Wood finishing

147 Pages·1992·22.612 MB·English

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WORKSHOGP UIDE I
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CHOO'ING A BRUSH ANATOMOYFA PAINTBRUSH I
Whilea eeaeonedf iniaher can apply
a atain or topcoat ekillfully with vir' Handle Ferrule I
tually any bruah, moat peoplea re Can be made of plaatic A riqid, corroeion-
better off buyinqa qood-quality tool. or hardwood;b alanced reaiatant metal band
Theb ruah ahownc ut awaya t riqht and deoi4nedf or comforb that holda brietlea I
may coot more than a lower quality and epoxyp lug
model,b ut it includeac erLain fea-
Retaining pin I
turea that wille naurec onaiatently
Nailo r rivet.that binde
4ood reaulto.
Therea re two kindao f bruaheao n ferrule to handle I
the market: natural- and aynthetic'
Reaervoir
brietle ty pee. Na tural -b riatle A apace that holda I
brueheea re made from boar, aable,
finiaha a it ia beinq
camel,o x or badqer hair, tsoar-
Divider opread on by briatleo I
briatle ("Chinah og") bruaheea re
Taperedp lu7 that
ideal for applyinqv arnieh.) ther
eeparatee bdatlea_
natural-briatle bruaheaa re beat I
into qroupo, forminq
auited to lacauer and ahellac,
a reaervoir
Theya re a po6r choice,h oweverf,o r I
opr ea din 4 water- bae ed fi ni s he e
becauaet hey may cauae the finiah
to foam up. Epoxyp lug - I
gynth dtic-fil a me nt br ua he a a re Bondaf errule-endo f brietlee
made of nylon or polyeeter, or both. together with epoxyq lue I
Theaeb ruaheea re your beat bet for
ap p lyin g water - baa ed pr od uc ta.
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Durablea nd flexiblet,h ey can alao Bristles
be uaedw ith varniaha nd Natural bristlea or aynthetic
penetratin4o il etains . filamente; tipe can be cut flat I
or tapered to a chiael tip
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CHISEL-TIPB RISTTES
NATURAAL NDS YNTHETICBR ISTTET IPS
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Tipped Tapered Flagged
)traiqht-cut Tipeh onedt o a 1plit enda hold I
tipo recom- fine point; ideal for more finiah and
mendedf or oil-baaedp roducto epread it more I
water-baged Itkev arnish omoothlyt han
finiahea tipped or ta-
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pered Lipe
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TIPSO NB RUSHS ELECTION
. Paya littlem oret o geta superior- bodiedp roductssu cha ss hellacla, cquer andb endt hem;t heys houldfe el I
qualityb rusha; bettebr rushw ill andv arnish. fulla nds pringb ackt o theiro rig-
improvyeo urr esults. inalp ositions. I
o lf youw anta brushw ithf laggedb ris-
. Avoidb rushews ithh ollowb ristles. tlet ips,c heckfo rb ranch-liskpel ite nds, . Confirmth att heb ristleas red if-
Unlikes olidb ristlesh,o llowo nesd o ferenlte ngthbsy r unninygo urh and I
nots pringb ackt o theiro riginaslh ape . lf youa rel ookinfgo ra tapered- downo nes ideo f theb ristlefsr omt he
whenb ent. bristleb rushm, akes uret hatt he ferruleto thet ip;t hes hortebr ristles
bristreasr et hickear t thef errule shnrrld snrino rrn I
. Fora good-qualitayl,l- purposberu sh, endt hana t thet io.
choosea chisetli p modewl ithl ong r Makes uret hatt he bristleas ref irmly
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springyb ristles-soffto rt hinw ater- . Buyb rushetsh ath aveg oods pring. seti n thef errulew, hichs houldb e
basedfi nisheas nds tifff or heaw- Squeezteh eb ristlews ithy ourh and securelfya stenetdo the handle.
