Finishing

Here’s a question that comes up often. I just got it again from a reader. Is it necessary to finish both sides of tabletops to prevent warping?

A reader wanted to know if he should apply a lacquer sanding sealer on some wood that had had a coat of shellac already applied. He intends to continue with topcoats of lacquer. There is so much [...]

The usual way of applying stain is to apply a wet coat and wipe off the excess before it dries. You can use a rag, brush or spray gun to apply the stain. When you wipe off the excess, you …

The instructions for applying oil and wiping-varnish finishes are usually to wipe or brush on a wet coat, wait a bit, then wipe off the excess and let what remains dry. So I got this question [...]

There are really only two things they (or you) can do with a finish that can’t be fixed fairly easily. One is to apply a stain to a blotch-prone wood, and the other is to apply a stain to any …

I got a call from a long-time client asking me to come by and see if I could fix the heat damage to her dining table. I was actually quite familiar with that table. Twenty years previously she [...]

One of the most frustrating flaws in a dried finish is bubbles. The trick is to avoid getting them in the first place. If you can’t do this, you need to deal with them when they do occur. They [...]

Recently, I had an exchange with a friend who does woodworking as a hobby, and the exchange made me realize that the need to thin oil and varnish, especially varnish, and including polyurethane [...]

It would be hard to find a question in woodworking more often asked and more often inadequately answered than how to make cherry look old without blotching. How many magazine articles have you [...]

Maybe it’s because of the decades I spent restoring old and antique furniture, so I realize how difficult it can often be to match new parts to old. Or maybe it’s because of the scorn I feel for [...]

I got this question from a friend and thought I should share my answer on the blog because it addresses several issues. Here’s the question: I was reading about finishing hickory and most people [...]

In 1946 a fellow named William M. Barr invented a new paint stripper based on the solvent, methylene chloride. It quickly took off in the marketplace because it was a huge advance over the [...]