does anyone know which colour wood stains to use on a K98 and which to avoid??
not too keen on staining the wrong colour then having to re-strip it all again 
the stains I have here at the moment are made by Colron
American Walnut
Peruvian Mahogany
Antique Oak
(was thinking of using a light coat of the Peruvian which has a nice dark reddish tinge to it then the American walnut on top?)
I also have a tin of clear matt yacht varnish, but may use a different finish for them 
cheers for your help chaps 
I'd go with the walnut.
I use Rustins Walnut wood Dye on all my K98's
“I wanted to come to the Volga at a specific location at a specific city. By chance it carries the name of Stalin himself. So don’t think I marched there for this reason – it could carry another name – but because there is a very important goal... this goal I wanted to take – and you know – we are very modest, we have it already."
Adolf Hitler, November 1942
"Comrades, Red Army men, commanders and political workers, men and women guerrillas! It is on your perseverance, staunchness, fighting skill and readiness to discharge your duty to the country that the defeat of the German-fascist army and the liberation of the Soviet land from the Hitlerite invaders depend! We can and must clear the Soviet land of Hitlerite vermin."
Joseph Stalin, November 1942
cheers
I have 2 stocks to stain, I think I read somewhere that there was a lighter version for late war period??
Im thinking of doing one early and one late war
Ive done one of these dboys (I assume?) stocks and I found that they are a bugger to get a uniform finish on because the wood seems to be quite soft.
Make sure you sand the stock all over starting with 120 grit working your way up to 400 grit, or thereabouts. Make sure you go over the whole thing twice with 400 grit or you will have rough parts which will absorb more stain and oil than the smoother parts and this will lead to streaky and blotchy finish.
Also water down the stain quite a bit if it is a water based stain (should you want to darken the stock considerably) and remember when you oil the stock after staining it will take it darker again.
I used a Birchwood casey gun finishing kit on my VSR conversion and I'm still not happy with the way it looks.
Second one down in the picture, thats just Tru oil. No stain.
I'm going to try again I think as I never sanded enough and its quite blotchy.
AGM MP40 - AGM STG44 - CYMA Thompson M1A1 - WE P08 4 inch - Marushin M1 Carbine GBB - AGM Sten MkII
Like Boshman I used rustins walnut dye. However on mine it came out quite light, the wood seemed quite reluctant to take the dye, and it was very well sanded before I started. I guess you need to try a small area first. As for the finish I used danish oil, It gives a good finish, protects the wood and doesnt chip off like varnish.
Like Boshman I used rustins walnut dye. However on mine it came out quite light, the wood seemed quite reluctant to take the dye, and it was very well sanded before I started. I guess you need to try a small area first. As for the finish I used danish oil, It gives a good finish, protects the wood and doesnt chip off like varnish.
Indeed. On the one I built for Steiner, it really didn't want to take the colour and came out quite light. On the one I am currently doing it has taken it beautifully and it has a lovely dark walnut colour!
It is some strange wood that Dboys use for their stocks!
“I wanted to come to the Volga at a specific location at a specific city. By chance it carries the name of Stalin himself. So don’t think I marched there for this reason – it could carry another name – but because there is a very important goal... this goal I wanted to take – and you know – we are very modest, we have it already."
Adolf Hitler, November 1942
"Comrades, Red Army men, commanders and political workers, men and women guerrillas! It is on your perseverance, staunchness, fighting skill and readiness to discharge your duty to the country that the defeat of the German-fascist army and the liberation of the Soviet land from the Hitlerite invaders depend! We can and must clear the Soviet land of Hitlerite vermin."
Joseph Stalin, November 1942
it may sound simple but many coats and really work it in ,a brush is no good you need to rub it in with a cloth.
armoury
m1a1 Thompson,sten mk2,mp40,stg44,sterling,mk2 bren gun,lee Enfield no4 mk1,Mauser Kar98, Walther ppk,smith and Weston m10 and Mauser m712
Give me a big enough hammer and a place to stand and I could fix the world.
i'll kill a man in a fair fight or if i think he's going to start a fair fight or over a woman or.......
a problem shared is a problem halved ,but an advantage shared is no advantage at all
if a job's not worth doing then its certainly not worth doing well
it may sound simple but many coats and really work it in ,a brush is no good you need to rub it in with a cloth.
Yes, I always apply with a rag. On Steiners it didn't matter how many coats I applied it just wouldn't take any more colour! It's possible it just needed sanding back even more but i certainly didn't skimp on that step.
“I wanted to come to the Volga at a specific location at a specific city. By chance it carries the name of Stalin himself. So don’t think I marched there for this reason – it could carry another name – but because there is a very important goal... this goal I wanted to take – and you know – we are very modest, we have it already."
Adolf Hitler, November 1942
"Comrades, Red Army men, commanders and political workers, men and women guerrillas! It is on your perseverance, staunchness, fighting skill and readiness to discharge your duty to the country that the defeat of the German-fascist army and the liberation of the Soviet land from the Hitlerite invaders depend! We can and must clear the Soviet land of Hitlerite vermin."
Joseph Stalin, November 1942
Yes, I always apply with a rag. On Steiners it didn't matter how many coats I applied it just wouldn't take any more colour! It's possible it just needed sanding back even more but i certainly didn't skimp on that step.
I think thats where I went wrong. I applied the stain with a brush & it seemed to really soak into parts that I hadnt taken the time to sand properly with finer grit. Like they were more porous/fibrous, and it looked hideous.
After that I decided to strip it back again and just use oil to finish.
As you can see from my picture it actually looks quite dodgy compared to the blonde Tanaka G33/40 above it.
It seems like an easy job especially after putting the thing together - like putting the cherry on the cake (?) - but it must take loads of elbow grease and waiting around to do right.
AGM MP40 - AGM STG44 - CYMA Thompson M1A1 - WE P08 4 inch - Marushin M1 Carbine GBB - AGM Sten MkII
some great info and tips
hopefully it helps other people doing there K98's as well
