Category Archives: Finishing

Clean a finish before you decide to strip it off

Posted on August 10, 2013 by millcrek

Here we have the top of a small folding game table from the early to mid 20th century, as you can see it is fairly rough. Most people seeing it would immediately say it needs to be stripped and refinished. … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Finish Adhesion Failure

Posted on October 9, 2012 by millcrek

There are two places where a finish can fail to adhere. The finish can fail to stick to the substrate (substrate adhesion) or it can fail to adhere to the previous coat in the finishing system (inter-coat adhesion). There are … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Finish Reamalgamation [ just one advantage of shellac ]

Posted on August 6, 2012 by millcrek

This is a Victorian dresser that came in to be restored, luckily it had it’s original shellac finish so it could be repaired and not refinished. One of the advantages of shellac and lacquer is that they can be re-amalgamated. … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing, Repairs | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

What is Finishing really? [ how much protection do you really need ]

Posted on July 30, 2012 by millcrek

Ask wood workers why we put a finish on our projects and the answer most often given is ” to protect the wood”. This is understandable we put many, many hours in to a project and we want it to … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Thoughts on Finishing 2 [ Rattle Can techniques ]

Posted on February 24, 2012 by millcrek

While writing this I realized that most of this applies to any spray equipment and that these are not techniques that I use on valuable antique pieces. When restoring antiques it’s best to restore the old finish using that same … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Thoughts on finishing and rattle cans

Posted on February 20, 2012 by millcrek

In my finish room right now I have 8 spray guns and 2 air brushes and I haven’t used any of them in at least 3 years and maybe five. I can’t remember the last time I used one. Why … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Federal Work Table V [ finishing ]

Posted on October 26, 2011 by millcrek

This is what the table looked like with a thin coat of shellac on the front but not the top. I did not like how orange the mahogany appeared or the amount of contrast between the three woods I used. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing, Tables | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

White Oak Rocker

Posted on August 27, 2011 by millcrek

Here is a rocker I just finished restoring. When I got it in, it was painted with white enamel and upholstered with pink velvet. I didn’t take a picture of it because I didn’t think there was any thing special … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing, seating, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Bad Week and a Tea table

Posted on July 31, 2011 by millcrek

This has been a really lousy week. First last Saturday [ 8 days ago] I was sawing a part for an antique German clock out of a brass sheet with a jewelers saw when the blade broke and went through … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing, Tables | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Table Leaf 2 repairing the damage

Posted on June 10, 2011 by millcrek

As noted in the last post we have 5 types of damage that need to be addressed, chipped veneer, scratched veneer, swollen MDF, open seams and color and finish loss. The first step was to glue down the loose veneer, … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing, Repairs | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment