The Wooden Page...

Why a Wooden Page? Well, people sometimes ask me questions regarding woodfinishing, and I figured that this would be a good way to "give back to the Web." This page contains info on various stains, chemical dyes, and clearcoats, as well as their "stinky factor" (or SF). SF is very important for those of us who have no garages or workshops at home in which to work, because a high-SF finish may force you to eat out for a few weeks (or else everything tastes like a can of mineral spirits), while a corresponding low-SF finish may look just as nice.

The right tool for the right job...

If you're going to be applying stains, dyes, and clearcoats, you're going to have to be prepared to apply everything correctly. At a minimum, you should have:

• A dropcloth (preferably one of the new paper ones with the plastic backing). A linen dropcloth isn't always good because if you spill a whole lot of stuff, it'll soak right through. Conversely, I've seen some solvents eat right through thin plastic ones. Nowadays you can get throwaway paper dropcloths with a plastic backing to protect your Elvis throw rug.
• A good respirator. Don't go cheap on me here!!! The chemicals you work with are not good for you, especially when they're inhaled! Make sure that your respirator is OSHA approved and make sure that you can find replacement filters for it. When's the best time to change filters? When you start smelling the chemicals you're trying to filter out in the mask. I can't stress enough the importance of finding a good respirator with available filters--I once bought a $40 respirator only to find that when I needed replacement filters, I couldn't find them anymore. So guess what? I had to buy a new respirator.
• Eye Protection: goggles are a must. Your eyes will thank you.
• Dust Masks: disposable and very useful for the light stuff, like sanding. I guess you can use the respirator if you want, but man, your face will sweat.
• Rubber Gloves: there are 2 kinds of rubber gloves that you'll need--the cheap throwaway kind (great for all kinds of stuff), and the big acid gloves for stuff like chemical strippers and lye. Don't use kitchen gloves for acids and other corrosives!!! Check the label on the gloves to make sure they're useable for stripping.
• Brushes, Rags, Paper Towels and other applicators: your options are limitless here. Paper towels are nice to use because they don't leave too much lint on your work, and you don't have to worry about storing them. The only downside is that they tend to absorb more pigment from stains than I'd like, so I usually use brushes to apply stain. Rags are a pain to use for staining, because half of them won't even absorb liquid at all. I really like disposable brushes. No muss, no fuss, throw them away when finished. Besides, I don't have room to clean them. Just make sure you rub out all the loose hairs before you use them. Also, for applying wax, nothing beats those round pads that you get with car wax. You can buy them by the bag at any automotive store.
• Containers: get some paper, plastic, and metal buckets. Don't put oil-based products in the paper buckets--it'll eat right through them. They're all cheaper than dirt.
• Sandpaper: get a wide range of grits; from 60, 120, 180, 220, 320, 400, to 600. The lower the number, the coarser the paper. Also, the coarser the grit, the more liquid the wood will absorb. Always sand your pieces between coats, and before you even start to work on the piece. Good sanding always makes a good finish. Bad sanding makes the finish rough and yucky.

What's your favorite color?

Ok, now that you have your supplies, the next question is, "What do I do with it?" Here are some suggestions from finishes I've attempted.

• Generic dark-color wood stain in a can. It's boring, but it works. Most of these stains are oil-based stains. They'll dry in a few hours. Stain it, let it dry, shellac it, then throw on a clearcoat. If you want to add another coat, add a barrier coat of thinned shellac, or else you'll make the surface appear muddy. Make sure that you put a layer of thinned shellac over the stain if the clearcoat you want to use has the same chemical base, unless you're using alcohol-based stains or dyes. If you don't put in a barrier, you'll wind up reactivating the stain, and that makes a big mess. SF-Moderately Stinky. Gets on your nerves after a few days.
• Pigments and solvents. If you want, you can buy stain pigments that can be mixed with oil-based thinners to make your own colors. It works well, and looks cool, but be prepared to experiment first. You don't always get what you think you'll get, so test on scrap first. Just because it looks blue on the can doesn't mean you'll get that color on yellow pine or red oak. SF-Really Stinky to mix--do it outside! After that, Moderately Stinky.
• Aniline Dyes: all right, I've never tried these, but I do know a little about them. You can get water, alcohol, and oil-based dyes. Unlike stains, dyes are "pure" color-no pigments floating in these. Once you dye it, it'll stay that color. Some people like the alcohol dyes because they dry fast, but they will fade when exposed to ultraviolet light (sunlight). They're also tricky to apply--wear OLD clothes that you never really liked in the first place, and don't get it on your skin unless you really like that color, and want it there for a few weeks. SF-varies. Water-based: Not Too Stinky. Alcohol-based: Stinky until dry, then Not Too Stinky. Oil-based: Moderately Stinky.
• Ammonia: I've done a few preliminary experiments with ammonia, and it does look kinda nice. It forms a chemical reaction with the tannin (brown stuff) in wood that darkens the wood slightly, for an aged look. Some of the pros say that you should fume the piece in a sealed tent with a pan of ammonia inside. (Ok, stop laughing. I know you don't have the space to do that.) The alternative is to apply it with a rag or brush, and keep reapplying until you get something you like. You'll have to sand it after you apply the final coat, because it will raise the grain of the wood. Do it outside. Cheap to buy. One other note: get CLEAR ammonia. Don't get the yellow stuff! SF-VERY Stinky. (I mean it!)
• Lye: I don't have any personal experience with using lye, so I can't tell you much except that it's VERY caustic, VERY dangerous to work with, and very nice when done properly. USE ACID GLOVES AND GOGGLES. Lye reacts with the wood and gives it an aged look. Especially nice with cherry. Apply the lye, rinse CAREFULLY with water, and then rinse with white vinegar to neutralize the lye. SF-Unknown.

