Tag 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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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Quick edge repair [ epoxy putty ]

Posted on February 10, 2012 by millcrek

For this type of repair I would normally trim the damaged area, fashion and glue in a wooden plug with hide glue, then inpaint and finish the damaged area. When time or budget constraints are a limiting factor this is … Continue reading →

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New Project 8 [ finishing up ]

Posted on January 30, 2012 by millcrek

This is where I left off in the last post, the piece has been burnished and simulated wear added. A small amount of distressing was also added. It is now ready to be colored and finished. Here it is finished. … Continue reading →

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New Project 7 [ wear ]

Posted on January 27, 2012 by millcrek

The people that buy the type of things I build, generally live in houses filled with antiques. Many times they are looking for a piece for a particular space or to fill a particular need and are unable to find … Continue reading →

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Deep Scratch Repair

Posted on November 21, 2011 by millcrek

This is the side of a walnut display case that is pretty beat up. There are a number of deep scratches that go through the finish and into the wood. The case belongs to a small poor historic society so … Continue reading →

Posted in Repairs | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments