Woodworking with Rob Millard

Hammered by Veneer

 

I enjoy veneering, and I find hammer veneering to be both enjoyable and efficient, that’s why an experience I had the other day was so surprising and disheartening (temporarily).

A fellow woodworker wanted to learn more about hammer veneering, so we exchanged many emails about the process, and the proper way to prepare the crotch mahogany he was using on the doors to a Chippendale Secretary. The doors had a solid mahogany core, so that it could have the raised panel detail run on it. The backs of the doors were to be veneered with a more plain mahogany, but it displayed a nice cathedral pattern.

The day came to veneer the doors, and he arrived with the veneer perfectly prepared. I was struck by the darkness of the crotch in the center; little did I know this was going to be my undoing.

We decided that I would veneer the first door while he watched and then he would do the second. As is my usual procedure, I started with the non crotch veneer, since it is easier to work with and once you start you must get veneer on both sides rather quickly, to prevent warping the core. The backside veneer went on in textbook fashion; it had one small area that wanted to curl up, but this was actually a good thing for a first timer to be exposed to.

At first, while the crotch side seemed a little more temperamental than normal, I wasn’t alarmed. I had told him about how patiences is a virtue with difficult veneers, so we sat aside the panel while the glue had a chance to set up. We talked about other techniques of veneer and inlay work, while waiting.

It was at this point, things started to go downhill, albeit slowly. When I started hammering again, things seemed totally wrong. Usually even stubborn veneer, if sat aside for 30 minutes or so, will stick down perfectly; only rarely do I have to resort to clamping, and then only in very small spots. Yet, here there was no indication of any adhesion between the core and the veneer. I decided to try pressing it in place with a warmed piece of melamine, so I broke out the clamps and warmed the face of the melamine with an iron. We then started on the second panel, with him behind the hammer.

When the panel came out of the clamps, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The entire piece of veneer, except for the edges was separated from the core; it was as if the glue had disappeared. If anything the glue I was using was too thick, because I had it too thin to begin with and added some glue before starting and I hadn’t added any water along the way, so I knew it couldn’t be the glue. I thought that maybe it was the lack of a sizing on the substrate, but I quickly discounted this, because the backside veneer had went down perfectly.

Now, my full attention was focused on getting this to work; the kind of focus that comes with desperation. I carefully warmed the veneer, so I could remove it completely and apply a new, thicker coat of glue. This time instead of warming the melamine with an iron, I popped it in the oven, to get it more evenly heated. The clamps were applied and the glue allowed to cool. Great blobs of glue were squeezed out, so I was sure sufficient glue was applied. Things looked pretty good when it came out the clamps; there were some bubbles, but on the whole they seemed manageable, that is until I heated them with an iron. Again the glue had disappeared. I warmed the edges and lifted the veneer to get yet some more glue to the problem areas.  Then, using the hammer to manipulate the glue I forced it to the bubbles, where I decided to leave it to congeal, and I would re-heat it later and hammer the bubbles down.

Here is where the wheels finally came off. It became apparent that the dark center section of the crotch was far more porous than anything I had seen before; as I pushed the hammer, you could actually see glue seeping up through the pores. I had noticed an excess of glue on the surface, but he had told me he sized the veneer twice, so I thought this is where it was coming from. Taken alone, I could have put out this fire, by letting the glue set up for longer than normal, so it would be too thick to get through the pores. The only danger with that approach is the glue bursting through the fragile veneer, but I could have accomplished that, as it is always as danger with crotch/burl veneers. What I couldn’t fix is the considerable cupping that had developed by this time due to the excessive moisture disparity between the two sides  I tried applying copious amounts of water, heated with an iron, to remove the cupping, but it wasn’t to be.

In the end two pieces of mahogany and 4 sheets of veneer were ruined, but my enthusiasm for hammer veneering is undiminished. Sure, on one level this one episode will stick (pardon the pun) in my mind more than my countless other successful projects with hammer veneering, but something was learned, I just wish it could have been under different circumstances.