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THEA RTO FW OODWORKING
WOOD
FINISHING
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I THE ART OF WOODWORKING
WOOD
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F I N I S H I N G
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TIME-LIFBEO OKS
I ALEXANDRIVAI,R GINIA
t ST.R EMYP RESS
MONTREALN.E WY ORK
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THE ART OF WOODWORKING was produced by THECONSUTTANTS I
ST. REMYPRESS
Michael Dresdner is a former contributing I
editor to Fine Woodworkingm agazineH. e cur-
PUBLISHER KennethW inchester "Just
rently writes the Finishing"c olumn for
PRES/DENT PierreL dveilld Ame ricanW oodworkemr agazine. I
SeriesE ditor PierreH ome-Douglas
Frank Klausz owns and operatesF rank'sC abinet
SeriesA rt Director FrancineL emieux I
SeniorE ditors Marc Cassini( Text) Shopi n Pluckemin,N ew JerseyH. e contributes
to Fine Woodworkingmagazinaen d hasm ade
HeatherM ills (Research)
videotapesw ith TauntonP ressi,n cluding one t
Art Directors Normand Boudreault,S olangeL aberge
on wood finishing.
Designer Luc Germain
ResearcEh ditor Iim McRae Paul McGoldrick ownsa nd operatesP ianoforte I
PictureE ditor ChristopherJ ackon
Inc.,a pianor estorationc ompanyin Montreal,
Writers TamsinM . Douglas,A ndrew lones
ContributingW riter LauraT ringali QuebecH. e is responsiblfeo r the maintenance I
and concertp reparationo f the pianosu sedb y the
Co n tr ibu t ing I llus t ra t or s Michel Blais,J ean-PierreB ourgeois,
Montreal SymphonyO rchestraa nd the National
RonaldD urepos,S ergeG uibord,
Arts CenterO rchestrai n Ottawa,O ntario. I
RobertP aquet,f acquesP errault,
JamesT h6rien,f ocelynV eillette
Giles Miller-Mead hast aught advancedc abinet-
Administrator NatalieW atanabe rnakinga t Montrealt echnicasl choolsfo r more I
ProductionM anager MichelleT urbide
than 10y earsA. nativeo fNew Zealandh, e previ-
SystemC oordinator fean-LucR oy
ouslyw orkeda sa restorero f antiquef urniture.
Photographer RobertC hartier I
Index ChristineM . Iacobs
JosephT ruini is SeniorE ditor of Hoze
Proofreader Iudith Yelon
MechanixmagazineA. former Shopa nd Tools I
Editor of PopularM echanicsh, e hasw orked as
a cabinetmakerh, ome improvementc ontractor
Time-Life Booksi s a division of Time-Life Inc., and carpenter. I
a wholly owneds ubsidiaryo f
THE TIME INC. BOOK COMPANY
Wood Finishing
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p. cm.-(The Art of Woodworking)
Includesi ndex.
TIME-LIFEBOOKS ISBN0 -8094-9912-(6tr ade) tr
rsBN 0-8094-er93 -4 (lib)
President MaryN. Davis
l. WoodF inishing.
Publisher RobertH . Smith I. Time- Life Books. II. Series I
ManagingE ditor ThomasH . Flaherty
TT325.W661 992
Directoro f EditorialR esources EliseD . Ritter-Clough
684.1'043-dc20 92-32892
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CIP
AssociateP ublisher TrevorL unn
MarketingD irector ReginaH all
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Editorial Director Donia Ann Steele
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ReaderI nformation
ProductionM anager MarleneZ ack Time-Life CustomerS ervice I
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No part of this book may be reproducedi n
any form or by any electronico r mechanical I
means,i ncluding information storagea nd
retrievald eviceso r systemsw, ithout prior
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written permissionf rom the publisher,e xcept
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First printing. Printed in U.S.A. I
Publisheds imultaneouslyin Canada.
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Inc. U.S.A.
