked by the shelf life

Let it cure for a long time before waxing. Shellac takes a long time to cure out if you do heavy coats. Sometimes months. If you shoot it and it gets hot and bubbles some of the shellac, dont worry. Let it cure for a few days and then get out the steel wool again and the bubbles will disappear.

@@RockfordOrdnanceit's been weeks now since but if I apply more layers of Shellac will the wood appear darker?

Its for sale!

@@RockfordOrdnance What color stain did you use on both of them if you don't mind me asking

The redish one was Varathane sedona red and the brown one was varathan dark walnut. Keep in mind the amber shellac changes color significantly and also depends on how many coats of stain and shellac. These have VERY think coatings of shellac. The brown set I will let go for $100 plus shipping.@@davidmaxey656

The pics dont do it justice.

@@RockfordOrdnance Would you mind if I emailed you?

You are correct. My parts kits for the most part look like amber shellac. Tones of gold and some hints of red that seem to come from the grain more than anything. I have seen some however, mostly russian that did have the deeper red tone too them and from what I have read believe it to have come from the pine pitch mixed with the shellac. Ive seen it on russian capture k98 mausers too. But the ridiculous deep red that so many want, in my opinion looks ridiculous for a historic and correct representation. I will admit that it can look good on a finely finished safe queen or conversation piece.

One thing I do when trying to get as close to actual factory is I thin out my shellac and ball up a piece of old cotton T shirt and dip the ball slightly into the thinned out shellac and wipe it on. I give it 2 or 3 coats and do a final coat with a brush to give it a few small brush strokes in the finish. It actually comes out looking like it does on my never used Russian furniture from the factory.

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Depending what is on it, you should be able to go right over it. I would however, scuff it up with some sandpaper first. Worst case scenario would be they react with each other in which case you can just strip it all and refinish with shellac.

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it helped

Actually sir I dont see any issues with your process. Outstanding advanced method. Would love to see it when its done. Transtint doesnt get as muddy as some other homebrew methods of coloring the shellac. I will say that the viscosity of the shellac you'r using almost becomes a personal preference thing. I kind of mix it on the fly and go with my experience and gut as to how it applies, flows and drys. Its kind of a trial and error thing until you get it to where you are comfortable working with the mix you like. Dont overthink it is the best advice I can give.

@@RockfordOrdnance Thank you for your reply! I took this on as a project because Ironwood was out of finished stock sets. Turns out I am spending way more than a finished set, but hey! I like a good project and have a decent handle on working with wood. I am very much looking forward to doing this. My stock set should arrive in the next weeks. If you have a contact outside of youtube, let me know and I'll send you a finished example along with progress pictures. I am more active on Instagram along with a few local forums to me (NC). I usually am good about documenting through pictures! - Brent

Use boiled linseed oil or tung oil on the zastava stock.

Email me at cjm8663@gmail.com I am selling the brown one in the video

I think it was sedona red and dark walnut. Varathane was the brand

Yes I have but mostly on metal parts.

Rockford Ordnance thank you for your reply and the excellent video. I refinished some Bulgarian 74 furniture following your guide and they came out perfect. Thank you!

Thats awesome! Lets see some pics, you should be able to post them to our facebook page or if not, you can message me or email them to me and Ill put them up on the page! Im glad it helped you out. I would be excited to see it. Thanks for watching!

No, just takes a long time to cure when doing many coats and they end up thicker than you think. Buff the bubbled area with 0000 steel wool and it will be good as new! Just takes a long time to finally cure. Hell, you can lay them down on your couch and the shellac will imprint the weave of the fabric! Had that happen a bunch but again steel wool is your friend and you can always add another coat. Keep your coats thinner and possibly cut the shellac with a little denatured alcohol and it will dry faster and flash off faster.

@@RockfordOrdnance I'll try that thanks, I put somewhere north of 10 coats on it but it was worth it to get the rich color I wanted

I dont see why not. You could start with 3/4 " birch plywood. The inner layers are most likely some other wood but I dont think it would matter much. There are guys doing it already, making dongs and I believe stocks as well,

Before coating again, use the steel wool and remove all the drag lines and any imperfections even if it means removing a lot of the last couple coats. Then apply one more coat and try to be as perfect as possible. It might be that your shellac needs to be thinned out a bit. You can cut it with denatured alcohol. After the last coat, buff it smooth and finish with a hard paste was meant for hardwood floors.

