08 Jul 09 A Beginners Guide To Wood Finishing – Woodworking Tips

When it comes time to finish your project you need to know that for wood treatments it is either stain, paints or finish. They are each providing a different outcome. To tint the wood you would use wood stains. Paints sit on the wood and protect it. Some finishes are pretty much paint without any color added to it. They are the ones that give that clear protection.

Probably one of the most well known finishes is varnish. It?s a great finish because the more layers you use the stronger the finish. The major problem with varnish is it dries slowly which increases the chance for dust to get into the finish. If possible, try to do your finishing work in an area where there is the least amount of dust.

A mixture of resins and synthetics boiled together is what makes varnish. If you are using polyurethane?s then you are simply using a varnish that has had a polyurethane resin added to it. When you are using a varnish that contains a higher quantity of oil, it makes the product more flexible and this is known as Spar varnish, which makes it perfect for outdoor use because of it flexing properties.

If you are going to use varnish as your finishing product then you need to know how to apply it properly. Working in a dust free room is a priority. Then using a tack cloth wipe down your project as it must be perfectly clean. Put some of your varnish into a container that you can work out of .That way if it becomes contaminated with dust you can just discard that amount. Apply the varnish using long steady strokes with a brush working in the grain direction. Tip off your brush strokes. Wed sand in between coats with fine sandpaper.

There is also wiping varnish but read the labels carefully before using this product to be sure that it is varnish and not tung oil.

Then there are oil and varnish blends. They work similar to an oil finish but have a bit more protection to them but they are not for building layers.

Shellac is a natural resin but not is as durable as the others are. It?s not good for items such as kitchen counter or cabinets for example. It is a fast drying product though and you can get it in various colors.

Lacquer is usually applied with a spray gun but the fumes can be dangerous and the dry dust is explosive.

There are some really good what are labeled as water based finishes but they all have a certain amount of solvent in them. Their two weaknesses is they show brush marks and they bubble when you are applying them so use a synthetic brush for this.

Proper sanding between coats of your finish is one of your most important steps. Be sure to use fine sandpaper. The sanding removes bumps and uneven spots. Especially made sandpaper for wet sanding is ideal. Really, take the time to research the various finishes you are going to use to get the best application and intended use from them.

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01 Jul 09 Learn The Easy Way To Refinish Your Cabinetry – Woodworking DIY

In many ways, it is rewarding to restore an old house or even renovate a newer one. Probably one of the most disliked projects yet most impressive when completed is your cabinets in many cases. Hopefully you can at least take the doors off and work in your workshop on them. This just leaves the base of the cabinets themselves. No doubt, this is going to cause some disruption in the kitchen and the dust from the sanding can be annoying to deal with particularily in this room.

To do the job right its means you have to strip all the old product such as paint and finish off. Then you have to bleach the wood to remove either the stains that were left from the old finish or having something spilt or set on them. Then there is sanding and scraping to tend to. Finally, there is the new stain and them the finish to be done. After all,\ of this you can sit back and admire you long and enduring hard work.

Most jobs of this magnitude don?t usually go all that trouble free. You will run into at least a few minor snags, but the majority of them can be dealt with. It?s important that you know the wood that your cabinets are made from. If it?s an older house don?t be surprised to find out that there are several varieties that were used. In this case, you will never get one light stain to come out the same on all the pieces. You can however go to a deeper stain and get results that are more satisfactory.

You really may want to consider buying new doors and drawers and just keeping the original framework. When you are working with the many chemicals it would take to strip your cupboards most often, it can be too harsh on older wood. Another issue is getting the old finish totally stripped at hard to get at pieces can sometimes be impossible. Then once you even get to the point where the old cupboards are prepared for the new stain and finishes you have to take into account the several coatings you are going to have to apply and the drying time that is going to be involved. The kitchen is one of the most difficult rooms to work in because of the food preparation, grease and steam that is almost always present there.

Before you say no to the idea of buying new doors and drawers at least check out your home improvement store and see what they have to offer. At least this way you are covering all of the possible options and making an informed opinion.

If you have decided to go ahead with the original, you may want to consider at least buying new hardware. In the older cupboards quite often the door handles didn?t have a lot of character and the knobs were likely ceramic that has become cracked and chipped.

You are going to have to make decisions on what type of refinish you are going to do. This is best done after all the preparation work is done so you can see what condition the cabinets are in. This will determine if you are going to have to go with a darker stain.

