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This article was inspired by a question from Brian. He writes: I recently watched a woodworking show on TV. The cabinet maker used a mixture of linseed oil, tung oil, and polyurethane for the finish. He stated that he bought it off of the shelf. I can’t seem to find anything like it on th...
like Walnut?” Tung Oil and BLO When it comes to protection, boiled linseed oil (BLO) and pure tung oil are pretty similar. One important thing they have in common is that neither one offers a great deal of protection. If you have to choose between the two, I would say to go for the BLO sinc...
This article was inspired by a question from K Sanchez who writes: “What is the the difference between spar varnish and regular varnish?” Why We Need Outdoor Formulations Before we dig into the details, let’s talk about why we need a different varnish for outdoor applications. A...
This week’ question comes from Hope. She writes: Around 5 years ago or so a friend of mine built me an incredible bed out of mahogany. It is such a beautiful piece and I feel it will become an heirloom. My problem is that I have lost touch with my friend and she did not put a finish or sta...
n. Good luck my friend. Matt’s reply: Thanks so much replying, and especially the same day! I thought if I heard from you at all it would take weeks! I will be placing an order for the DVD in the coming days. Meanwhile, it may be hard to answer this question without seeing the project, but...
s on your hands, here’s what I recommend. The first thing you can do is simply wait. In most cases, the finish will eventually cure. It can take weeks or even months, but it should get there. For most folks, this is not a reasonable time-frame. So another option would be to rub the surface dow...
7;t think you can go wrong with any of the above finishes. Good luck! And here is Mathew’s finished project: I finished the project a couple of weeks ago for my cousin’s wedding gift. It is a chest made of maple and cherry. When it came down to the finish, I used a mix of 50/50 bullse...
Recently, I asked Guild members to help me select a finish for my new wall-hanging tool chest. We had the standard options including water-based poly, shellac, lacquer, oil-based poly, and oil & wax. Although water-based poly won with 27% of the votes, there was a very vocal minority (you kn...
This article was inspired by a question from Larry. He writes: I have a question about a damaged finish on antique furniture. My wife’s cousin was cleaning her house and her 3 year old daughter was “helping”. Isabel, the helpful little youngster, sprayed Windex on a number of h...
Seems like cutting boards are on everyone’s minds these days. Probably because we are all making holiday gifts. Either way, this is the time of year you can expect almost one forum post a day asking a question about cutting board finishes or “food safe” finishes. And the respon...
Oil-based finishes are typically the first type of finish we confront as woodworkers, be it straight oil or a can polyurethane. Although they are all derived from oil, these finishes can vary widely in terms of application method, durability, and maintenance. The key to understanding these finish...
The AWFS Las Vegas show is this week so if you’re in the area stop by and say hi to Marc and Nicole at the Festool booth. And last but not least, since Matt couldn’t remember the type of steel to use in hand plane blades as asked in a voicemail by Vic the answer is “O1 steel”...