Suggestions for cleaning and refinishing an AK?

[Hokkmike]

OK, so I picked a WASR - AK. A little rough on the exterior. Well, make that very rough. Two jobs I need to are 1. clean all of the cosmoline off and then eventually 2. redo the finish on the laminated stocks.

I was advised to use oven cleaner on the wood, scrub it off and let the wood dry, then apply coats of minwax, sanding in between coats, and finishing with a clear polyurethane top coat. What do you think?

Also, what is the best cleaner to remove cosmoline?

Thanks for your input.

 

[RexDart]

I've actually used the dishwasher method with wood, quite successfully. Raises the grain and dries the wood out horribly, but if you don't mind a bit of light finish sanding and immediately re-finish afterwards, it works great.

I've tried oven cleaner, but unless your coverage is perfectly even (no drips, pools, etc), the cleaner burns patterns in the wood that must be either lived with, or sanded out completely. If left, the more heavily treated sections will absorb stain differently, and REALLY stand out . A lot more work.

Over on surplusrifle.com, there is quite a bit of discussion regarding cosmoline removal. Two I plan to try myself, given the opportunity: 1) using mineral spirits (messy and smelly, but easy to implement) to dissolve it, or 2) melting the cosmoline off, using steam or the "Easy-Bake Oven" method.

 

[1 old 0311]

Quickest? Easiest? Cheapest? Go to a coin car wash and use the HOT SOAP setting. I have tried them all. Brake Clean, dishwasher, oven, and trash bag. Car wash is the best.
Note: Do it late at night. People sometimes freak when you pull a AK out of your car.

 

[Plink]

I use the car wash method too. It's by far the fastest and easiest method I've found. Mineral spirits will cut Cosmolene pretty well if you don't have a coin op car wash nearby.

 

[B. Adams]

In regard to staining the stock, I've done exactly what you describe. I used a spray-on paint stripper, sanded down the bare wood, put 3 coats of Gel-Stain on it, sanding in between, then 2 coats of poly with a sanding. I didn't put too much effort into the sanding, and Gel-Stain is super easy to apply. I let the stain dry for about an hour between coats, which is much less than they recommend. After that, I put a coat of poly on it, then I let it dry overnight before I put the second coat of poly on in the morning. When I came home from work it was all dry and I put it on my gun, and it looks so much better than before. It was super easy, cost me less than $10 to buy all the stuff, which I have plenty left over for other projects, and total time spent actually working was much less than an hour, probably closer to a half hour, and roughly 24 hours of total elapsed time from start to finish. It's so easy and cheap that I can't think of a reason not to do it.

 

[Hokkmike]

Thanks all, for your suggestions, for car wash to Gel-stain they all sound good.