Finishing

  A woodworker friend called wanting to know where he could buy some methylated spirits. He had just read in a book that it was the best solvent to use with shellac. So I asked him if the [...]

A woodworker friend asked me what type colorants, pigment or dye, were used in Minwax stains. He had called Minwax and was told that they use only pigment, but this didn’t match with my friend’s [...]

One of the difficulties with learning to do French polishing is overcoming the exotic vocabulary that continues to be used by some: “charge the rubber,” “fad in,” “spirit off,” etc. This [...]

Stains differ in the amount of colorant they include. On this panel I applied one brand of walnut stain to the left side and another brand to the right side, then wiped off the excess. I let the [...]

A spray pattern, with all the controls on the spray gun wide open, is supposed to be an even, elongated oval shape. If the pattern is heavier on one end than the other, the likely cause is that [...]

The left dye is Transtint metalized dye. The right dye is Lockwood analine dye. Both are water-soluble. I covered the top half of the panel and put it in a west-facing window for six months. You [...]

This is one I come across often. People tell me in one way or another, that they are going to sand off the finish or paint. So then I point out that stripping is faster, and in the case of …

On Nov. 22 I posted an explanation of how cooler temperatures slow the drying of all finishes. Well, the opposite is also true. Warmer temperatures, especially with the aid of air movement, speed [...]

I learned this lesson the hard way. Don’t transport unfinished wood in the open bed of a pick-up truck if there’s any chance of rain. A local cabinet shop had made some oak display stands, and I [...]

I got a question from a woodworker about French polishing. He wanted to know why he was having so much trouble French polishing with Wipe-on Poly. He had made his pad as instructed, putting a wad [...]

This problem comes up a lot at this time of year. You’ve been finishing a large project for several weeks without problems. Then the finish starts sagging on vertical surfaces and the [...]

Here’s a short history of shellac, some of it from my own experience. Shellac was almost the only finish used on furniture from the 1820s to the 1920s when nitrocellulose lacquer was introduced. [...]