Water and oil don’t mix, but water-based and oil-based finishing products can be combined as long as the previous coat is dry. Water dries considerably faster than oil so you can apply an oil-based finishing product over a water-based product within a couple of hours....
Bubbles in a finish are more likely from brushing than from spraying, though it’s possible to get bubbles in a sprayed finish if you have the air pressure turned up real high. Bubbles are caused by the turbulence created by the brush gliding over the surface much more...
There are two broad categories of stain: dye that is dissolved in a liquid, and dye and/or pigment combined with a binder. The first are usually called “dye” stains and are sold either as powders for you to do the dissolving, or are already dissolved in a liquid...
How to care for furniture and woodwork has to be the most confusing and misrepresented topic in all of woodworking and finishing. Claims from product manufacturers range from one absurdity to another: from replacing natural oils in wood to moisturizing the finish to...
We have featured articles by extraordinary woodworker, Charles Neil, showing how to create antique finishes. Below is the second part of the article. Before reading the article take a look at Charles’s latest project, a gorgeous coffee table made from “junk wood.” ...
The proper test for determining if a paint or finish bonds well to the substrate, which could be just a previous coat of paint or finish, is called the cross-cut adhesion test. It is the standard that has been established by the American Society for Testing and...
If you want to make the tabletops on your stationary machinery (table saw, band saw, jointer, etc.) slicker so boards slide easier, use paste wax, not furniture polish. And choose a paste wax sold for furniture or floors rather than for cars. The reasons for both...
Matching colors is one of the most difficult tasks in wood finishing. Using just a stain rarely works well because the color on the object you’re trying to match is affected by how the wood and finish have aged. The best way to match a color is usually to get the...
Ghosting occurs when you sand or rub through one layer of finish into the one below, as shown in the accompanying picture. You can recognize ghosting when the problem area you’re trying to remove keeps getting bigger rather than smaller—like sanding through veneer....
A common method used for stripping furniture in many professional refinishing and stripping shops is to dip the furniture into a tub full of hot water and lye. This method is relatively inexpensive (compared to using solvents) and very effective. It’s also compliant...
