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All levels of finishing are burdened with myths, but the types of finishes used by amateurs and sold in home centers and woodworking stores suffer the most. Myths about polyurethane are a good [...]

Putting some sense back into a simple task. For most people, the first experience brushing comes with oil or latex paint, or with alkyd or polyurethane varnish. Each of these coatings is [...]

Veneer is just thin wood – so don’t be afraid of it. I love repairing old furniture – the older the better. I find repairing more challenging and satisfying than making new because someone else, [...]

The two products – both useful – are quite different. Dating back at least 100 years, the term “lacquer” has referred to a non-crosslinking finish that thins with lacquer thinner. The most common [...]

An explanation of this most confusing of finishing treatments. In the late 1980s, I hosted a local call-in radio show dealing with finishing and restoration. I remember one caller explaining that [...]

Knowing which half to believe is why finishing seems so difficult. Many years ago I coined what I call my “half-right rule.” That is, half of what you read or hear about finishing is right; you [...]

Understanding causes and remedies of this typically shallow damage. A friend sent me a web link to a video and short text recommending the use of mayonnaise to remove white water rings on [...]

The basics of staining are easy – it's when things don't go as planned that staining becomes a difficult, frustrating task. Here are ten of the most common staining problems and how you can avoid [...]

Efficient, cheap and simple to make. This magazine puts a lot of emphasis on hand tools – that is, tools without motors. Common subjects include handplanes, chisels, scrapers etc. But when it [...]

There are only four categories, so it’s easy. There are probably more myths surrounding furniture polishes than any other single aspect of wood finishing. What makes this topic confusing are the [...]

To master finishing, you need to understand the basic terminology. All technical fields have their own vocabulary. You’ll have difficulty mastering any technical field without understanding its [...]

Understand and avoid this common spraying flaw. Orange peel is the most universal defect in a sprayed finish. It is a bumpiness on the surface that resembles the skin of an orange – hence the [...]