TIP: Benzene and Benzine

Benzene and benzine are not the same thing. Though they are often confused or used interchangeably in books and magazines, they are very different.

Benzene is carcinogenic and was removed from the consumer market 40 years ago. Before then it was often used as a paint and varnish remover.

Benzine is another name for naphtha in the US, though the term is rarely used in this manner anymore. It’s also a common name for gasoline in England.

Naphtha (benzine) is a faster evaporating, less oily (“drier”) form of mineral spirits. It’s not dangerous if used in moderation.

Here’s an easy way to remember which is which. Benzene is spelled with an “e” as in dead. Benzine is spelled with an “i” as in alive.

TIP: Removing Wine Stains from Unfinished Wood

Here are two methods for removing stains caused by spilled red wine on unfinished wood—for example, on a butcher-block countertop.

1.    Mix some Oxi-Clean with water to make a paste and put it on the affected area. Check after a few minutes to be sure it’s doing something. If so, leave it for a short time until the wine stain is removed.
2.    Scrub the wood with a scouring powder, such as Ajax, that contains a little chlorine bleach.

If either of these methods leaves a lighter spot on the wood, apply the cleaning solution to the entire surface so it will be an even color.

TIP: Understanding Gloss and Satin

It’s the last coat you apply that establishes the sheen of your finish. In other words, if the sheen you’re getting is not to your liking, just apply another coat of finish on top with the sheen you want, and that’s what you’ll get.

Sheens range from high gloss to dead flat. Gloss reflects an image almost like a mirror. Flat disrupts the image so much that you may not be able to see it at all.

All finishes except gloss contain flatting agent that is responsible for the flatter look. This flatting agent (tiny particles of silica, which you can picture as sand though it isn’t) settles to the bottom of the can and has to be stirred into suspension before the finish is applied. The more flatting agent included in the finish, the flatter the effect.

The flatting agent works by reflecting light randomly from the surface. As the finish dries it shrink-wraps the tiny particles at the surface creating a microscopic roughness that screws up the image. The flatting agent in the thickness of the film has no flatting effect because it doesn’t disturb light from passing through. (If you know a little chemistry, the technical explanation is that the flatting agent and the finish film have almost the same refractive index.)

Gloss and Satin

On the example shown I applied two coats of gloss finish to the left half of the panel and two coats of satin to the right half. Then I applied a coat of satin finish to the right half of the gloss side and a coat of gloss finish to the left half of the satin side. The two glosses are indistinguishable and the two satins are indistinguishable even though they have the opposite sheens underneath.

It works this way with all types of finish.

Finishing Nightmares

Ironically I just finished making a DVD by the same title, but that is not what this is about.

I get a lot of emails from folks who have tried to get a good finish by following poor advice, but usually it is the result of poor products, they just don’t know it.

There is an old cliché, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” and nowhere does this prove truer than in finishing.

I got an email from a guy who was trying to get a fully filled, high gloss finish on a red oak dining table. Over a period of three months, he has put 62 coats (true story) of boiled linseed oil. Yep, 62 coats and he can’t get it to work and he can press his fingernail into it, his question was, “What am I doing wrong?”

The answer is obvious, poor advice and poor product. Had he done a grain fill and three or four coats of a good water base finish, he would be done and happy, which is exactly what we did after stripping the BLO off.

Another one – I get an email from a guy who tells me he finished a slab table for a client, used wax and turpentine. Proceeded to tell me he used the very best wax, but now the table is too shiny and it smells. I told him I just didn’t consider wax a finish and that it needed to be removed and let’s start over. He proceeded to tell me how he had read to do this in a well-known woodworking magazine and so forth. I politely told him to contact them and see if they could help him out. We wound up stripping the table and sealing it with some shellac due to the turpentine having soaked in so much and the wax. Did a nice water base finish and ended on a happy note.

I could go on and on but the point is made, finishing is tough, no doubt, but using the proper materials and tools is a big key.

I stand in amazement at those who will spend thousands on machines, bits, chisels and $20.00 a bf for high figure wood, work for months making sure everything is correct, then buy a $9.95 spray gun and the cheapest stuff they can find and go at it, and then, wonder what went wrong.

