Archives

We all have to begin somewhere, and this is actually the most difficult time. Years ago I remember teaching a class about finishing that included one student who said he had never used a stain or [...]

A simple approach to this classic finishing technique. Finishing options abound in the woodworking world, however with Arts & Crafts style pieces, you need to get the finish right to complete [...]

Did I mention there would be a quiz? Here are 20 questions, together with the answers, based on my articles from Popular Woodworking. If you have been reading regularly, you should do well. For [...]

Finishing the plugs for covering screw holes is a pain. When you run a brush or rag over them after they’re installed, they’ll probably cause the finish to run or drip. Finishing them [...]

Take a walk on the wild side of finishing. I’ve got six good reasons to skip the stain and polyurethane on your next small project: bleached, blended, charred, marbled, salt and pepper, and iron [...]

Waterlox is a mainstay for furniture makers. Follow these steps to get a deep glow, a buttery-smooth surface and unmatched protection.

My finishing turntable is perfect for spraying large parts or projects. To make the device, I mounted five fixed 3-1/2” casters on a plywood panel. They’re equally spaced in a 16” diameter [...]

A simple test reveals ideal pressure for atomization. Spray guns can run off a compressor or a turbine. With turbines the air pressure is established by the number of “stages,” usually two, three [...]

Finding a felt-tip marker or touch-up stick that actually matches the color of your project is a real crapshoot. What if you could make your own, using your own stain? You can, using the Perfect [...]

Fictional ‘incidents’ give a piece a believable back story. In Part 1 I gave an overview of creating an aged look for new pieces of furniture, and discussed mechanical wear. The second prevalent [...]

Once an inaccuracy gets started, it becomes almost impossible to correct. “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on,” said Winston Churchill (or [...]

Adding wear and tear to a piece is like writing a convincing tale of fiction. It’s your day off. So, you go into your shop to make a new piece of furniture. How do you want it to look …