# Stained stock too dark, need to bleach it



## johnpauljones (Jun 23, 2009)

I was attempting to refinish the original furniture on my rifle and I stained it entirely too dark with red mahogany stain.

I put some synthetic furniture upgrade on it as an upgrade but would like to try and experiment this wood.  

I have tried several treatments of varnish remover and it has worked well but there is still a deep red color to the wood.

Would granular calcium hypochlorite be appropriate for this job?? I'm not afraid of trashing the wood if it doesn't work out well.


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## fi8shmasty (Jun 23, 2009)

Lightly sand it down or, Sometimes I take acetone on a rag and patt it on the stock it will suck anything out of the wood.


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## johnpauljones (Jun 23, 2009)

Never thought about acetone. I've heard of using oxalic acid as well


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## fi8shmasty (Jun 23, 2009)

Acetone gets everything. That is what I use to degrease metal parts before hot blueing.


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## CAL (Jun 23, 2009)

Clorox will bleach it white.Make sure you use some vinegar to stop the action before staining back to what you want.Have done this many times!


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## johnpauljones (Jun 25, 2009)

Lesson learned: granular pool chlorine, calcium hypochlorite, aka "shock" works well for this purpose buy you can't mix it up with water and expect it to work.

Instead, saturate it with warm or hot water until it's a pasty like consistency. Slog it onto the wood and wrap in an old towel oe cheese cloth. Check on it frequently, it's powerful stuff.

It only works effectively when in direct contact with the wood. Immersing in an aqueous solution won't do the job.

Neutralize the effect with vineagar when you're finished. 

Thanks for the tips and I hope this helps someone


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## johnpauljones (Jun 29, 2009)

STORY: So I bleached my stock and figured I'd share the results with the GON community.

It is easy to see how one side is darker than the other.  This is a result of the stock being left with the bleach on one side a bit longer than the other.  To my embarrassment, I don't know which side was which now!

The wood was treated 2x with Minwax Red Mahogany stain and turned out entirely too dark.  It probably would have been just fine with one VERY light coat instead of how I slogged it on there.  

This has been a learning experience for me, certainly.


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## fi8shmasty (Jun 29, 2009)

You don't have a heck of a lot to work with do You?? Anything you do will be a vast improvement.
 ?? Since it looks like pine have you considerd giving it a real nice paint job??  You could always strip the paint off if you don't like it. Ive been doing a few of my synthetic stocks with textured paint and I am told they look ptetty good. Just a thought.

 Keep us posted.


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## johnpauljones (Jun 29, 2009)

Could be pine... I have no idea.

Anyone know what type of wood the Romanians used for AK furniture?


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## schweisshund (Oct 13, 2009)

Birch


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## rocinante (Oct 14, 2009)

That is a laminate and I would bet a real booger to remove stain from. I started a thread on the same subject. I used stripper, oven cleaner, dish washer detergent, oxy clean, and bunch of sand paper. My wood was beech.


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## drtybykr (Oct 14, 2009)

might as well do a duracoat job on that puppy make it one color or camo it


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## HandgunHTR (Oct 15, 2009)

Easy Off oven cleaner will work well too. 

Gotta have the real stuff, though.  Not that tree-hugging "no smell-no toxins" version.


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## dawg2 (Oct 15, 2009)

rocinante said:


> That is a laminate and I would bet a real booger to remove stain from. I started a thread on the same subject. I used stripper, oven cleaner, dish washer detergent, oxy clean, and bunch of sand paper. My wood was beech.



What he said.  AK furniture is almost always laminated wood.


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