The inevitable has happened...

[Woodfinish Man]

...all the wood finishing questions have been answered, everyone has got their systems and it's all going perfectly. \/

What a great way to start the weekend.

Ian

 

[laird]

Bet you've got that wrong

 

[yetloh]

Unlikely but it does seem to have gone quiet. I am always struck by how few questions there are; the Americans seem to be obsessed by the subject, almost as much as by their tablesaws.

Jim

 

[Ironballs]

I'll have one in 6 months time

Doing a Stickley Morris chair in QS oak and I think I'll need to stain it a slightly darker colour than just oil will give it

Agree about the Americans, they're obsessed with removing the blotches from cherry, if you ask me the blotches are one of the reasons to use cherry and make it's finish special

 

[yetloh]

That would certainly be consistent with the Stickley look.

Agree about finishing cherry; talk about two cultures divided by a common language. And then there is the heated, even abusive debate generated by a 5 degree difference in plane bed angles!

Jim

 

[Chris Knight]

Doing a Stickley Morris chair in QS oak and I think I'll need to stain it a slightly darker colour than just oil will give it

Fume it.

 

[wizer]

I take it you finish fumed oak in the same way as you would any other wood? What does one recommend over fumed oak?

 

[Chris Knight]

Tom,
Yes, just finish it as if it were raw wood. I like an oil finish on oak generally.

 

[Digit]

..all the wood finishing questions have been answered, everyone has got their systems and it's all going perfectly. Dancing

I wish!
My woodwork is fine, I have had cash offers, but my finishing is crap!
At the moment my French polishing attempts have resulted in a lovely deep colour and a gloss finish, and lots of rubber marks!

Roy.

 

[Woodfinish Man]

Practice makes perfect! Have you tried rubbering with neat clear meths? This may make the difference.

Ian

 

[Digit]

Yep! It didn't. Is this possibly the answer, the rubber is not dead flat so it seems to me that as I move over the surface I leave a trail of polish?
The annoying thing is that I have sucessfully polished many years ago but seem to have lost the plot now.

Roy.

 

[Digit]

Further thoughts.
The rubber contains enough polish to wipe the sides of the box, about two inches high, so they can be done with a single wipe across. The top and bottom I use the normal figures of eight.
If the rubber is too small then I would need to saturate it, which would cause a heavy deposit of polish to begin with.
If this sounds reasonable my reasoning runs, make a larger rubber so that the polish only flows more slowly on to the surface.
Comments?

Roy.

 

[Mr Ed]

I reckon the key to easy shellac application is to use a very thin mix, a la David Charlesworth. This way there is such a small build up of finish per coat that it blends very easily. I imagine that the thicker the polish the more difficult it is to get the track marks out, although the finish may build quicker if the tracks are an issue its not much of a time saver.

I use 20g of flakes to 200ml of meths.

Ed

 

[Digit]

Thanks Ed. My wife and came to the same conclusion earlier and despite claims that the polish doesn't keep I've decided to make up a greater quantity so that I can produce a known viscosity.
I also tried a larger rubber earlier with a larger quantity of cotton wool in it and there were no marks. I'm on my way back to the shop now to see what it looks like.

Roy.

 

[Digit]

Much better! No ridges, now to build the shine.
I'm off to Telford tomorrow, does anyone know of a supplier of FP materials in the area at all?

Roy.

 

[Mr Ed]

Much better! No ridges, now to build the shine.
I'm off to Telford tomorrow, does anyone know of a supplier of FP materials in the area at all?

Roy.

I'm building a supermarket in Telford at the moment so am there a fair bit. Regrettably I know of no good woodworking shops in the area, although it may be I have not found them yet.

Ed

 

[Digit]

Oh bother!

Roy.