I sound like a broken record on this subject but I see and hear it everyday. The single best advice I can give you is to select a product line of a professional nature and stay with it. Learn the colors, learn to intermix them to create your own custom colors and learn to use the finishes; and if at all possible, get a good spray system and learn to use it. You will be amazed at the difference it makes and just like working wood, it takes time to develop and hone your skills.

The second biggest finishing nightmare is the prep process. Everyone understands moving up through the grits, but it seems in every class I teach, the one common issue is, “I sanded and sanded” still had scratches and glue show up. Yep, it happens.

Years ago, in the auto body world we would prime a vehicle, then using a spray can of adverse color lacquer, we would mist over the primer, then when it was sanded the adverse color would show any underlying scratches or issues. We called it trace coating.

So I adapted the principal to my woodworking.

I will take a water base dye, never use an oil, it doesn’t dry and will gum up your sandpaper. Water is best. I apply a light coat, let it dry and it acts as my trace coat. It will show any glue or defects and being water base it will pre-raise the grain.

Couple of cautions, on open-grain wood, go easy. You don’t want to get dye in the deep grains. So what I often do is wipe it with a semi-wet cloth, just enough to dampen, for the grain raise. Then, with a cloth just damp with the dye, I gently wipe the surface so as not to push it into the deep grain.

Now, I realize many will complain about using expensive dye in this way. So try some food coloring, little green, little red, you’ve got brown. Now food coloring is not a good wood dye but will make for a cheap, quick trace.

Now, if you accidentally get the food coloring in the grain, a quick wipe with some household bleach will kill it. Just be sure to neutralize the bleach with 1 tablespoon full of baking soda to a cup of water. Let it dry, give it a quick sand to remove the raised grain and your good to go.

Common sense says to be careful and not get the dye into areas you can’t access in order to sand, like inside corners and so forth.

Give some trace a try on a scrap and see what you think. It will tell you when your done sanding and show any issues!

How to Prep for a Flawless Painted Finish

While we may think that applying a film finish such as lacquer or polyurethane over natural wood can be a challenge, here’s a much tougher one: achieving a flawless painted finish. Blemishes in a clear film finish are disguised by the color and grain pattern of the wood. There’s no such hiding place with paint. Light playing across a painted surface only draws attention to any surface defects – and any pattern of wood grain showing through paint now becomes a defect instead of a feature.
As with most things, there’s good news and bad news about this. The good news: you can achieve a finish so flawless that it looks as if it belongs in an automobile showroom. The bad news is mainly for the “I want it finished NOW” crowd: doing this right takes time and patience. But that’s about as bad as it gets, so even if you’re a touch on the impatient side you may find this isn’t too hard to bear.
Whatever kind of piece you’re building – whether it’s free-standing or built-in – it’s almost always easier to finish individual components before they’re assembled. For a paint finish, that means filling, sanding and caulking all surfaces so they’re dead flat and free of imperfections before the paint goes on. It also means filling, puttying and sanding every single joint and crevice. The tiniest hairlines will look like the Grand Canyon once paint is applied. Paint won’t flow into the cracks so they’re as obvious as if they had searchlights turned on them.

As a result, your prep starts with filling the surface of every component so that it’s absolutely flat. You can use a spackling compound to do this, but for larger areas a light drywall finishing compound may more economical, plus it sands well. Apply the compound using a 3-inch wide putty knife, and then remove as much as possible using the same knife. DAP latex caulk can be handy when trying to smooth curved or textured surfaces. You can use your finger to apply it and it’s ideal for filling nail holes in moldings after an installation.

A low, raking light across the work surface will show up hills and valleys as you sand the first application of filler. Bright and portable shop task lights work well for this. Once the first application of filler dries that raking light will show where you need to fill or sand a bit more. You will need a second application of spackle or filler; you might need a third. Be sure to use a sanding block so the surface stays level when you’re smoothing flat panels. Cork glued to a hardwood block is ideal for this job. Joints between components are best filled with a thin, flexible putty knife.

A while ago I noticed that none of the newer putty knives I owned did as good a job as an old knife from my grandfather’s tool chest. I habitually reached for it because it was better at forcing putty or filler into joints than any new knife I had. The secret, as it turned out, was drop dead simple: the old blade had been worn to an ultra-thin and flexible edge, allowing it to go where no knife had ever gone before. A bit of time spent honing the blades of newer knives soon improved their performance until they were on a par.

