Michael Dresdner

straight talk about wood finishing

Archive for the 'finishing techniques' Category

Stiffness to mass

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Q: I am building my 10th guitar and am using epoxy over bare Indian rosewood to fill the pores, with great success. Can I also apply epoxy to the soundboard to eliminate “spruce ripples” and also fill voids in the rosette?
A: You can, but I would not advise it, though it might make an interesting [...]

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Rattle cans are cheaper

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Q: We’d like to spray Rustoleum hammer finish but do not have any equipment. Can you recommend an inexpensive HVLP system for home/light use?
A: Yes, but I’d advise against buying a spray system just for this one job. You can buy Rustoleum hammer finish in aerosol cans under the Universal label. http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=180
Those Universal cans are [...]

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Cleanliness is next to…

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Q: In preparation for painting stripped metal furniture, we’ve wiped down the pieces with soapy water and wiped everything dry, gone back over the pieces and have given them a light sanding. Do I need to be concerned with chemical residue from the previous finishes, stripper or other contaminate?
A: Possibly. Some strippers contain wax, and [...]

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What hath iron wrought?

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Q: We purchased a used dinette set; the style is often referred to a wrought iron, however the chairs and base are clearly metal. They appear to have been originally powder coated, and subsequently painted over by the former owner with what looks like latex paint. Using a gel stripper and a bit of elbow [...]

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Fume a beam?

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Q: I want to fume the ridge beam in my house. Obviously, I can’t simply remove it, and place it in a tent for fuming. What would happen if I painted a light layer of ammonia on it?
A: First, fuming only works with woods high in tannin, so before you do anything, figure out what [...]

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Just a shmear

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Q: If I brush on a final finish, will it cause water based dye stain to bleed into the finish on the brush and smear?
A: Water soluble dye can bleed onto a brush loaded with waterbased finish. Whether that will be enough to smear the stain also depends on your brushing technique and how aggressively [...]

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Cleanup in aisle two

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Q: I’m using a water based urethane acrylic lacquer. Can I leave the stuff it in the spray gun (HVLP) in between coats, or do I have to clean the gun every time?
A: Most waterbased finish clog gun tips sooner than you would expect, and cleaning the gun can be very troublesome if the finish [...]

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Punky oak

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Q: I am making French doors out of red oak. I got to the sanding stage and I noticed pithy type areas, pithy veins. I sanded them but I was wondering if you had run into this and if so how you handled it?
A: Certain types of red oak, including one we used to call [...]

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Do it right or do it over

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Q: I built a box of marine plywood to attach to the underside of the roof allowing a column to be mounted. After three coats of acrylic latex paint, the majority of the box is a nice white. However, there is a zig zag in the side of the box which either won’t accept paint [...]

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The evils of over sanding

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Q: I’m getting some shiny areas in the finish after four coats of satin lacquer, scuffing with 180 in between. The sealer over the pore filler is two coats of tinted garnet shellac. Over that is one coat of sanding sealer. I fear I’ve sanded through the lacquer and gotten down to either the tinted [...]

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