Other things you can do...

• Tung Oil: I'm a fan of Tung Oil, mainly because it has a relatively low SF. (Great for wintertime in apartments.) It's pretty, and gives the wood a natural look. Downside: you must apply a bajillion coats to keep that smooth look. The old rule is apply a coat a day for a week, a coat a week for a month, a coat a month for a year, and then a coat a year until you're dead. The upside of this is that you'll really get to know your furniture that way. To apply Tung Oil, rub it on with a rag, wait a few minutes, then rub off the excess. Tung oil is expensive, and is difficult to store for long periods of time--it hardens whenever it hits air, even the air in the can, so use old marbles or rocks to raise the liquid level to the top. SF-Not Very Stinky At All.
• Shellac: I like amber (a.k.a. orange) shellac. It's easy to apply, and quick to dry. You can do a bookcase in a day, and it looks nice all by itself. The only downside is that it's not too durable, but it's easily reversible. (So if you don't like it, you can wipe it off with denatured alcohol.) Apply a 50-50 thinned coat first, then apply full strength. Add as many coats as you like. French Polishing is related to this, but is much more time-consuming. I'm not even going to try to explain it, as I'm not too familiar with it myself. SF-Kinda Stinky indoors for a few hours, then Not Very Stinky At All.
• Danish Oil: gives your wood that Scandinavian look. (You know, the pale stuff you see at "Swedish Furniture Am Us.") I don't know much about it, other than it's a kind of pigmented oil that works like Tung Oil. It usually has some sort of varnish or other agents in it. SF-Stinky.
• Linseed Oil: is for the ultimate in slow-drying finishes. I've never tried it, but then again, I don't have a few weeks free, either. It's a very traditional and ancient finish, but it takes forever to dry. SF-Unknown.

Clearcoats:

• Lacquer: is the industrial standard for quick-drying clearcoating. The only downside is that it dries so quickly that you need some sort of spraying equipment. You can get brushing lacquer, which doesn't dry quite as fast, but it still dries in approximately 20 minutes, so you gotta work fast, and you can't go over your work twice. I only recommend spray lacquer if you have the equipment (compressor, spray gun, respirator, spray booth, etc.) or if the piece is small enough that you can get away with a few cans of spray lacquer. (It's like spray paint, only it's clear.) Do it outside, with a respirator. SF-Pretty Stinky. Even Stinky Indoors for a Few Days.
• Varnish: Just your basic oil-based varnish. Brush it on carefully, let it dry for a few hours, sand it lightly, reapply. Nothing spectacular. SF-Pretty Stinky.
• Latex Polyurethane: Everybody seems to love this stuff, but if you do it wrong, you will hate it. It's water-based, so give it plenty of time to dry before applying subsequent coats. It's major flaw is that it gets brittle over time, and will look pretty horrible if not cared for. (My parents' front door was done by somebody who used a polyurethane, and now their door looks like it's shedding.) Poly is not flexible at all, but it will give you an almost unnatural kind of gloss. The big plus is a low SF. SF-Not Too Stinky.
• Marine Varnish: is very useful if you have a lot of unfinished outdoor furniture (or doors) that you don't want to look too shiny, but you also don't want to rot. Its major benefit is that it never completely hardens, so it remains flexible, and can take a real beating. Don't confuse this with water seal products. They are not the same thing, and will not protect your stuff as well as marine (or spar) varnish will. SF-Unknown. (Since I don't have any patio furniture, and my doors are steel.)

That's all I know. If you have any ideas, why not email them to me?

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