-
Wood Prep and the Look of a Finish
The way you prepare the wood for finishing, whether by sanding as most do, or by scraping or planing as some do, has no affect on the way the wood will look with the finish applied. Different finishes add more or less color to the wood, but if you aren’t staining the wood, the way you prepare it has no impact on the appearance under any single finish.
Nor does the grit to which you sand the wood make any difference for the appearance with the finish applied. You can sand to 120 grit or to 600 grit and you won’t see any difference after you have applied the finish.
This is somewhat counter-intuitive because the wood is glossier (shinier) when scraped, planed or sanded to a finer grit.
The way you prepare the wood does make a difference if you apply a stain, however. You should prepare all the wood exactly the same, meaning for most of us, sanding to the same final grit.
-
TIP: How to Avoid Runs and Sags
You should never have runs or sags drying in your finish whether you’re brushing or spraying. The way to achieve this level of perfection is to watch the surface you’re brushing or spraying in a reflected light. You may need to arrange some lights or move your body and your head often to see what’s happening.
With a reflection you can see easily when a finish begins sagging or running. Then it’s a simple matter of using your brush (even if you’re spraying) to remove the problem. Lift the excess finish off the surface with the brush and spread it to another part or drag it over the lip of a jar or can.
-
Building Period Reproduction Furniture by Glen Huey
There is some discussion on what exactly constitutes reproduction furniture. Is it pieces built using tools and techniques that woodworkers used in the 1700s? If so, are we to pit saw the wood into planks, use hand tools for the entire build and hand scrape the surface for finish? I think not. If it were possible to bring the best furniture-makers from the 18th century into today, I expect they all would immediately favor the woodworking machines we have at our disposal, but they would continue to use hand tools where it makes the most sense. In other words, woodworkers from the days of old would be hybrid woodworkers – a mixture of hand and power tools – just as we should be today.
What is reproduction furniture? To me, it’s about staying true to the designs we copy and about the quality with which we build: it’s the lumber we choose, the joinery we use and the finishes we apply.Let’s Begin with Design
If you build a drawer section based on a period four-drawer chest, then set that upon a modified lowboy base, that’s not a reproduction of a highboy even though the two parts may have came from period work. That’s considered a “married” piece. (A married piece can also be sections from two like pieces of furniture that are fabricated to fit together.) You might find such a piece in an antique store or auction house, but your copy is not a reproduction because that design was not originally found in period work. It’s my opinion that reproductions must follow the original designs from the period.
A true reproduction keeps the design details, too. The moldings are copied. The foot is copied. Even the height, width and depth are sized to the original. That objective is fine when reproducing case pieces, and while it can be carried out when building tables and chairs, there is a problem with which to deal. How do these pieces fit into today’s homes and to people of our time?People are considerably larger today than they were in the 1800s. Antique chairs measure about 16” to the seat. That’s low when compared to the standard chair today with its seat positioned around 18” off the floor. And if we are to change our seat height, how does that effect the relationship to the table as we’re seated?
When I began building furniture, I held table heights to 30”, but have built a few that reach up to 31”. If you compare that with the antique table heights that are traditionally at 28”, you can see how things change. If you make these adjustments, is that a reproduction, or should you consider that an adaptation of an original design?
Before moving on to the actual building of reproduction pieces, let’s look at the materials used. Study antique furniture and one of the first features you’ll notice is the thickness of the stock, especially the drawer blades. It’s not uncommon to find 7/8”, 13/16” or 1” thick blades separating the drawers. You can also find drawer fronts and case sides at these thicknesses.
Walk into most hardwood stores to find lumber in the rough or milled stock that is 3/4” (4/4) or 1-3/4” (8/4). (You may find stock at 13/16”, but that’s to give you a chance to actually flatten the board before using it.) Seldom will you find other thicknesses. To get different thicknesses, you need the proper woodworking machines in your shop (a fair investment), or you need to know a friendly hardwood dealer willing to mill stock to your specifications.
Furniture built with adjusted sizes, so as to use lumber that’s readily available, is usually going to result in an adaptation and not a reproduction.
How It’s Built
Again, study antique furniture – you’ll notice that philosophy is often repeated – and you’ll not find much mechanical joinery on furniture from the 1700s. You will find nails and some use of screws, but pocket screws as we know them today are not found. That’s not a bash on pocket-screw users or manufacturers. Those fasteners have a place in woodworking; however, it’s not in reproductions of period pieces.The same holds true for biscuit joinery, knockdown hardware and staples. When it comes to period reproductions, your choices for joinery are somewhat limited and traditional. Let’s look more closely at a couple examples.
