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The instructions for applying oil and wiping-varnish finishes are usually to wipe or brush on a wet coat, wait a bit, then wipe off the excess and let what remains dry. So I got this question [...]

There are really only two things they (or you) can do with a finish that can’t be fixed fairly easily. One is to apply a stain to a blotch-prone wood, and the other is to apply a stain to any …

I got a call from a long-time client asking me to come by and see if I could fix the heat damage to her dining table. I was actually quite familiar with that table. Twenty years previously she [...]

One of the most frustrating flaws in a dried finish is bubbles. The trick is to avoid getting them in the first place. If you can’t do this, you need to deal with them when they do occur. They [...]

Recently, I had an exchange with a friend who does woodworking as a hobby, and the exchange made me realize that the need to thin oil and varnish, especially varnish, and including polyurethane [...]

It would be hard to find a question in woodworking more often asked and more often inadequately answered than how to make cherry look old without blotching. How many magazine articles have you [...]

Maybe it’s because of the decades I spent restoring old and antique furniture, so I realize how difficult it can often be to match new parts to old. Or maybe it’s because of the scorn I feel for [...]

I got this question from a friend and thought I should share my answer on the blog because it addresses several issues. Here’s the question: I was reading about finishing hickory and most people [...]

In 1946 a fellow named William M. Barr invented a new paint stripper based on the solvent, methylene chloride. It quickly took off in the marketplace because it was a huge advance over the [...]

One of the most difficult tasks in wood finishing is matching the color of a new part you have installed in furniture or cabinets to the existing color on the other parts. The usual way [...]

This is pretty basic, but here goes anyway. When you have a situation of peeling paint, you have to remove it before applying fresh paint, or your efforts will be ineffective. Scraping usually [...]

Over my career making and restoring furniture I’ve found washcoats helpful now and then when staining wood. A washcoat is a finish, any finish, thinned with two or more parts thinner and applied [...]