You really must be meticulous about filling. Carefully fill the joint, packing it with putty or spackling compound using your new improved knife, and then use the knife to remove all excess filler, leaving a clean right angle. Small artist’s palette knives such as a small set from Lee Valley Tools ( part no. 35K09.01) can come in handy.

You want any corners to be square, not rounded over with caulk so they look as if they were coved. If all is not perfect after the filler dries, any bits standing proud of the surface can be smoothed using a piece of folded P400 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper. Any remaining valleys must be filled with another application of filler, again taking care to keep all corners sharp and square.

I have to emphasize that if you’re in a rush, this prepping and filling will make you crazy. But if you’re impatient it will show in the final result, so take a deep breath and try to chill. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and a top quality paint finish can’t be done in a day either. If it’s Tuesday and your clients expect the job to be finished by Wednesday, you’d better have a chat with them. Whether the pressure on you is external from a client or internal from your own impatience, the only result from rushing and cutting corners will be a lousy final product.

Always set aside adequate time to simply look at the piece to be delivered or installed. It’s remarkable how many little imperfections jump out at you when you take the time to look a piece of furniture over carefully, seeing it from different angles or with different lighting. Now is the time to fix them. Meanwhile that little voice in the back of your mind will be telling you, “Okay, that’s good enough. The paint will cover the rest.” Ignore the temptation. The paint will not cover the rest; it will highlight it.

Take great care to mask and drape all areas near the work for any on-site job where you must paint after installation. Neither a client nor your spouse will be impressed with paint overspray dusting their artwork and upholstery, so do be thorough. If you have to mask around hardware that cannot be removed before painting, here’s a few tips to help you get neat results.

First, use a good professional quality masking tape. If you’re unsure of what to buy, call a paint retailer who supplies the trade and ask for their recommendation, telling them the type of paint you will be using. When you apply the tape, burnish its edge down with your fingernail. Before removing it, score all around its edge with a razor blade to cut through the film of paint, leaving a precise edge. This is especially important with latex paints which tend to be more elastic and will tear, leaving a ragged edge when the tape is removed.

A good way of protecting hardware is first to mask around it but with the tape applied to the furniture unit, leaving the hardware exposed. Then apply a thin coat of Vaseline to the hardware, covering it completely, and remove the masking tape. Spray the article, including the hardware, and then once the paint has dried, wipe it and the Vaseline off the hardware with a clean rag or paper towel.

Once you’ve done your best job possible with surface prep, the final, most revealing coat of filler goes on: your first sprayed coat of primer. This is really the acid test. With the primer dried hard, use your low lighting to inspect every panel, edge and corner with light from all directions. Fill any low spots and then sand all imperfections smooth. Lightly wipe down all surfaces with a tack cloth to remove dust from the sanding. Use your compressed air line to blow dust out of any corners.
The best way to make a final inspection before your finish coats of paint go on is to lightly buff all surfaces with a broken-in piece of the P400 sandpaper. By broken in I mean sandpaper that has already been used to smooth the back, bottom or inside surfaces of a project so it doesn’t cut as aggressively as new paper. A gray Scotch-Brite® pad or a pad of 0000 steel wool also work well for this final light once-over, and are a better choice to use on any edges to avoid cutting through the primer.

Be methodical and meticulous. Look at each panel and frame, turning them over, checking the edges. As I mentioned earlier, spraying will be much easier if any individual components of a piece, such as doors or drawer fronts, are painted separately before assembly. I support these pieces on nail boards or with small finishing nails tapped into their edges so they can be maneuvered easily.  Also, if you can paint them horizontally, you’ll reduce the risk of runs and sags in the paint. Once done, I remove the nails, fill the holes they leave, and then use a fine artist’s brush to apply a couple of coats of the final color over the filler.

(“Painter’s Pyramids” – little plastic pyramids about 2” in diameter – are being widely marketed as a means to support components during finishing. I always found that a few brads driven through a piece of plywood worked just fine, but by all means get the pyramids if they’ll make you happy.)
You’ve probably gathered by now that prepping for a paint finish is quite a bit of work. It isn’t all that hard necessarily, but it can be repetitive and tedious. To avoid the trap of “close enough is good enough,” budget enough time so that you can walk away from the project when you need to, take a break, and then come back to it with fresh eyes. Just a few short breaks when your patience wears thin is usually all it takes to get back on track. And with this work, patience is more than just a virtue; it’s the real secret behind – and underneath – a super paint finish.

