Wood Finishing Courses

Wood in its natural form can't be used as it is. It requires a great deal of cosmetic changes to it before it can be supplied to the market. Wood finishing is one such change. The operation of embellishing or protecting the surface of any wooden material means "Wood finishing " More often than not, it begins with the surface preparation which is done by sanding by hand, scraping or planing. Holes and Imperfections are filled with timber filler. Quite often the timber color is modified by staining, bleaching and amount of other such methods. Once the wooden surface is prepared and stained, several numbers of coats of finish are applied. Often sanding between the coats. Finishing takes several hours to finish.

The most commonplace timber finishes include wax, shellac, tung oil or linseed oil, lacquer, varnish or paint. Other finishes called Oil Finish are actually just thin varnishes with relatively larger sum of oil and solvent. Very seldom water based finishes are used, because they cause " raising in the grain " wherein the surface fuzz emerges and needs sanding down. Finally, the surface may be polished or buffed using steel wool, pumice stone or rotten stone. Other polishing and rubbing compounds are likewise used dependent on the shine desired. Mostly, whatever way the polishing is done, a final coat of wax is applied over to add protection to the wooden item

The Finishing of timber does not require any special material. Any old rag, or a rubbing pad or spray guns can be used for applying timber finishes over the timber. The processes and the terminology involved are different in different parts of world. For instance, the operation of replicating the appearance of traditional conventional French polished timber is more commonly done in the UK by "pulling over" precatalysed lacquer, within 24 hours of spraying, whereas in the U.S. a "rubbed" finish is increasingly commonplace. There are, generally, three sorts of finish viz... evaporative, reactive and Coalescing. Different sorts of timber need a unique way of finishing. We advice you to look up a expert carpenter.

In Evaporative Finishing, alcohol, acetone and nitro-cellulose lacquer thinners are used as solvents and thinners. Shellac and nitro-cellulose lacquers fall into this group.

In Reactive finishes, solvents like white spirits and naphtha are used. Linseed oil and oil varnishes are reactive finishes which change chemically when they cure, unlike evaporative finishes. Tung oil and linseed oil are reactive finishes.

And finally, Coalescing finishing involves water based finishes.

Click Here For Recommended Beginner Woodworking Guide