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Blonde Wood Furniture (how to achieve this look)
6/10/2010 1:19:36 PM
I have some Bulgy AK 74 wood furniture that I plan on stripping the lacquer from and refinishing it to give it the blonde look. Any tips as to what I should use to remove the old stain/finish and what I should use to stain it after that? Thanks.
This is what is looks like now:
This is the look I want.
This is what is looks like now:
This is the look I want.
6/10/2010 1:23:03 PM
Bleach the wood after stripping, and finish with clear satin poly.
6/10/2010 1:30:30 PM
Originally Posted By TheRealBluedog:
Bleach the wood after stripping, and finish with clear satin poly.
Bleach the wood after stripping, and finish with clear satin poly.
Use lacquer thinner and bleach? Would it be a special wood bleach? I've got some Minwax Helman Spar Urethane, will that work in place of clear satin poly? Thanks.
6/10/2010 1:33:24 PM
You will be unable to get that exact look. They are different types of wood.
6/10/2010 2:33:21 PM
The stock is made of Birch. Under the dirty blond surface coating the wood is a natural yellow-white color.
To get blond either coat the stock with amber shellac or use a blond stain and a surface coating of satin finish poly.
To get a true blond color, you can try a well-thinned coat of a yellow water based leather stain. Tandy sells water based leather stains. Thin with alcohol.
The lower handguard is made from a European walnut which has a nature walnut-brown color. It's going to be difficult to get a blond color due to the natural walnut wood.
You can use a wood bleach to bleach the wood lighter, then use a thinned yellow or blond stain.
Here's info on how to bleach wood lighter:
http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/jeff/using_wood_bleach.htm
The upper handguard is made of Birch, but it's a laminated guard in which thin layers of wood are curved to make the guard.
This will also be difficult to get a blond color. Again, try bleaching the wood, but be careful the layers don't start to de-laminate from soaking.
The finish can be stripped with any good paint stripper or Formby's wood stripper. The original finish comes off without much trouble.
To get blond either coat the stock with amber shellac or use a blond stain and a surface coating of satin finish poly.
To get a true blond color, you can try a well-thinned coat of a yellow water based leather stain. Tandy sells water based leather stains. Thin with alcohol.
The lower handguard is made from a European walnut which has a nature walnut-brown color. It's going to be difficult to get a blond color due to the natural walnut wood.
You can use a wood bleach to bleach the wood lighter, then use a thinned yellow or blond stain.
Here's info on how to bleach wood lighter:
http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/jeff/using_wood_bleach.htm
The upper handguard is made of Birch, but it's a laminated guard in which thin layers of wood are curved to make the guard.
This will also be difficult to get a blond color. Again, try bleaching the wood, but be careful the layers don't start to de-laminate from soaking.
The finish can be stripped with any good paint stripper or Formby's wood stripper. The original finish comes off without much trouble.
6/10/2010 3:16:10 PM
Originally Posted By dfariswheel:
The stock is made of Birch. Under the dirty blond surface coating the wood is a natural yellow-white color.
To get blond either coat the stock with amber shellac or use a blond stain and a surface coating of satin finish poly.
To get a true blond color, you can try a well-thinned coat of a yellow water based leather stain. Tandy sells water based leather stains. Thin with alcohol.
The lower handguard is made from a European walnut which has a nature walnut-brown color. It's going to be difficult to get a blond color due to the natural walnut wood.
You can use a wood bleach to bleach the wood lighter, then use a thinned yellow or blond stain.
Here's info on how to bleach wood lighter:
http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/jeff/using_wood_bleach.htm
The upper handguard is made of Birch, but it's a laminated guard in which thin layers of wood are curved to make the guard.
This will also be difficult to get a blond color. Again, try bleaching the wood, but be careful the layers don't start to de-laminate from soaking.
The finish can be stripped with any good paint stripper or Formby's wood stripper. The original finish comes off without much trouble.
The stock is made of Birch. Under the dirty blond surface coating the wood is a natural yellow-white color.
To get blond either coat the stock with amber shellac or use a blond stain and a surface coating of satin finish poly.