Varathane, sedona red. You can also wipe it on, over a dry coat of shellac and let it sit and penetrate for a few minutes. Ive used red food coloring, even Red Kool Aid. The little packets not the stuff that already has sugar mixed in. Dont be affraid to experiment. Your not going to hurt anything. Like I said, super forgiving and if you mess it up, it can be stripped with denatured alcohol or any commercial stripper with ease. Best bet is to go to a woodworking store or online and get shellac specific dyes.

usually 12 hours later or so. Depends on how thick your coats are. If it starts to get sticky or gums upa bit when rubbing down with the steel wool, just wait a few more hours for it to completely dry. Its not a fast process but its well worth the results. The first 2 to 3 coats you dont have to steel wool in between,

Do I need to steel wool the stain in between or just steel in between shellac? Thanks

@@docsmokyalian1397 never steel wool stain, if anything when adding an extra coat wipe off excess stain with rag

You dont need a top coat. Water doesn't bother it however, alcohol will soften it. I Actually give some tips on using alcohol to soften and blend the shellac if you get a chip or are trying to even out original shellac from the arsenal. Like I said, dont worry about it. Look at Mosin Nagants and ak's, in some cases 100 years old and the shellac is still holding up. Survived WWll just fine too. I also cant think of an occassion where I would be dousing my rifle in shellac. Gun oil doesnt bother it either, just makes it look richer.

The honey golden brown color come from the amber shellac. The more coats the darker it gets. If you want to replicate the darker set I did, I used a very light coat of varathane dark walnut with the shellac over it.

Varathane sedona red. Put it on fairly heavy and wiped off right away. Did that twice. Then the shellac. Put on ten coats of amber shellac. The more you put on the deeper the color

Its just lacquer thinner. Yes it will take it off in a heartbeat. Also, i have found brake cleaner works well. Literally liquifies it on contact. Not sure how beeak cleaner is on the wood though. The lacquer thinner is safe on the wood, flashes off dry in seconds and won't harm laminate. Check out my video on removing cosmoline.

It wont hurt but you would be better off sanding and /or applying another coat of shellac

Its called a battlefield pickup look. It can be done with simple sandpaper or scotchbrite pads. Most guys will remove the finish on the high spots and areas where natural rubbing and wear would occur based on use or how the weapon would be carried. Cool look if that is what your'e going for. Personally I like a new looking rifle.

It works but then again so does most anything really. I have mixed koolaid drink mix as a dye. Not the kind with the sugar, just the little packets that you need to add sugar separately. The red, the orange, they work great believe it or not. I will do a video on the mosin's I colored with it. Rit dye works however the newer stuff doesnt work. You have to order the old type recipe dye online. Do some research, their is plenty out there especially on some of the old milsurp forums. I usually use wood stain in very small amounts to dye my shellac. There are also commercially available shellac dyes you can get from woodworking stores or online that are probably the best way to go but cost more. The wasr in this video was done using wood stain.

@@RockfordOrdnance Wow thanks for the insight. Very much appreciated! I'll take your advice and stop by my local wood work shop and ask them about their shellac dye options. By the way I've said it before, but the channel is great! Keep up the good work buddy!

I just did my Romy G lol it’s lovely did you ever do yours?

@@jabrillvoid2276 Wow, you know what I didnt even think to check back in with an update, which lets face it, its pretty much the least I can do for this channel. I pretty much stuck to this video as my harness through the proccess, I did go with straight Iodine at first but it just wasnt right for me, so I added some Transtint and BAM!!! Took me a few coats to get dialed in but I think I did a pretty good job. I posted about this on Reddit. Shame on me for not coming back to show this channel some love and support sooner. I havent even gotten to shoot much lately because the range is always packed and im a city slicker with no cool country friends where I can come shooot. But no excuses, I should have come back sooner. Thank you Rockfrod Ordnance. Salute ! www.reddit.com/r/ak47/comments/j2kwq2/refinished_dong_in_time_for_wasr_wednesday/

Each coat will darken it a bit

@@RockfordOrdnance Thanks I just put another coat.

Yes, everything from iodine to rit dye to kool aid. I kid you not, the kool aid in the little packs (without sugar) makes for a great dye if you're looking for red. I have also added a little stain to the shellac at times. Be creative, shellac is a very forgiving product.

You can dye the shellac with clothing dye or even red kool aid mixed with denatured alcohol and mixed with the shellac. Really anything red will tint it. They also make actual shellac dye that you can use as well.

@@RockfordOrdnance thank you for your information on both of my questions, very helpful !!

@@RockfordOrdnance I just used steel wool and smoothed my hand guard pieces slightly and just used polyurethane gloss as a test run. I am glad I left the original stain color alone because the polyurethane just brought out the nice original look from the laminate wood and its really nice looking, so glad I didn't try to go with the idea of using a dye after all, I will do the Butt stock now.

Absolutely! If you want a "correct" finish, shellac is what all the comblock countries used except a couple that used oil finishes

I have the darker one still available i would sell for 90, if you want a set done in the color of your choice figure 120

@@RockfordOrdnance ok thanks

@@RockfordOrdnance How would i buy it I cant find a website?

@@-JC- email me at rockfordordinance@gmail.com and i can send you pictures. If you want a different color or something, we can talk about that as well

If all the carb cleaner, brake cleaner, gasoline, parts cleaner, acetone, mineral spirits and on and on and on aint killed me yet........well, I guess we will see how my 60s and 70s go. Promise I will take your advise going forward. Thanks!