In the future, I’m going to size all substrates, regardless of the species, and in the case of a project like this with a solid wood core, use only quarter sawn stock for the substrate (the other core was quarter sawn and remained flat, despite the same set of adhesion problems). With suspect crotches, I will brush a thick coat of glue on the substrate and allow it to set up for a while (30 minutes?) before even laying on the veneers. And finally, I’d get the crotch veneer much drier than I do now, so that the dried glue sizing would act as more of a barrier to the glue used in the hammer veneering process.

Rob Millard

200 years in a week, aging mahogany with lime.

I have written countless times about finishing mahogany with lime, both on my website and on various woodworking forums, but I have not described the process in detail, so here goes.

First a few of the advantages of using lime on mahogany.

Extremely vibrant color.

Lightfast; color won’t lighten or darken appreciably over time. In other words it freezes the color, unlike dyes or stains, which will allow the mahogany to darken over time; possibly becoming too dark in the future.

Outstanding clarity.

Unifies various shades of raw lumber (see more in the text below on this)

Won’t affect species commonly used as inlays.

As the saying goes, there are no free lunches, so there are some downsides.

Results in only one color; a rather intense red.

Not compatible with crotches and some highly figured swirl lumber (turns crotches too dark).

A bit temperamental as far as the application goes.

Requires through testing to insure proper results with each batch mixed.

While I came to use the lime, in the finishing of inlaid pieces, it of course excels on non inlaid pieces as well. In particular, it seems to perfectly capture the color of well preserved Rhode Island pieces. I have used this technique on African mahogany, with similar results.

As in all finishing, the surface preparation is the key to a successful application; this is even more important when using the lime, since every scratch and rough spot can appear darker than the surrounding wood. I like hand planed surfaces, but the extensive use of veneer and inlays on most of the pieces I make, require sanding. I’m definitely not in the scraping can replace sandpaper camp. I sand every primary surface up to 320 grit, using the random orbit sander whenever possible. When dealing with any water based finish, you have to raise the grain; I do this with distilled water and then very lightly sand by hand with 320 grit paper. There are those woodworkers that say sanding to such a high grit is unnecessary or even problematic, but I find a noticeable improvement in the surface, with no ill effects as far as finish adhesion.

I bought the hydrated lime in the garden center at Lowe’s. The lime seems to be a pretty safe material, although I still wear gloves and a mask while spraying the solution.

There are no hard and fast rules about the ratio of lime to distilled water, but a good starting point is a heaping table spoon to a quart of distilled water. I have not found any need to allow the mixture to slake; it works the same when freshly mixed or when weeks old. Much like aniline dye, you should mix all that you will need for the project at hand, because it may be difficult to reproduce a given mixture, should you run out. As I said before the lime has to be tested before use. While this is true of all finishes, it is especially important with the lime, because it works with the tannin in the wood and is not as predictable. Having said that, after a few times using it, you will get a very good “handle” on it and it will be surprise free. The ratio of lime to water will effect the final darkness, which can range from a barely noticeable change to nearly black. On swirl mahogany, a lower ratio of lime to water, will result in a nice color of great depth, without over darkening. I have not found a way to use the lime successfully on crotch mahogany.

Also, a too lime rich mixture will leach a considerable amount of tannin from the wood and can discolor any inlays; only testing will reveal this. The first time you use it, the various stages of the color transformation won’t inspire confidence, actually it will scare and dishearten you, so this testing phase will acquaint you these stages

The best way to apply the lime is by spraying. Fortunately the equipment requirements are nominal; an inexpensive pancake compressor and a touch up gun. Just as fortunate, for me at least, is the limited skill it takes to spray the lime. The best results come by spraying a dusting coat, but a flooding coat will work too. Particular attention must be paid to the application so that no lime is allowed to run or drop onto an untreated surface; doing so will leave a spot that won’t blend in. If this happens all is not lost; a light sanding with 320 grit paper wetted with the lime mixture will eliminate the spot. It is this aspect of the lime that makes spraying the preferred method. While I have used a rag or brush, both have a tendency to leave behind telltale application marks that resemble those made by a soapy rag on glass. For the most part the change in color will be nearly immediate, but it will continue to darken for a short time.

