I think you’re going to like today’s topic, even if it’s not a technical, wood finishing “tip.”
Given Labor Day is coming up and we’re honoring workers and workmanship…
What I’d love to talk about is…
How YOU got your start in wood finishing.
Look, we all know woodworking and finishing isn’t easy – it requires a special type of person with the skills — and temperament – to do it right and truly enjoy it.
There are few folks among us who possess innate skills to take on a major woodworking project right out of the gate and nail both the construction and the finishing.
For ME, the skills of being a competent woodworker never took hold. I should have known that I was in for a rough start in the woodshop when my high school shop teacher kept giving me the same freshman year wood project to build…and rebuild…and rebuild right up to graduation day in my senior year!
While all the other kids in my shop class brought home more and more advanced pieces made for their parents, I kept getting the same foot stool project…and frankly, the skills never really took hold.
But when it came to finishing those foot stools – WOW! Every semester my staining and finishing just got better and better.
Likewise, I’ve talked to just as many woodworkers who tried their hand at wood finishing and just couldn’t get it to click (hopefully the tips and advice in our blog have been helping.)
What frustrates me to this day is that building and finishing are part-mechanical, part-spatial, and part artistic…and for some of us they all don’t flow together to help make that final project come to life.
For me it’s a bummer – because I really wanted to build that cupboard in my senior year.
So, I guess what I’d really like to know today is a three-part question:
First, how did you get started in woodworking?
Second, was wood finishing a focus point during your early skills development?
And third, when and how did it all come together…or are there parts of your skillset, like mine, still “stuck in freshman year?”
Please share your thoughts or read what others are saying below in the comments section.
I’m right there with you in “freshman year” on woodworking. I’ve always had an appreciation for fine wood craftsmanship, but never had any interest in woodworking, and still don’t to this day. I got interested in finishing in conjunction with my favorite hobby, gun collecting. I have the old “champagne taste on a beer budget” problem that lots of folks do, and couldn’t afford many of the guns I was interested in. Then I began to notice that occasionally, a gun I wanted that had good bluing and mechanics, but wood that was beaten all to hell, would come across the auction block for cheap. One thing led to another, and now I do quite a bit of stock refinishing. My refinishing school(and the recommendation for your product) consisted of a series of articles by, and a few personal conversations with a man known as “No Remf” on Rimfire Central. Unfortunately, he passed a year or so ago, but I still refer back to his articles when I’m stuck.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Tom. I remember refinishing a 1950’s Savage .22 caliber bolt action that belonged to my grandfather. The was corroded/useless, but the walnut stock was a beauty, so I stripped it and refinsihed it with my brother — I think I was 13 years old and he was 17yrs at the time…
-JW-
My first project was finishing. After a tour in the Marine Corps I went to graduate school and rented a house. My parents had a solid maple dining table and chairs that I took and refinished. My Father had some really old books (i.e. WW II) on finishing and I was near the Mohawk plant in upstate NY. I took my Father’s tools and started wood butchering. It’s all uphill from there with courses and experimentation. I culminated with the Nine-month Comprehensive program at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship after retiring from academic life. But my favorite times were courses and discussions with Teri Masaschi an finishing is still my favorite.
Michael — I have a bunch of old woodworking and finishing books in my library – all get thumbed through on a regular basis.
-JW-
Started woodworking as a kid; finishing was always the ugh part for me. I’ve built houses, additions, several sets of kitchen cabinets, and a lots of furniture for our house and kids. Almost all was finished with brushed polyurethane or tung oil. My son with his family returned to our city after about ten years overseas needing furniture. Being retired and having time I was happy to provide, and he wanted it in walnut, not my favorite hardwood (cherry). I knew it needed something more than my finishing (it did turn out well) so I took it to a nearby finisher who filled it and sprayed it with solvent lacquer. Turned out beautiful, but it cost over $600, about what the wood was!
I started doing my web research and best I could tell was that solvent lacquer was hard to find and of course, somewhat difficult to use safely. So I landed on Target pages, bought a HVLP sprayer, and watched a few videos on web. He wanted two nightstands and a dresser so they got my spraying. I few runs on first piece but I’m really sorry I had not discovered this a long time ago. I’ve since done some pieces in our home including spraying over tung oil to refinish a table and couldn’t be happier with the results. Have some pieces in oak I did many years ago w solvent polyurethane that of course yellows and am even considering stripping, filling, and re-doing w the acrylic lacquer. Good stuff.
Allan – Thank you for sharing your experiences with us.
I’m glad to know that you are happy with your progress in working with WB finishes. Keep up the goo work.
-JW-
I’m not a pro, but aspire to sell pieces (a few are good enough and ready now, but I’ve not figured out how to get them into the market. I’d like to find a gallery to handle the sale, even though they take a huge cut.). I got into finishing by building a Craftsman rocking chair and coffee table and hauling them out to Charles Neil’s shop (may he rest in peace) where I spent a few days working one on one with him. That experience changed everything. For the first time, I understood that a finish is built. Not built-up, but built. Just like wood prep and joinery are a series of refinements and adjustments, a finish is too. I learned to get color on with water based dyes, adjust with wiping and wiping-back to some extent, then get a barrier coat on and make more adjustments in color as needed. Same deal with top coats: I learned that the first coat can look bad enough to make you panic and that’s just fine. It’s job is just to be there and not run. My “final exam” of sorts was finishing a tiger maple blanket chest, bringing out the figure, but not letting it get out of hand. As a non-pro, my biggest challenge with finishing is environment. I must work with conditions as they are (humidity, temperature, and dust). Other than a limited amount of hand-wiped oil coats as the first top coat to react with the wood and deepen the figure, I’m constrained to using water based finishes. For the most part, I prefer them and for the most part do not feel limited. They dry fast, which helps deal with dust. Probably my biggest finishing challenge is dealing with temperature, whether too hot in the summer (not a big deal, just work in the morning) or too cold in the fall/winter. Too cold is the biggest limiter. I need to find something I can work with down to 60F, maybe a bit cooler. Oh, the other thing I learned is that cats really do have 9 lives….learned that the day the cat walked across a table top that had a coat of oil based finish at the maximum tackiness point. That day, I learned the occasional miracle of naphtha for saving your behind…I didn’t have to strip that thing and start again. The cat got to live. I’m going to say that the most important skill in finishing is knowing when to put your hands in your pockets, leave the stupid thing alone, walk away, and leave whatever is wrong for the next step. The second most important thing is finding an experienced person to answer your questions. Jeff is good at that!
Ed – Thank you, Sir.
-JW-
I started woodworking by watching my father as a young kid. It did not take hold for me right off the bat. As I kept at it while growing up the projects became more difficult and the results began getting better. It wasnt until I was out of high school and in a vocational college that I really began to learn and my skills came into their own. After college I started working in a furniture restoration company. I started in furniture repair and then moved to stripping then hand rubbed and applied finishes then back to repair and ultimately became shop foreman and oversaw 2 shops in one of my area’s largest furniture restoration businesses. As I grew into the foreman position is when I really started to learn how to spray solvent finishes. Completing multiple pieces a week and working in the production end really is what taught me how to apply, make snap decisions, color match, tone and all of the other facets of finishing. What I credit the most beneficial aspect of helping my finishing skills was learning how to properly strip an old finish off. This process helped me as I learned how to remove a finish assisted me in how to properly apply a finish. I love the work I do and am still constantly learning
Josh – Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Your long view of the wood finishing industry is indispensable.
-JW-
Years ago I built a wooden sailboat and when it came time to do the varnish work I closely followed Rebecca Whitman’s instructions detailed in her marvelous book, “Brightwork.” Hand laying 12 coats of varnish (hand sanded between every coat) was definitely the hard way to learn, but everything is easy after that. I now do high-end custom woodwork for homes and businesses. I spray whenever possible and love the results I get with the latest high-quality waterborne finishes. In reality, finishing is fairly easy, its the prep work that’s hard.
Thank you, Sir! I too own a copy of Rebecca Whitman’s book, “Brightwork”, it is an excellent guide on how marine-grade varnish is applied.
-JW-