REMOVING SHELLAC

[Matchka]

Read Justin's 120+ day post after searching for "denatured alcohol" but it only covered hazy shellac issue.
I want to clean off every trace of shellac on a Russian that's been re-slopped at least three times. (The metal is exclnt) Saw some YouTube vids using denatured alcohol. I want to preserve all the dings, cartouches, serno & stamps. Probably refinish with red iodine, maybe Minwax Sedona Red. Recommendations, plz.

[carls sks]

maybe paint remover, then some 0000 steel wool.

[Matchka]

Tks but I ain't that patient and would probably do more damage than necessary with any abrasive.

[Phosphorus32]

If it's original or refurbishment arsenal shellac I'd leave it alone. Drips and discontinuities in shade or thickness of application are not unusual. Pictures would be helpful.  I hesitate to provide the following advice if it still has a Russian finish.

If it is actually a Bubba-applied finish, and it really is shellac, then alcohol will dissolve it eventually. If it's thick and flaky a dull metal scraping tool (back of a knife or edge of a wood chisel) can help flake it off. Alcohol needs to be in contact for an hour or more so a covered painter's trough with alcohol soaked paper towels or rags, or all wrapped in Saran Wrap. Then wipe off the goo and repeat. Finish with a good alcohol rinse.

I'm not familiar with iodine red. Sedona Red Minwax stain will be too red. Nothing will make it look original. Good quality garnet flake shellac (dissolved in warm alcohol) will be close. Multiple coats, dry thoroughly between coats and knock off drips and roughen for the next coat with 0000 steel wool.

[Greasemonkey]

If it is a full Russian rifle, I would leave it as is.. Refinishing can devalue a weapon down the road. If you are simply after pretty, the easiest thing is find a replacement blade style stock and take whatever frustrations you have out on it, and keep the stock that came with it original.

Tks but I ain't that patient and would probably do more damage than necessary with any abrasive.

Patience is required to keep from damaging it beyond repair.. I refinished a simple Romanian Ak stock set just to throw on a MAK90, between the stripping, cleaning and multiple coats of shellac, drying, etc, it still took about a week and a half. I'll be honest...that was a week and a half I could have piddled with other things.

But, hey it's yours...

[Matchka]

I'll post some pics. It looks like a super-bubba'd job, but I could be mistaken. Still learnin'!

[Matchka]

Here's the pics on the shellac job. Thick as hell.

[Greasemonkey]

I've seen worse jobs, alot worse.. me.. I would try to salvage what's there and done before blowing a bunch of time, going full retard and starting over. With me, my own work wouldn't suit me, so I would be deciding to start over or smash it in to oblivion.  Some 0000 steel wool and "very lightly" smooth the finish down, just little bits at a time, getting too hasty and heavy handed can make things worse and we will be back at, "How do I strip it". After it's smooth, give it a polish, not a shiney gawdy commercial like polish, something more like a good buffing to make it look and feel very smooth.

Hit the crossbolt with the, what a perfectly good waste of good drinking ethanol, I mean that denatured stuff to clean the slopped finish off it.  Again, this is a delicate procedure, one drop and the finish will reflect the drop mark and the resulting run from when you panic  and jump over that drop.

Nicks, scratches, bumps and bruises are character and what makes it unique, it reflects it's life.

And see where you stand then.

[Phosphorus32]

From the serial number font and wood, it's clear that's a Chinese Type 56 stock. From the appearance, it probably came in from Albania, 2012-14. I think that shellac may have been applied by the Albanians. The matte areas behind the receiver on the spine and under the rear sling swivel, and to a lesser extent, the chips, suggest the shellac has been in place for more than a few years. Hard to say with certainty.

You mentioned that it was a Russian. What's the import stamp? Just wondering if it's one that was imported from Albania.

[Matchka]

Here's the metal. This beast could be Sino-Soviet, Albanian. My bust for 'Russian'. The carrier cover is blank. 

[Matchka]

Duh. Le trigger group. Upside down:

[Phosphorus32]

That's a 1956 to early 1957 Chinese Type 56 "no arsenal marking" aka "ghost".  IO Inc. is the importer so it was imported from Albania.

Nice that it has it's matching stock.

[running-man]

Yeah, IO #2 stamp, so right in the middle of the 2013 imports.  I wouldn't touch the stock OP.  It's got Albanian character and while it's not currently (and will never be) a pretty gun, it's got some great history behind it.  If it had a mismatching or Albanian replacement stock I might think twice about it, but I think you'll do more harm than good if you muck with it at this point. 

[Matchka]

All: Gonna follow the knowledgeable advice and leave this Chinese/Albanian 'as is'. #'s matching is the only reason I picked it up (less than two hundred bucks). Seller listed it as "Russian, gunsmith special!)

[Phosphorus32]

All: Gonna follow the knowledgeable advice and leave this Chinese/Albanian 'as is'. #'s matching is the only reason I picked it up (less than two hundred bucks). Seller listed it as "Russian, gunsmith special!)

That was a steal!

[running-man]

Yeah excellent price.  Heck, when they were pouring in, that was a good price for a gunsmith special with cracked stocks or missing components.  The lowest I ever saw complete t56s in this batch retail for was $269 during black Friday sales.  You did quite well OP. 

[Matchka]

Reassembled and put away. Unsure of the overall or potential value - considering today's market, but it's a nice period conversation piece.