My favorite joinery method for period reproduction work is the dovetail joint. Dovetails are used extensively in furniture throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Why such an extensive use? Remember, nails were expensive at this time – so expensive that decrepit houses were sometimes burned to retrieve and recycle the nails. Glues of the day were made from animal hides and were susceptible to failure. Therefore dovetails, a joint held together through construction without relying on glue or other fasteners, was the perfect choice.
To build period reproductions, you need to understand dovetails. Hand-cut dovetails, for the most part. If you are reproducing William & Mary furniture, the dovetails used during the period had rather large, equally sized pins and tails (the two parts that make up a dovetail joint). If however, you are building in the Queen Anne or Chippendale periods, the pins are narrower than the tails – so narrow that it’s nearly impossible (Queen Anne) or is impossible (Chippendale) to cut the pins with dovetail jigs in use today. I say that because the pin needs to be thinner than 1/4” at its narrow point and, due to the shank of your router bit being 1/4” or 1/2”, it’s beyond the capability of most jigs. If you’re looking to build period reproductions, sharpen your chisels, get a good mallet and dovetail saw, then hand cut the joint.
The mortise-and-tenon joint is another joinery method often used in period furniture. You can find the joint used to attach drawer runners to the drawer blades, where aprons meet table legs, and, of course, where the rails and stiles meet in doors.
It’s impossible to say if all the mortise-and-tenon joints found on antique furniture are more than a stub tenon – a tenon that extends 3/8” or even a 1/2” into a mortise – but it’s a safe bet they are. Better furniture-makers of the day followed a guideline that suggested the tenon length be four to five times the thickness of the tenon. That establishes a strong and reliable joint and makes the use of router- or shaper-made door joinery a “no go.” Don’t look for joinery shortcuts if you want to reproduce period furniture.
Quality in Finishes, Too
If you’re favorite finish is polyurethane, leave it in the can if you intend to build period reproductions. Polyurethane was not a period finish from which to choose. In fact, furniture finish is one area that many woodworkers debate. We know furniture built during the late 1700s and early 1800s had film finishes and even colorants were applied to the furniture, but there was no single finish that was available to all shops. Each shop made its own “secret” mixture.From the time I began building reproductions, I’ve used an aniline dye to add color to my work. Aniline dye has no solids and therefore penetrates deep into the wood resulting in a rich coloration. By contrast, oil-based stains are solids suspended in a carrier. Those solids tend to “muddy” the look of the wood. Also, aniline dye works to bring out figure and grain patterns to make the furniture pop.
When it comes to film finish, I have to admit that I missed my definition of a true period finish for many years. My choice for topcoat was lacquer. I sprayed lacquer for years before understanding that a true period finish was more likely not lacquer, but shellac. That, and the fact that I tired of the smell of lacquer, caused me to switch to shellac.
Even with the use of dye and shellac I fell short of a great finish, at least in my mind. I created reproduction furniture, but it was not what I would call a museum-quality reproduction. A true period-style reproduction, in my opinion, can sit unnoticed beside antiques. The finish is as important as how the piece is built. To achieve a great finish, there has to be a build-up of layers to that finish, and the piece should show wear in the appropriate areas.
That build-up can be from glazes (a stain trapped between two layers of finish), or from a manipulation of other film finish, such as tinting shellac then applying it in uneven coatings to selected areas of the furniture. The build-up also highlights the worn areas. That is a museum-quality reproduction. The process takes time, but is worth the effort.
As you can see, building period reproduction furniture is a mind set or something you aim to build. There’s picking the right project and staying true to the designs, but the biggest challenge is to build using what is considered to be the best joinery methods then finishing the piece so it is undetectable when placed next to the real thing. It takes effort, but when everything falls into place, your work can only be bested by a top-level antique and you forgo the over-the-top prices.
— Glen D. Huey
Senior Editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine -
Finding Your Spray Comfort Zone
It’s human nature, we all do it. We have a project going – whether it’s a piece we are building or a piece we are refinishing – and there is a whole bunch of time and energy in the rough stages of the project. We keep carving on it until it takes the form we had in mind. Most of the enthusiasm and excitement is used up at the front end of the project. We do wood projects because we enjoy it. Whether it is our hobby or our job, our passion for it can be a two edged sword.
By the time we get to the end of the build or restore phase, we then realize that it is time to finish. In my shop, nothing is ever really “done”. There is always more that I feel I could do with any project, but there comes a point where it needs to be done. We always have to draw the line. There is more joy in the creation process than in the finished product presentation stage. The project is always intended for someone, for some purpose. There is insecurity and sadness about letting it go. And there is always that one last hurdle we have to clear.
