Finishing

If you’re looking purely at durability, then an oil-based polyurethane is still superior, but only marginally.

As I get more experienced with woodworking, I find finishing to be one of the most intimidating topics. How am I, or anyone for that matter, supposed to be comfortable...

Q: I have to match an old stain. I’ve come pretty close with a new stain I bought at the hardware store, but it’s not good enough. Is there a...

My four-decade-long desire to identify, understand, replicate and develop new analogs to historic furniture-making materials has led me on some interesting quests and situations. Included in [...]

When people ask me what foods I hate, I usually say, “I’ll eat anything, as long as it’s prepared well.” I didn’t like Brussels sprouts until I had them roasted....

Here’s a common and frustrating finishing problem: You apply finish to your piece, and one of the parts – say a rail or a stile – ends up a slightly...

When Egyptian King Tutankhamun was buried in haste, the linen cloth he was wrapped in was soaked with linseed oil. And, perhaps because Tut was buried in haste, the oil...

This 11-minute video excerpt, featuring the one and only Don Williams, is a fairly complete answer to a common question – what is shellac? I say “fairly complete” because the...

A wet drinking glass can make an ugly white  or dark ring on your furniture. Here’s how to fix the damage. by Bob Flexner Watermarks occur on furniture with finishes...

Whenever I teach a class that involves turning, I like to show them how well the French “polissoir” can finish off your work on the lathe. A polissoir (say it...

Spray Booth for Waterborne Finishes   Fifty bucks and a few hours is all it takes to put together this finishing booth. It keeps overspray off my tools and dust...

30 Finishing Supplies 30 must-have tools for finishing all types of woodworking projects. By Kevin Southwick   Collecting woodworking tools is undeniably fun. As a professional finisher, I [...]