Wood Finishing

Woodworker’s Guild of America offers numerous wood finishing tips and tricks for our community. Within this board you will find guides for making your own organic stain, choosing the best stain, or even finishing your woodwork with torching.
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Choosing a Brush for Your Top Coat
You’ve spent a lot of time on your project getting it ready to finish, so why not finish it right? If you’re going to apply four layers of stains or top coat with a brush, it’s important to use the proper brush for the job. A WoodWorkers Guild of America (WWGOA) original video.
Using Epoxy for Wood Cracks
Working with wood as a medium is mostly a wonderful experience, but invariably you have to deal with some imperfections in the wood such as knots, cracks, dings, etc. Learning how to repair wood cracks and other imperfections can involve a bit of trial and error, and ultimately it is good to land on a technique or two that can help you make your projects look their best.
How to Apply Finish to a Table
Wood finish can be tricky. It’s nice to have techniques to help you out. Here’s my approach to finishing tables. It doesn’t matter what your finish method is-brush, wipe on, spray-this will help you out.
HOMEMADE WOOD FINISH
George has developed a homemade wood finish that he has been using for decades. His homemade wood finish puts a great layer of protection along with warm, lustrous glow onto his turned pieces. He uses this homemade wood finish for bowls as well as spindle projects, and has had great success with this approach.
FINISH APPLICATION TIPS
Master woodworker George Vondriska provides tips on how to expertly apply finish to your woodworking projects. A WoodWorkers Guild of America (WWGOA) original video.
SHELLAC AS A TURNING FINISH
Watch Dave Munkittrick demonstrate how to apply finish to a turned project right on the lathe. See what he adds to the shellac for a foolproof protective finish for nearly any woodturning project.
CHOOSING A BRUSH FOR YOUR TOP COAT
You’ve spent a lot of time on your project getting it ready to finish, so why not finish it right? If you’re going to apply four layers of stains or top coat with a brush, it’s important to use the proper brush for the job. A WoodWorkers Guild of America (WWGOA) original video.
FUMING TENT CONSTRUCTION
This fuming tent design provides the best of all worlds: easy to assemble, easy to break down and, since it is composed of flat panels, it stores reasonably well. When I made my first one, I dutifully screwed the whole thing together and placed duct tape across all edges. I soon realized that was overkill and found that solid clamping sealed the fuming tent sufficiently.
HOW TO SAFELY FUME YOUR FURNITURE
When one looks at Craftsman style furniture, several features stand out. First is the solid heaviness of the design—this is not furniture you casually slide across the room. Second is the cut of the wood: it’s often quarter sawn white oak and as such, the beautiful rays crossing the grain stand out with each piece as unique as a snowflake. Lastly is the wood’s color; a beautiful, deep, honey-brown tone.
ANTI-DUST FINISHING TIP
Most woodworkers have some airborne dust and particulates floating in their shop, and some of those particles can settle on a not-quite-dried finish. George Vondriska demonstrates a neat and inexpensive trick for protecting small woodworking projects from dust when finishing. A WoodWorkers Guild of America (WWGOA) original video.
USING MINERAL SPIRITS TO SHOW WOOD GRAIN
It’s a magic moment…when finish hits your project for the first time and the grain starts to pop, glow, show you just what you’re going to get, it’s soooo cool. Here’s the problem. As you build your project or, even more importantly, as you select your material, you may have a hard time knowing how things are going to look when you get to that magic moment. What will that bees wing walnut or quilted maple or quarter sawn white oak look like when you apply finish?
USING MINERAL SPIRITS TO SHOW WOOD GRAIN
It’s a magic moment…when finish hits your project for the first time and the grain starts to pop, glow, show you just what you’re going to get, it’s soooo cool. Here’s the problem. As you build your project or, even more importantly, as you select your material, you may have a hard time knowing how things are going to look when you get to that magic moment. What will that bees wing walnut or quilted maple or quarter sawn white oak look like when you apply finish?
TORCHING WOOD
Everything old becomes new again! For instance, using a propane torch to char the surface of a piece of wood, changing its color. Torching wood is something that has been around for a really long time. It’s an interesting way to change a wood’s color without using stain or dye.
FINISHING PART 2: CHOOSING AND USING THE BEST STAIN
Jim Heavey from WOOD Magazine continues the three-part process of creating the perfect finish with information on choosing, testing and using wood stain. The techniques you learn from Jim will help increase your confidence when staining your woodworking projects.