-
John and Apollo 700s, named for the Space Capsule
In 1984 John brilliantly submitted independent laboratory tests to SCAQMD demonstrating that Apollo’s turbine system could produce over 80 percent transfer efficiency, which meant that 80% of the coating stayed on the work surface. Far less solvent blew out into the atmosphere. SCAQMD called it High Volume Low Pressure or HVLP.
Soon California required transfer efficiency to be 65% or more. Other towns and cities followed suit.
Over the years coatings became more viscous and Apollo Sprayers anticipated the changes. Turbines became more powerful. Guns became lighter and used stainless steel. More and more industries awakened to HVLP. And the competition entered the field.
Competition worked well for us. Each of our innovations was quickly copied. We took that as a form of praise, worked harder, and we are proud of our high quality machines, built in the USA and sold all over the world We export to companies in China, Egypt, India, Columbia, Russia, Israel, the Netherlands, Egypt and more.
It’s been a great time for us. So Happy 50th to us and wishing everyone Happy New Year.
-
TIP: Lacquer Over Glaze
As long as you are using a spray gun for application and lacquer for your finish, you don’t have to let an oil-based glaze dry overnight before applying the finish. You can do it fairly quickly, without problems.
The trick is to mist some thinned lacquer onto the glaze after the thinner in the glaze has evaporated (the glaze dulls) but before the oil or varnish binder begins oxidizing and becomes tacky. Unless the glaze is thick, in which case this trick might not work, the lacquer incorporates the uncured glaze and bonds to the coat underneath.
After the mist coat has dried, which is within 10 minutes or so, continue with your finish coats.
This same trick should also work with oil-based stains that have been wiped off. Give the thinner enough time to evaporate (or the lacquer may come out of solution and turn white), then mist on the thinned lacquer and let it dry. It would be a good idea to experiment on scrap wood first to be sure you have the timing right.
-
Woodworking Tip: Wood Prep and the Look of a Finish
The way you prepare the wood for finishing, whether by sanding as most do, or by scraping or planing as some do, has no affect on the way the wood will look with the finish applied. Different finishes add more or less color to the wood, but if you aren’t staining the wood, the way you prepare it has no impact on the appearance under any single finish.
Nor does the grit to which you sand the wood make any difference for the appearance with the finish applied. You can sand to120 grit or to 600 grit and you won’t see any difference after you have applied the finish.
This is somewhat counter-intuitive because the wood is glossier (shinier) when scraped, planed or sanded to a finer grit.
The way you prepare the wood does make a difference if you apply a stain, however. You should prepare all the wood exactly the same, meaning for most of us, sanding to the same final grit.
How to Know How Much to Sand
One of the biggest problems for beginners is knowing how much to sand to remove all the marks created by jointers and planers. Here’s a trick you can use to indicate when you have sanded enough.
Draw some pencil marks on the wood, then sand until these marks are gone. You could even do this a second time to be extra sure.
Use these pencil marks only when sanding with your coarsest grit sandpaper. Don’t draw the marks with the finer grits. Very little sanding is needed with the finer grits to remove the coarser grit scratches. It’s most efficient to sand out all the problems with just the coarsest grit sandpaper.
-
TIP: Water-Based Finish Should Powder
As with all finishes, you should always sand the first coat of water-based finish smooth because it always dries rough to the touch. It’s also the best policy to sand additional coats smooth after they dry to remove dust nibs and other flaws, until the last coat, which you can leave as is.
Water-based finishes dry rapidly, almost as fast as the water evaporates from the finish. So the drying occurs quicker on hot or dry days and slower on cold or humid days.
How do you know when the finish is dry? It powders on the sandpaper and on the surface. If the finish isn’t dry, it will gum up the sandpaper, and it won’t powder.
-
Spraying Latex Paint with HVLP Systems
HVLP systems are not designed to spray heavier bodied latex paint. However, with some understanding you can successfully do so.
The viscosity (thickness) of latex paint makes it hard for spray guns to fully atomize the paint, meaning that it’s difficult with a lower pressure turbine unit to break the material up into small enough particles to get an ultra smooth surface.
It is essential that you use a good 4 or 5-stage turbine simply for the added pressure and power. The second thing is to use a larger needle/nozzle. A 1.8mm or larger works best. You will also want to use a pressurized cup. The pressurized cup allows the paint to be pushed to the fluid nozzle because of the added pressure behind the paint. If you look at most professional airless paint sprayers designed for latex paint, they are actually pumps, and use no air. Those systems force the fluid thru a small tip which breaks up the paint, but even then, a glass smooth surface is not going to be obtainable.
