Thread: Norinco AK wood HELP!

After a heap of Czech surplus ammo today, I pulled the 56S down for a good clean
Boiling water down the tube and threw the internals and the gas tube (with wood) into hot soapy water in sink.

Come back and water was a yellow colour - the dye or whatever has come out of the top wood and its now bare and the colour of balsa

Anyone have an idea of what the original finish is/was?

Polish ed ear wax?

Would be Chinese wax lol

Probably shellic or something similar

Not very good if it came off in the sink

Buy plastic stuff.

NEA do some bits

http://northeasternarms.com/accessories/cz-858-vz-58

Just say it saw action over the cambodian border - after 16 days in a swamp and being hidden in your ass this is how it came out...

NEA plastic is damn near worse than airsoft junk. No thanks

It WAS a nice 80s built gun. May have to find another top wood

Maybe they stained it with rusty nails and vinegar.. (I've heard that can be done)... or a coating of poo.

But seriously you should be able to get someone to match the colors again..
I knew a French polisher who could do magic with most stains and wood-grains..

Bit of a bugger though.. don't suppose you can show a pic of the original color next to the washed off one..

Originally Posted by wiredkiwis

Maybe they stained it with rusty nails and vinegar.. (I've heard that can be done)... or a coating of poo.

But seriously you should be able to get someone to match the colors again..
I knew a French polisher who could do magic with most stains and wood-grains..

Bit of a bugger though.. don't suppose you can show a pic of the original color next to the washed off one..

I'll post up a pic later
It wasnt scrubbed or anything - just chucked in the sink for 10 mins

Just soak all the rest of it then re stain it or varnish it with some slightly tinted matte varnish - surely it wont be any shittier than any standard Norinco offering? Trying to match up just the top wood if you arent a pro will probably be pissing in the wind.

"spar varnish" is (used to be) the good stuff

You could try some rit dye, but like Cyclist recommends... I would be removing the dye from the other wood and dying it all again.

Heaps of recipes for rit dye / ak stocks on the net, have a look at choose the one that best suits. This one looks alright (note: he did use shellac - ruby to finish).

Rit dye recipes? - AR15.Com Archive

These instructions are for a Mosin, but you could probably adapt the method.

sweat shop geniune sweat...now you'll have to go to china for that

not sure if this place can help http://soviet-military.com/catalog/ak-stocks-stock-sets

I've been lucky. A mate has given me his top wood as he's a plastic whore.
That Russian wood is nice, but being a nice 80s Chinese gun want to keep it original.
The pic below is the fooked one and new. The original was a bunch of CRC on it and has darkened up a little from the white balsa colour.