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CONTENTS
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I 6 INTRODUCTION IIO DECORAIIVEFINISHES
II2 Toolsa nd accessories
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12 SAFETY 113 Stenciling
118 Graining
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20 PREPARINGT HE SURFACE 122 Marbling
I 22 Toolsa nd accessories
24 Planing 126 FINISHING TOUCHES
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30 Scraping I28 Toolsa nd accessories
I 35 Sanding I29 Preparingt o rub out the finish
43 Repairings urfaced amage 130 Rubbingo ut a finish
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50 Raisingt he grain
t 51 Filling the grain 136 CLEANING AND STORAGE
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54 CHANGING THE COLOR 140 GrossARY
t 56 Toolsa nd accessories
57 Bleaching I42 INDEX
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59 The varietieso f wood stains
I 60 Dve stains I44 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
64 Pigments tains
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68 Stainingw ood
75 Pickling a wood surface
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76 Chemicals tains
I 80 Fuming
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82 PROTECTIVEF INISHES
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84 Toolsa nd accessories
86 Choosinga protectivef inish
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91 Finishingb y hand
I 93 Settingu p your spraye quipment
97 Working with spraye quipment
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I02 Anatomy of a sprayr oom
I I04 Identifting and avoiding
sprayp roblems
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106 Frenchp olishing
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INTRODUCTION
PaulM cGoldrickd escribes
FINISHING
APIANO
y careerin restoringp ianosb eganli ke a lot of opportunitiesin life-by chance.
When I was2 31 had a cabinetmakings hopi n Montrdal;n ext door wasa
Parisiacna binetmakJeer,a nG illesJ ozonJ.e anw asa cabinetmakoefrt h eo ldt radition
andI spenmt anyh oursin hisa telielre aminga boudt ifferenfti nishingm ethods-tech-
niquesth ath avenc'th angefdo r generationIs la. terf ollowedh im to Parisa nds pent
aw orkingh olidayth erer estoringa ntiques.
Throughm utuaflr iendsI m eta p ianote chnicianna medG illesL osiera,n dI began
doingf inishingw orko n pianosh ew asr estoringIn. hisy outh,G illesh ada foreman
whoc oulds electth ew oodf or ap ianoc asein, staltlh es oundboarsdt,r ingth ep iano,
cutt hek eysa, nda ssembalen dr egulatteh em echanismH.e c oulde vens itd owna nd
playa tune.S adlyc,r aftsmewni tht hatr angeo f expertisien thep ianot radeh avea ll
but vanished.
Restorinpgi anosp resentms anyc hallengeTsh: ei nstrumenmt ustn ot onlyl ook
greati;t musta lsos ounds uperba ndr esponwd ellm echanicalTlyh.e i nstrumensth own
in thep hotograpihs a 7-footC hickerinagn dS onsg randp ianob uilti n Bostonin 1875.
I counted1 0d ifferenwt oodsu sedin itsm akinga, lthoughth ee ntires urfacies v eneered
with Brazilianro sewood.
My firstt aski nvolvedfi llingt heg raino f thew oodw ith a darkp astefi ller.I then
applieda coato fsandings ealear,n dn exts prayeodn eightc oatso flacqueTr.o k eep
thef inalf inisht hina ndt o leveal nyd epressiocnasu sebdy t hel argep oreso fther ose-
woodv eneeIr ,c ute verys econlda cquecro atingw ith 220-grist andpaper.
TheI egsd emandesdp eciaalt tentionT.h eywerme adefr oml argeb lockso f poplar
woods oI hadt o createm yo wns tainb, lendingin juste noughy ellowa ndr edt o sim-
ulater osewoodd'sis tinctivheu e.I sketcheind gain linesu singa combinatioonf feath-
ersa ndb rushesw, ith thet op of thep ianos tandingn earbya sa guideT. heg rain
patternisn rosewoocda ng etq uitew ild,s oy ouc ant akea rtisticli bertieisn tryingt o
simulatiet asl onga sy our especat f ewr uless, ucha sk eepintgh eg rainli nesr unning
parallel.