I have tried over the years to spray a super smooth latex paint, and have done so to a degree, but latex dries fast and even when adding flow out additives such as Floetrol, that super slick buttery feeling finish isn’t going to happen. The only way I have ever been able to achieve a super smooth finish is to use the latex as simply the coloring agent.
I thin the paint anywhere from 5% to 10%, 15% upon occasion and spray several lighter coats by first increasing the pressure and secondly reducing the fluid volume. This may not make sense, but if you think about it, you can’t allow more fluid than the system can atomize. Reducing the fluid really seems to help and I have also found on some occasions I could drop to a smaller needle/nozzle (1.5mm). If we can push the fluid thru a smaller opening, just like the commercial pump sprayers, we increase atomization, which is the key to a smooth finish.
I get numerous emails, about this, especially for kitchen cabinets. I have not found latex paint to be a suitable finish for furniture or cabinetry, in a stand alone situation. On the other hand if you top coat it with a quality water base finish you’re good to go.
I will usually do one or two light coats, just enough to get decent coverage, but again, not trying to get a heavy build, just color. Then I do a good 320 grit scuff sand to smooth. Then I apply a third coat to insure coverage.
When all the paint has thoroughly dried, so that it will powder when I scuff it, I will give it a gentle wipe with some 320 just to maintain smooth. Then I will apply a clear topcoat. Be aware that scuff sanding will appear to lighten or alter the color, but the top coat will bring it right back. The key is to use as little paint as possible and get a smooth, covered color coat, then clear topcoat.
Usually two top coats are needed to get a really smooth surface.
The viscosity, as well as the flow out of the topcoat is what does the trick. Again latex paint is porous, and thick. It’s made to go on heavy and cover quick and dry quick. Top coats are designed to go on thinner and flow out.
I must also state that even if I buy a pigmented topcoat, I always clear coat. It seems anything that has a pigment added to it, stains and mars easier and just doesn’t have that super smooth finish.
Many would argue that the addition of the clear coat isn’t needed on pigmented topcoats, but I assure you if you try it you will be sold. It’s just super nice, and they wipe clean so much easier.
I am, as we speak, completing some cabinets for my daughter, and they are all clear coated. This makes a world of difference.
BTW: I sprayed them all with the ECO 4-stage, Apollo turbine system.
-
A Glossary Of Basic Finishing Technology
As with any technical field, understanding the terminology of finishing is critical. It’s also critical that we all mean the same thing with the terms we use.
With that in mind, here are some of the most common finishing terms, in alphabetical order, and their definitions.
- Bleach is a chemical that removes stains and, sometimes, the natural color from wood. The three types of bleach are chlorine (sodium hypochlorite), which removes dye color without changing the color of the wood; oxalic acid, which removes rust marks and lye stains without changing the color of the wood; and two-part bleach (sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide), which removes stains, and also removes the wood’s natural color.
- Dye is a chemical that dissolves in a liquid solvent. Typical solvents include water, alcohol and toluene. Dye can be applied to wood dissolved in the solvent alone, or dye can be added to a finish and thinner (with or without pigment included) to make a wiping stain or toner. Dye is transparent.
- Film Finish is any finish that can be built up on the wood (by repeated applications) to a noticeable thickness. The key requirement for a film finish is that it cures hard. Varnish (including polyurethane varnish), shellac, lacquer, water-based finish and a number of two-part finishes are all film finishes.
- Finish is a substance that changes from a liquid to a solid after it’s applied to the wood. The purpose of a finish is to protect the wood from moisture and to enhance the wood’s appearance. The term “finish” can also refer to all the steps in a built-up finish. These steps could include a stain, several coats of transparent finish, and coloring steps (glazing and toning) in between the finish coats. The context usually makes it clear which definition of “finish” is being referred to.
- Gel stain is a stain that has been made thick and resistant to flow, similar to glaze. Because of the resistance to flow, gel stains don’t penetrate well, so they are used primarily to reduce blotching on blotch-prone woods such as pine and cherry.
- Glaze is a stain that has been thickened enough so it stays where you put it. It doesn’t run on vertical surfaces or flatten out on horizontal surfaces. Glaze is used to decorate (graining, antiquing, highlighting, etc.) and to add the appearance of age and depth.
- Glazing is the application and manipulation of a stain or glaze between coats of finish with the purpose of adding decoration. Typical effects include graining, antiquing, distressing and highlighting recesses.