TIP: Basic Understanding of Solvents

Following is a basic understanding of the common solvents available in paint stores and home centers.

Mineral spirits (paint thinner) and naphtha dilute and clean up oils and varnishes, including oil-based polyurethane varnish. Neither of these solvents damage any fully dried finish, so you can safely use them for cleaning—that is, removing grease or wax.

Denatured alcohol thins and cleans up shellac. This solvent will damage a dried shellac finish almost instantly and lacquer and water-based finish fairly quickly, so be very careful if you use alcohol for cleaning.

Lacquer thinner and acetone thin and clean up all solvent-based lacquer products. These solvents can damage all wood finishes, so don’t use them for cleaning.

Super lacquer retarder containing butyl cellosolve, also called ethylene glycol mono-butyl ether or “EB,” evaporates very slowly, so it can be used to slow the drying of lacquers, shellac and water-based finishes. But use very little (less than 5%) or the finish may take days to fully dry.

Toluene (tolulol) and xylene (xylol) have very little use in wood finishing, though they can be very effective for cleaning grease from metal.

TIP: Caring for Crazed Finishes

Old crazed finishes are very fragile. You can reduce potential damage to these finishes with slick furniture polish or paste wax. But as you can see in the picture, liquid furniture polish (left) highlights the crazing and makes it look worse, while paste wax (right) adds a little shine and scratch resistance without highlighting the crazing.

Crazed Finish

So paste wax is the better furniture-care product for crazed surfaces.

(There is a small area in the middle with nothing on it.)

TIP: Removing Wax Smear

Paste wax is easy enough to apply. Simply wipe it on the surface.

The problem comes in removing the excess wax, because if you don’t remove all the excess it leaves a smear rather than a shine, as shown in a somewhat exaggerated form in the picture.

Smeared Wax

The trick is to use a clean cloth or lambs-wool pad for the removal—with the emphasis on “clean.” If you continue to wipe off the excess with a cloth or pad that has become loaded with wax, you will just be moving the wax around the surface rather than transferring it to the cloth or pad.

So, whenever the cloth or pad become loaded with wax, refold the cloth to a clean area or replace the cloth or pad with a clean one.

To make removal easier, apply the wax thin to begin with. The easy way to do this is to wrap the paste wax in a cloth so that all that is being applied is the wax that seeps through the cloth.

TIP: Finisher’s Glossary: Silicon or Silicone?

Silicon and silicone are not the same thing, and the terms are used inaccurately so often that I thought it might be worthwhile to explain the difference.

Simply put, silicon (rhymes with the man’s name, Don) is sand, and silicone (rhymes with “shown”) is an oil or gel that is used in furniture polishes, caulk and breast implants. Silicone is made from silicon but is clearly very different.

It’s Silicon Valley, not silicone valley as it’s often called.

The most egregious misuse of these two words I think I ever heard was a finish teacher explaining to the class that they shouldn’t use Pledge on their furniture because it contains sand and will scratch the finish. Pledge and most other aerosol furniture polishes do contain some oily silicone, but none contain sand (silicon)!

TIP: Removing Oil and Grease Stains

If the oil or grease stain is fairly fresh on the wood, you may be able to remove it by scrubbing with an abrasive cleanser, such as Ajax or Comet.

But if the stain has been there for a while—for example, a can of motor oil that has leaked on a tabletop in a garage—this will probably not work.

Here’s how to remove the stain.

First, wipe several times with a fast-evaporating solvent such as acetone to wipe off the surface oil.

Then, mix a little of the acetone together with some fuller’s earth to make a paste. Fuller’s earth is available as kitty litter and is the material car mechanics use to spread on the floor to soak up oil and grease.

With either of these, grind it to a powder if it isn’t already powder. Then wet the affected area of the wood with the acetone and apply the paste of acetone and fuller’s earth over it. Let it dry back to powder and clean it off. You may have to do this several times. You should notice an improvement each time as the fuller’s earth sucks the oil or grease out of the wood.