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| Finishing Unfinished
Furniture
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Finish all unfinished furniture
ASAP (unfinished solid wood
will
warp or crack if left unfinished). (see:
tip #1)
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Read and follow all instructions on stain and topcoat
cans carefully.
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Always work in the direction of the wood grain.
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| Preparation: |
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Disassemble furniture into workable
pieces (remove hardware, take doors off, etc.).
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Sand all pieces with 150 grit and
wipe off dust with tack cloth. (see:
tip #2)
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| Staining:
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Stir stain thoroughly.
Stain all surfaces of your furniture.
(see:
tip #3)
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Brush on or wipe on stain.
Work the stain thoroughly to penetrate all grains.
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Wipe off with rag or paper towel.
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Allow stain to dry overnight.
(Dry 2 days if you are going to use a water based poly.)
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| Finishing with Polyurethane: |
1. Wipe
piece with tack cloth to remove dust.
2. Apply
poly with brush. (see: tip #4)
Use either a oil based polyurethane sanding sealer or dilute regular poly
(2 parts poly to 1 part paint thinner - "mineral spirits" for
oil based poly only). Let dry 4
hours to overnight; drying times will vary on the brand you are using.
You can tell when dry, as when you buff or sand it will create dust and
not glob up your sandpaper or steel wool.
3. Buff
piece with either #0000 steel wool or green Scotch pads (the ones w/o soap).
4. Wipe
piece with tack cloth to remove dust.
5. Apply
2nd coat of poly following steps 2 - 4.
6. Apply
3rd coat of poly following steps 2 - 4 only this time use the poly either
full strength or dilute 10%. (Oil based Polyurethane's are easier to work
with slightly diluted.)
7. A
4th coat can be applied for table tops etc. for extra strength.
8. Allow
to dry at least 24 hours before using. (see:
tip #5)
9. Optional:
After 48 hours (7 days for water based poly), saturate a super fine steel
wool with either lemon oil or mineral oil (Old English works well).
Spread oil on furniture also. Using steel wool and oil, wipe piece
lightly. Let dry 30 minutes and wipe off with clean rag or paper towel.
This step will remove any roughness.
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| Tips |
tip #1:
If you are not ready to finish; leave furniture in box or in a 40% to 50%
humidity environment.
tip #2:
Most unfinished furniture is ready to finish. Sanding is a precautionary
step. If you see burrs or routing fuzz, they need to be sanded out.
Best advice is to examine the furniture; if rough sand a lot, if not sand
a little (if you overly sand, you will polish the wood and the stain will
not take).
tip #3:
All sides of solid wood furniture must be sealed (e.g. all our end
tables are solid and the bottom or the table tops must
be sealed w/ stain and Poly, or 2 coats of Poly are OK). If
you don't the bottom will dry out and be subject to cracking or warping.
tip #4: Poly
can also be wiped on with a rag which works well for turned leg chairs.
I also will brush on and wipe off with my hand. Foam brushes work the best;
they are cheap and disposable and leave no brush marks.
tip #5:
Polyurethane's will continue to harden over 30 days. We recommend you use
your furniture gently until a month has passed.
tip #6 Work
on one surface at a time using long even brush strokes.
tip #7
Work in a well ventilated area.
tip #8 Follow
Manufacturers Labels and Precautions.
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| *Polyurethane is the
hardest finishing material available to the consumer (they use it on Gym
floors).
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| info tip re
water based poly: You
can use water based polyurethane's over oil based stains
if you let the oil based stained furniture
dry for 2 to 4 days. There is a wide difference in qualities of water based polyurethane's
("General Finishes" and "Zar" are the best we found and we
have found NO water based stains that we would recommended - they all raise
the grain of the wood) where as most name brand oil based polys are
about equal.
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