- Paste wood filler (or “pore filler”) is a finish (usually varnish or water-based finish) with a pigment colorant and a solid filling substance added. The filling material is usually silica (resembles fine sand) in varnish-based fillers and wood dust in water-based fillers. Paste wood filler is used to fill the pores of porous woods such as oak, mahogany and walnut before the application of topcoats. The filler can be applied directly to raw wood to fill and stain in one operation, or it can be applied over a washcoat or sealer coat to add color only to the pores (the best procedure). All excess paste wood filler has to be wiped or sanded off the surface to avoid muddying the wood.
- Patina is the mellowing and color change that occurs in wood over time due to oxidation (from exposure to air) and bleaching (from exposure to light). Patina is also the dings, scratches and wear in the wood or finish that give old furniture and woodwork character.
- Penetrating finish is any finish that cures too soft to be functional if built up on the wood. The excess finish has to be wiped off after each application. All oil and oil/varnish blend finishes are penetrating finishes. By this definition, wax is also a penetrating finish, but it isn’t usually referred to as such because it doesn’t penetrate much. A better terminology would be “film-building” for all finishes that harden and can be built up, and “non-film-building” for all finishes that don’t harden and have to be wiped off.
- Pigment is finely ground earth or colored synthetic particles made to resemble earth. Pigment is used to add the color to stain, glaze, toner, paste wood filler and, of course, paint. Pigment is opaque and hides the wood if built up thick. But if the excess is wiped off, the pigment remaining in the wood’s pores highlights them, which adds depth and grain definition to the wood. The pigment settles in cans and must be stirred into suspension before each use.
- Rubbing and polishing is the procedure used to level the surface of the final coat of finish and raise or lower the sheen. Various types of abrasives are used to do this, including sandpaper, steel wool, abrasive pads and rubbing compounds in liquid, paste or powder form.
- Sealer is the first coat of finish applied to the wood. This first coat seals the pores of the wood so that any liquid applied on top, including the next coat of finish, will remain on top; it won’t penetrate into the wood. A sealer can be the first coat of the same finish you’re using for the topcoats, a special varnish or lacquer “sanding” sealer made to sand easily, a water resistant vinyl sealer commonly used under catalyzed finishes, or shellac, which forms an effective barrier over oil, resin and odors (from smoke or animal urine) in the wood.
- Shading stain is a toner used to change or adjust the color of part of the wood without affecting other parts. Examples of situations where shading stain (toner) is used include highlighting (darkening the areas around the area to be highlighted) and matching sapwood to heartwood. Shading stains are always sprayed.
- Sheen is the degree of gloss in a cured finish. All film finishes cure to a gloss sheen unless they have flatting paste (gloss-reducing solid particles) added. Semi-gloss, satin, matte and flat finishes have flatting paste added. These finishes must be stirred before use to put the flatting particles into suspension.
- Solids content is the ratio of finish (the part that hardens) to thinner (the part that evaporates) in a finish. Most finishes are supplied with a solids content ranging from 20 to 40 percent.
- Solvent is any evaporating liquid that will dissolve a dried finish. The solvent for a finish can also be used to thin the finish. Examples of common solvents are lacquer thinner for lacquer, denatured alcohol for shellac and mineral spirits for wax.
- Stain is any liquid that colors wood. Two colorants are used in stains: pigment and dye. Pigment requires a binder (finish) to glue it to the wood. Dye can be used with or without a binder.
- Thinner is any evaporating liquid that can be added to a finish, stain, glaze, toner or paste wood filler to thin it and make it easier to apply with a brush, cloth or spray gun. Examples include mineral spirits for oil-based products, water for water-based products, lacquer thinner for lacquer products and denatured alcohol for shellac products.
- Toner is finish, usually lacquer, thinned with up to six parts thinner and a pigment and/or dye colorant added. Toner is always sprayed and can be used to add color in very thin layers between coats of finish. Toner is most often used to adjust the wood’s color after it has been stained and sealed, or used as a shading stain.
- Topcoat refers to all coats applied over a sealer coat.
- Washcoat is any finish thinned to 10 percent, or less, solids content. A washcoat can be applied directly to the wood to partially block the penetration of a stain and prevent blotching, or to harden end grain so it becomes easier to sand smooth. A washcoat can also be applied between coloring, filling and glazing steps to keep them separated and make them stand out better.
- Wood Conditioner (also called stain controller and pre-stain) is a commercial washcoat product made by thinning varnish with two parts mineral spirits, or thinning water-based finish an equivalent amount. Wood conditioner is used to prevent blotching in pine, cherry and other blotch-prone woods. To be effective, the product should be allowed to cure thoroughly before applying a stain.