Archives

Why Does My Wood Have Stripes?   Q: I put a clear finish on a beautiful ash table I made and found faint stripes an inch or two wide going across each board. Any ideas on what caused them [...]

Is Polyurethane Food-Safe?   Q: I’m planning on finishing a set of wooden plates with polyurethane. Is this finish safe for food? A: According to finishing expert Bob Flexner, all [...]

I get a fair amount of finishing questions. Recently, most questions that come my way ask how to finish a project that has inlay without heavily affecting the contrast between the project wood [...]

Brush-On Finish the Easy Way Thinning the poly is the secret. By S. Lloyd Natof Finishing is a challenge—right? It’s one thing to get a nice finish on a small, flat sample board, but [...]

Q & A: Final Rubout   Q: I always have problems getting a smooth finish. I sand the wood with 220 paper,wipe it with a tack cloth, apply three coats of high-quality varnish, and still [...]

Q & A: Matching Old Stains 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 way I can [...]

For most modern woodworkers, wax is not a finish. It goes on top of the finish and creates a barrier to scratches. But after reading the forthcoming translation of A.J. Roubo’s “L’Art du [...]

  Wood finishing doesn’t have to be complicated or mysterious. That’s not to say that even experienced finishers don’t run into problems from time to time; everybody does. [...]

The Way Wood Works: Birch This affordable wood is great for both high-end and utilitarian cabinetry. By Tim Johnson Birch is a hot item at the lumberyard these days, and birch veneer is the [...]

I received an e-mail from a reader the other day, asking about finishes for Greene & Greene furniture. It’s one of those areas where we have some good clues about what was used, but we [...]

The first tenet of “I Can Do That” is that all projects we build for it must be doable with the modest (but decent) set of beginner tools we’ve identified, and for which [...]

When it comes to finish, I want something that is easy to apply, offers a little protection and doesn’t require spray equipment. And once I find a finish I like, I tend to be pretty loyal. [...]