Blonde Wood AK Furniture

I have some Bulgy AK 74 wood furniture that I stripped the lacquer from and refinished in order to give it the blonde look.

This is what is started out as:



This is the look I wanted:







I used Formby's Paint & Poly Remover, some brushes, sandpaper, a plastic scrapper, Oxyclean and Minwax "Natural" stain to do this project.


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 bleach the wood after stripping it.




Here is how the Oxyclean bleached it.







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 got a ton of help from the nice guys at Gunco.net and ak47.net. Let me know if you need any help attempting this. I plan on doing more refinishing in the future and I'll be glad to share any tips with you. I'd love to hear your tips as well.