Thef inalc oato f finishw ass andewd ith2 20-griat ndt hen4 00-gript aperA. ll that
remaineadt thet imet hisp hotow ast akenw ast o rub thef inisht o a softg lossw ith
0000s teewl ool,b uffwith a cottonc lotha nda pplya carnauba-basweadx .
PaulM cGoldrickfi nishesa nd restores
pianosi n hiss hopi n Montrdal,Q udbec.

INTRODUCTION
ThomasM osert alksa bout
LINSEEDO IL
y introductionto the crafto f buildingf urniturew asw ith l9th-Century
Americana ntiquesa ndr emnantso f antiquesI. u 'ouldb uy a chesto f drawers
withoutd rawersf,o r examplea,n dt hatw ouldl eadm e to figuringo ut howd rawers
werem ade.B ecausoef my fascinationw ith olderp iecesI, w asa ttractedto buttermilk
paint,e arlyv arnisheasn dF renchp olish.
Graduallym y intereswt asd rawnt o thea ustereleyl eganftu rniturem adeb y the
Shakerasn do neo f theirf avoritef inishes-boiledl inseedo il. I experimenteadn d
cameu p with my own wayo f applyingth e oil andt henp astew axt o createa clear
finishl iket he oneu sedo n thep iecein the photographM. adeo f cherryi,t isw hat
"Bob
I callt he Cratchedt esk."It 'sa deskf or an accountanot r schoolteachearlt,h ough
it canj ust asw ellb eu seda sa lecterno r telephoneta ble.I t hasa drawera nda remov-
ableo encilr ack.
Linseedo il hasb eenu sedt o finishw oodf or centuriesU. nlessit is appliedw ith
a shellaco r varnishb asei,t penetratetsh ew oodr athert hanc reatinga membrane
overi t. It is this penetrationth at I feele nhancetsh e wood'sg raina nd color,a nd
acceleratethse developmenot f a naturalp atina,w hich is causedb y exposureto
sunlighta nda ir.T hec olort hati s createdI, f eel,i s far richera ndm oreh onestth an
anyp igmentt hat comeso ut of a can.Y ouj ust havet o bea little patient.Y oua lso
havet o bes uret o startw ith a well-preparepdo, lishedp ieceI.n manys hopsa, finish
servetso conceafll aws.I believeth at a pieces houldb ev irtuallyd efect-frebee fore
youb egint o applya finish.
Therea ret hreem ajorr isksa ssociatewdi th boiledl inseedo il. Thef irsti nvolves
safetyL.e fti n a foldedr ag,l inseedo il canc ombusst pontaneousblye,c ominga lmost
explosiveS. econdt,h e finisha ffordsn o protectionf or wood againswt atera ndo ther
kindso f stainsT. hisi sw hyw ea pplya pastew axo vert heo il asa sealanTt.h ird,I in-
seedo ildoesn ot sealwooda gainsmt oisturep enetratiotnh es amew ayl acquerasn d
varnishedso .O iledo ieceste ndt o shrinka nds wellw ith the seasonms oret hanp aint-
edo r lacquerepdi eiesd o.S oi n designinfgu rniture,t hise xpansiohna st o belaken
into account.
Thep rincipaal dvantagoef a finishl ikel inseedo il is itsr epairabilityS.c ratchebsu, rns
andc hipsc anb es andeda ndp olishedw ith theo il. In a shortt ime,t hec olorw ill come
backa ndy ou won't evenk now it wasa ffectedB. ut if a membranefi nish-especially
onea ppliedo vera stain-is chippeds, cratcheodr burned,m oreo ftent hann ot it has
to bee ntirelyr efinished.
ThomasM oseris p residenatn dc o-foundeorf Thomas
MoserC abinetmakerhse,a dquartereind A uburn,M aine.