To get a true blond color, you can try a well-thinned coat of a yellow water based leather stain. Tandy sells water based leather stains. Thin with alcohol.
The lower handguard is made from a European walnut which has a nature walnut-brown color. It's going to be difficult to get a blond color due to the natural walnut wood.
You can use a wood bleach to bleach the wood lighter, then use a thinned yellow or blond stain.
Here's info on how to bleach wood lighter:
http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/jeff/using_wood_bleach.htm
The upper handguard is made of Birch, but it's a laminated guard in which thin layers of wood are curved to make the guard.
This will also be difficult to get a blond color. Again, try bleaching the wood, but be careful the layers don't start to de-laminate from soaking.
The finish can be stripped with any good paint stripper or Formby's wood stripper. The original finish comes off without much trouble.
Thank you for all the helpful information. I'm going to give it a shot and hope for the best.
6/10/2010 3:50:46 PM
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6/10/2010 4:06:26 PM
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6/15/2010 2:05:34 AM
You can also get a beechwood set from ironwood and then just go from there. the Bulgy blond color is one of my favorites too. I bought a factory set a while back to go on an aks-74u build.
Good luck.
scottMO
Good luck.
scottMO
6/15/2010 11:14:07 AM
Yeah, I'm considering getting an IWD set and just using either Tung Oil or one of the natural stains. Thanks.
6/26/2010 4:38:29 PM
I used Formby's Paint & Poly Remover, some brushes, sandpaper, a plastic scrapper, Oxyclean and Minwax "Natural" stain to do this project. The guys on another forum helped me as well.
I first applied Formby's Paint & Poly Remover (a gelatinous substance) with a brush to the wood and let it set in for about 30+ minutes. I then used a plastic scrapper to remove the old stain that bubbled up to the surface (kind of weird/cool).
Once it dried, I sanded off the excess gunk (stain) with some light grit sandpaper. I cleaned off the wood and then I used a strong mix of OxyClean and water (in a small tub) to bleech the wood after stripping it.
Here are the pics of my Bulgy wood furniture, after I stripped and sanded it. I filled up a tub with Oxyclean with the wood soaking in it.
Ok, so here's the final product. Now I really know why SJ said to allow the proper time for the wood to dry. I had the toughest time trying to insert the stock and HG's. I saw that even after a week of drying, they were swollen and would not fit. It's pretty humid down here in the South and even with the AC on, it looks like the humidity took its toll. But hey, that's nothing a little sanding and a rubber mallet couldn't fix. I really like the way they turned out. I also applied two coats of Spar Urethane for a protective finish. I let the wood dry for about a week and then I sanded it and applied the first coat of Minwax "Natural" stain. Well, it did not turn out to be blond, but it looks nice. I should have just used Shellac or maybe a Golden Pecan stain.
I first applied Formby's Paint & Poly Remover (a gelatinous substance) with a brush to the wood and let it set in for about 30+ minutes. I then used a plastic scrapper to remove the old stain that bubbled up to the surface (kind of weird/cool).
Once it dried, I sanded off the excess gunk (stain) with some light grit sandpaper. I cleaned off the wood and then I used a strong mix of OxyClean and water (in a small tub) to bleech the wood after stripping it.
Here are the pics of my Bulgy wood furniture, after I stripped and sanded it. I filled up a tub with Oxyclean with the wood soaking in it.
Ok, so here's the final product. Now I really know why SJ said to allow the proper time for the wood to dry. I had the toughest time trying to insert the stock and HG's. I saw that even after a week of drying, they were swollen and would not fit. It's pretty humid down here in the South and even with the AC on, it looks like the humidity took its toll. But hey, that's nothing a little sanding and a rubber mallet couldn't fix. I really like the way they turned out. I also applied two coats of Spar Urethane for a protective finish. I let the wood dry for about a week and then I sanded it and applied the first coat of Minwax "Natural" stain. Well, it did not turn out to be blond, but it looks nice. I should have just used Shellac or maybe a Golden Pecan stain.
