Archives

Aged Cherry Finish Wipe on years of age in a few easy steps. By Tim Johnson If you want to make a woodworker gnash his teeth, ask him to make new cherry look like cherry that has aged naturally [...]

I was lucky enough to be Bob Flexner’s editor for ‘Wood Finishing 101’. Throughout the process he and I both came back to the value of the images that would be in the book. [...]

Tips for Finishing Walnut THERE’S NO DENYING that most walnut looks great with nothing more than a few coats of oil. Here we’ll show you some tricks to make your walnut projects look even better. [...]

Here’s how to cut through all the confusion about oil, tung oil and wiping varnish. By Bob Flexner Finishing is a mystery to most woodworkers, but it’s not because finishes are [...]

Several readers have asked some questions about the Shaker Wall Cupboard I built for the February 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (mailing now to subscribers). Here are the answers. [...]

After four years of writing magazine articles and blog entries, there is something that irks me to no end. Safety police. (Eye protection. Ear protection. Push sticks. Yes we all know those [...]

The Painter's Pyramid is a useful tool that securely elevates your project off the work surface. It means you can finish most or all of a workpiece without waiting for parts to dry. Better [...]

If you want to spray finishes indoors, you need an exhaust system. This affordable homemade set-up makes it possible and affordable.

This morning I added a coat of pitch black milk paint to my sack-back chair. After you strain milk paint, it’s a lot more like adding a colored wash than it is like painting. (It’s [...]

Early chairs , especially American ones , look best when they are painted. Like any good woodworker who is in love with his or her raw material, I’ve tried to make stick chairs without [...]

        Fifty bucks and a few hours is all it takes to put together this finishing booth. It keeps overspray off my tools and dust off my projects. Since I use waterborne [...]

The tabletop on our for the I Can Do That project in our February 2010 issue, appeared a bit blasé. So to pep up the look, I thought inlay. Knowing I didn’t have the time to create, or the [...]