The two commonly available pure oil finishes that can be used on furniture and woodwork with decent results because they cure – that is, turn from a liquid to a...
The critical parts are the fluid nozzle and air cap. As I have said many times, spray guns are pretty simple tools. By comparison, they aren’t any more difficult to...
How to choose a spray gun. A spray gun is a tool that turns a stain, paint, finish or other liquid material into a fine mist—a process called “atomization.” It...
Solutions for common situations, from softening edges to stripping. Here are 10 tips and tricks you might use to both speed your finishing and get better results. I’ve arranged them...
Some straight talk about cherry and blotching. When I opened my furniture-making and restoration shop in 1976, the woods considered best for high-end furniture were walnut and mahogany. Of course,...
Simple in theory, not in the real world. A reader of my blog asked me to explain what polymerized oil is. So here goes. On one level the explanation is...
Not everything has to have a furniture-grade finish. If you read the woodworking magazines or look online, you often come across instructions for filling pores, glazing, toning, rubbing out, and...
Why stains and finishes sometimes dry slowly. A friend called with a problem. He had applied an ebony oil stain to oak and after the stain had dried for two...
The truth behind craters and ridges. If your finishing career has been limited to finishing projects you have made, you may never have experienced fish eye. But if you have...
A brief history of a not-so-romantic woodworking education system. Ever since the renewal of interest in woodworking in the 1970s, especially among amateurs and small-shop professionals, there [...]
Achieve great results with the least amount of work. Think about it: What’s the first thing you do when judging someone else’s woodwork? You run your hand over it, of...
