I need to learn about types of finishes

[Rick Lucrezi]

I have been trying to teach myself about all the different types of finishes and there uses, pros and cons ect. I like Wikipedia but I am more confused now than I was. Anyone want to take a crack at making it easier to understand.

I am really interested in tung oil. Apparently it can be mixed and different mixes change its uses. Also apparently it can be toped with a film finish of different types for diferent things. I m sorry but I just dont get it.

[Ed Hazel]

"The Woodfinishing Book" By Michael Dresdner
Is a fairly comprehensive book on wood finishing might want to check with your local library

[Rick Lucrezi]

"The Woodfinishing Book" By Michael Dresdner
Is a fairly comprehensive book on wood finishing might want to check with your local library

Library? All our libraries have closed due to funding issues. I will google it. Thank you.

[Steve Schoene]

I'd recommend Bob Flexner Understanding Wood Finishing . Very comprehensive and goes into the why, not just the what. Another good one is Jeff Jewitt's Complete Illustrated Guide to Finishing, part of the Taunton series.

[John Keeton]

Jeff Jewitt also did another Taunton book, Hand Applied Finishes, that is available used on Amazon for about $7 plus shipping. I recently purchased this book, and it is a gold mine of information. About 180 pages of detail description on the various finishes and their uses, mixtures, application, etc.

[Larry Fox]

All the books mentioned are great but I gotta tell you - nothing beats a class for this. I took a class at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop with Jeff Jewitt and it advanced my knowledge an incredible amount in just 2 days. I just checked their site and they don't have the class listed. I think Jeff also teaches at Mark Adams and there he does a week-long class which would be incredible.

Barring that, experimentation is the next best thing. I sometimes just monkey around with pieces of scrap to see what I come up with. 90+% of it turns into firewood but every once in a while something interesting pops out. When something does, make sure you write down what you did so you can reproduce it. You can then use it as a base and use it as a jumping off point to explore a little further.

The two aspects of it that I found/find most difficult are nomenclature and compatability. There are so many terms that are involved and their meanings are not clear AND they are used inconsistently. What things are compatabile with what other things is also confusing although less so than the nomenclature.

There are some good forums out there. Jeff Jewitt used to have a GREAT one over at Homestead but it is currrently offline. I talked to him about a week or so ago and h said that they are switching servers and it might be a while. Keep an eye out for that one coming back. Target Coatings also has a good one.

Lighting is also an aspect that should not be ignored. Things under florescant (spelling?) lights look a LOT different than under natural light. Something that you think you are adding a little redish toning to under fl lights looks red as a fire truck under natural light (for example). DAMHIKT

Don't limit yourself to the products avaialble at the BORG. Good and appropriate supplies makes all the difference in the world. For supplies there is no better place then HomesteadFinishing -period. They are not cheap but neither are your projects.

If you see a piece in the woodworking projects section that you like and the op does not include the finish - ask and chances are that they will give the schedule to you. This is the best forum on the net for information sharing - period.

If there is a go-to finish that ends up in almost ALL my projects at leat one point in the schedule it would be shellac. Get yourself some and get to know it and it's working properties. I know there are those who like the Zinser projects but I prefer to mix my own as it buys you access to a lot greater range of colors and mixes. I know I sound like a salesman for Homestead and sorry for that but Jeff sells wonderful shellac. I keep a few pounds (in flake form) of different colors in the fridge at all times. It is easy to mix, you need an old pickle jar, some flakes and some denatured alcohol.

Best advise is the experimenting though. Buy some dyes, colorants, shellacs, gel stains, etc and just play around and be ready for some duds.

[Rick Lucrezi]

Thanks Larry, I did some reading on Shellac last night. My past expierence has been opening a can and applying what ever was in there. I am really trying to make my house stand out. My hope is that when people come in, they are blown away by all the wood work. Hopefully it will transfer into some projects for other folks. Right now I am prepping 1600 sq' of fir flooring. We tried to stain our fir door green and it was horrible. So my wife tried to buff some off and went over it with a dark brown and it came out incredible. You can see the green coming through the brown in places which gave it that antiqed look, plus it s a very rich color. Its hard to describe. I am thinking about something like that for the flooring. I understand with shellac you can creat that similar look, but for 1600 feet that may take a bit of product.

[Rob Cunningham]

+1 on everything Larry said about Jeff Jewitt. I hope his forum is back up soon. If you get a chance to take his class, do it. The best thing I can suggest is to read a lot and experiment a lot. Keep detailed notes on what you do so you can refer back to them later.

Larry, were you at the PFW class in May 2008?. If so, we were classmates.

[Jim Becker]

If you are going to top-coat the oil, there is little point in buying tung oil...and I'm referring to the real stuff, not the wiping varnishes that are called "tung oil finish" and contain no tung oil. BLO is cheap, will look identical and cures much, much faster.

[Larry Fox]

Larry, were you at the PFW class in May 2008?. If so, we were classmates.

Rob, I was not. I was at the first one that actually opened the PFW. Every time I talk to Alan I bug him about offering the advanced class but so far he has not which I suspect is due to scheduling, I don't think Jeff teaches much. I would love to take that week-long one at Mark Adams though.

[Jim Becker]

Jeff is hard to schedule in for those seminars according to the powers that be at PFW...he's a busy and popular guy! Hopefully, he will be back for another session in 2009.

[Rick Lucrezi]

Jim, I looked up BLO and came across a article for a vintage style floor project. The home owners mixed, blo, turpentine and tar, heated it and squeegeed it in, then wiped off the excess. The idea was to get that mixture deep in the wood, have an antiqued color and then they used BLO for 3 extra coat all hand rubbed in except the last which they used a buffer and cloth. The floor was beautiful. Very labor intensive but it had the look of a very old and worn floor with allot of character.