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30 Jun 09 Discover 5 Secrets To Make Your Garden Magnificent – Garden Sheds

Years ago, garden decor used to consist of putting in some lovely flower gardens then setting up a small umbrella tables and few chairs to sit and relax in. This is far from the case now with most people no matter how small their back yard is. Many people have adopted to the fashion of extending your indoors to outdoors. So now, many living rooms for example flow out onto the patio with the couches, loveseats and most any other furniture you would find in the living room. This has called for more extensive grooming to the general architecture of the backyard itself. There are many things you can do to enhance the atmosphere that you have created here in your backyard.

Making little flower rooms in your garden is a wonder touch. It just means having pathways or walkways leading to various segments of your backyard that are little stand-alone areas. You can create these walkways with cobblestones or bricks. You can even use wood chips or stone. Build your walkway in accordance with the size of your workspace. If it?s small then go with smaller paths.

One of the newer additions to the garden is mirrors. These work extremely well if you have a very small backyard or one that has a lot of shade. You can position the mirror so it reflects sun to the shadowed areas. It also makes your flower gardens look twice as big. Be careful where you situate the mirrors though because they are breakable and you don?t want something hitting them during a storm perhaps.

A pond and or fountain add tranquility to your outdoors. There is nothing more soothing than the sound of water slowly running over some rocks. Then if you have a pond, you can consider having some gold fish in it to enjoy watching. In any event, you must keep the water treated so it doesn?t become stagnant and a breeding ground for mosquitoes. If maintained properly it?s no different than your swimming pool. You must keep the water clean. Once you have decided that a pond or fountain is a good idea you will find many simple plans for installing or building one.

Pergola?s trellis?s and garden gates all add to the d?cor of the yard and are added extras or final changes. They are magnificent when climbing roses are allowed to grow over them. You can once again build these yourself or buy kits that you just need to assemble.

In all likeliness, you are going to have to have a storage shed especially when you have a lot of garden tools. This is one area you do not what to skimp on the cost. You not only want one that is durable but you need one that is going to fit in with the ambience of your outdoor space. Be sure to choose something that is going to stay within the d?cor of the area where you will be placing it. Choose this place wisely. You want it easily accessible but not so, it stands out more than the rest of the garden d?cor.

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29 Jun 09 Reaction Wood In Woodworking Plans and Projects

Many individual woodworkers even seasoned ones don’t really understand the term reaction wood. This is where a piece of wood has a flaw or imperfection in it but one cannot see it easily. Then what happens is when a thin strip is removed from this type of wood it warps or twist. Then it could also pinch the blade and you end up with burns in the wood caused by friction or the blade stalls.

The culprit of this is that the piece of wood you are working with as been cut from a tree that had a lean in it. If it happened to be one of the softwood trees that it came from than the reaction wood will be called compression wood because it comes from the lower side of the lean. You may notice that this type of wood is very dense. Additionally it will be hard and brittle.

With hardwood trees, the compression wood comes from the opposite of the softwood types. In this case, now the reaction wood takes place on the upper side on the lean. It is now called tension wood. You may notice with tension wood that you get a lot of shrinkage in the length and it will have that wooly surface appearance to it.

If at all possible you want to avoid buying the reaction woods. To begin with if it?s the hardwood then the density it going to give you a problem when you go to stain it. The stain will not take evenly. This will be noticeable when you put it with the other parts of your project.

Another problem with reaction wood is its weakness. It won?t accept a heavy load. Then also, when you go to put your nails or screws into it the wood is liable to crack or split easier. If you are using this type of wood for carving or getting it to take any type of shape you are going to find its not very cooperative. It will react adversely to moisture changes as well.

The difficult issue about this whole problem is how to be able to identify what is a piece of reaction wood. For the untrained eye, it?s almost impossible but there are a few common place things that you can look for that may be of some help.

If you take a close look at the piece of wood you are thinking of buying and you notice there is a sweep to it or it seems crooked then don?t buy it. Most likely it is reaction wood. If you are familiar with the type of wood, you are looking at and it seems out of character then use caution. If you find that the piece seems harder than usual or dense, it?s most likely reaction wood.

If you see that, the wood looks fuzzy or there are cracks that are pulling away from the board that?s another sign of the reaction wood.

Hopefully by knowing a little about reaction wood your tools aren?t going to get all the blame that comes with the mishaps of this type of inferior wood.

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