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A sure-fire recipe for turning any wood deep black. Remember the old ad slogan, “better living through chemistry”? When it comes to turning wood black—a process called ebonizing—I prefer the [...]

Learn how to restore your damaged furniture finishes with these practical tips and techniques. Over time, furniture finishes can become dull or develop various marks and blemishes. This guide [...]

Water can cause many problems to finished and unfinished wood. As woodworkers, most of us have come across problems caused by water that we may be asked to repair. The problems can occur in the [...]

Material and finish choice help dictate grit progression. The objective of sanding wood is to remove mill marks, which are caused by woodworking machines, and to remove other flaws such as dents [...]

This two-step process guarantees flawless results. No brush marks, drips, runs, bubbles, hairs, dust or orange peel—and beautiful results every time. For most furniture projects, it doesn’t get [...]

Five different types of protection exist. Here's a guide to choosing the best one for your project.

With all the high-tech, expensive tools in my shop, I still find a dozen uses for a simple, inexpensive hunk of paraffin wax. I use it anywhere I need lubrication to slide material: the tops of [...]

They explain so much. It’s often possible to sum up a lot of situations with a rule, a principle that applies in almost all cases. When I teach seminars on finishing, I often find myself citing a [...]

Improve your results by understanding wood characteristics. Each species of wood has unique finishing characteristics, both positive and negative. To help you determine how to choose the right [...]

A few sample boards can save you from future finishing headaches. Finish manufacturers targeting the furniture industry and large professional finish shops provide a lot of information about [...]

Bleeding, blushing, blotching, orange peel and fish eye. The basics of wood finishing are really quite simple: You use one of three tools – a rag, brush or spray gun – to transfer a liquid stain [...]

Solutions to a baker’s dozen of common finishing difficulties. It’s easy enough to provide instructions for applying finishes. But in the real world, things go wrong; problems occur that you have [...]