WOODWORKING GUIDE: FINISHING It may be together, but you still have to protect it. For dramatic results, its hard to beat the finishing process. With the first touch of a rag or brush, your furniture piece comes alive and the true character of its wood grain jumps out at you. Gone is the well-sanded but relatively neutral surface of the raw stock. And if you have any doubts about whether all the work was worth it, those will probably disappear, too. The first step in the process is to pick a suitable finish. Many products are available with varying characteristics. But the one thing they all have in common is protection. All are designed to inhibit the transfer of moisture and to prevent the surface from being contaminated by dirt and stains. The most common finishes are shellac, lacquer, varnish and oil. All are solvent- or oil-based products and therefore require some precautions. Wear protective gloves, goggles and a respirator with organic vapor cartridges when using these materials. And make sure your work area is ventilated according to the recommendations printed on the products container. One of the biggest differences among these four traditional finishes is how they function on wood. Shellac, lacquer and varnish are all surface finishes. This means that they do not penetrate, to any great extent, past the surface of the wood. The first coat certainly goes in the farthest, but subsequent coats merely build on the first to form a smooth, usually glossy, surface. Oil, on the other hand, is considered a penetrating finish because it reaches much deeper into the wood and leaves only a microscopic layer of finish on the surface. Subsequent coats continue to penetrate. 1-Ease all the edges on your project with sandpaper and a sanding block. Work across the grain for best results. 2-When youre done sanding the entire piece, brush off all the dust. Then wipe the entire surface with a tack cloth.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 09:35:55 +0000