Areas that are endgrain or predominately endgrain, need to be pre-treated with plain water prior to the application of the lime, to prevent the over darkening these areas. This same technique can be used to blend darker boards with lighter ones, but a better way is to alter the ratio of lime to water.

I usually wipe the excess from the surface, depending on whether I was able to maintain the dusting coats or not. At this point it will look nice, but not spectacular, but brace yourself, in just a few minutes it will look like a disaster. Typically it will take on a dusty orange color, but sometimes even pieces made from the same board will take on wildly different colors. This is what will cause you to have a sinking feeling in your stomach, at least until you learn that this horrible appearance is only a stop on the way to a superb finish. When the lime has fully dried, wipe the excess dusty coating from the surface with distilled water. I have not found any compatibility issues with shellac, varnish or lacquer (nitro and water based). The lime left in pores, completely disappears when the oil/topcoat is applied.

The next step is to provide some golden highlights to the wood, by dyeing the wood with an aniline dye mixture of lemon yellow and a touch of golden brown. This will also tone down any holly inlays, to avoid the stark whiteness that isn’t typical of antiques. I used to apply this dye before the lime, but I forgot to do it once and did it afterwards, only to find it provided a superior color.

At this point you can stop and apply a top coat. I do this with swirl lumber/veneer or when a lighter color is desired. Mostly, though a tweaking of the color and enhancing the grain is desired. To do this, I use Trans Tint dyes mixed in Tried and True Danish oil. The predominate Trans Tint color is cordovan, with a bit of bright green thrown in to kill the red left by the lime. A little yellow is added also, to warm the color.

Of course when dealing with inlaid furniture, something has to be done to seal those inlays. Where the lime didn’t affect the inlays, the dyed oil certainly will. It would seem a time consuming and somewhat difficult task to seal the inlays with a brush, but it really isn’t. I have used brushing lacquer, varnish and water based lacquer to seal the inlays; the varnish is the least suitable, due to its long drying time. Shellac is also not the best choice, due to its thin consistency, which makes it difficult to control. Good lighting, a fairly steady hand, and a properly sized brush makes the task go surprisingly quick. By having the majority of the color “built” into the wood from the lime, it takes some of the pressure off the brushing. To insure full coverage with no missed spots, two coats are necessary.

Now comes the exciting part, applying the dyed oil and seeing the true beauty of the wood come alive; this is my favorite part and makes the multitude of steps and testing worth it. The Tried and True Danish oil, lacks driers, so it must not be applied in soaking coats. I apply it very thinly, but thoroughly in a circular motion to work it into the pores; this can take some elbow grease. I then wipe the surface vigorously, several times over the next few hours to make sure all the excess oil has been removed. As the oil cures, some of it brilliance will disappear, but it will return when the top coat is applied. It may also appear darker than wanted at this stage, and turnings will appear blotchy, but this too will correct itself when the top coat is applied (another reason for through testing).

Now that the process has been described, let’s look at it on an actual project. This will follow the steps for finishing an inlaid Pembroke table top. I have taped the construction and finishing of this table and it will be made into a DVD (available mid June). There will be two additional DVD’s adapted from it; one on the finishing (covering the use of lime, among other topics) and the other on making the knuckle joints.

The following photos were shot using an abnormally high contrast to highlight the color blending possible with this method. You can click on any photo to see a larger sample.

This first photo shows the raw top, and the color difference between the center panel and the leaves. I have taken careful account of the reflectivity of the wood, which if overlooked could detract from the appearance of the finished tops.

This photo shows the application of the lime, using the spray gun. Note how immediate the color change is.

This photo clearly shows the unattractive nature of the lime after it has dried. At this stage, not only has the lime apparently not unified the colors, it has made the contrast much worse.

Here now is the yellow/golden brown dye being applied. This shows the excellent color hiding under that ugly lime residue. Also note the much more uniform color.

Next comes sealing the inlays.

This is applying the dyed oil. I have already applied a full strength coat to the one leaf, and now I am using the same dyed oil, only cut  slightly with plain oil to further blend the shades of the various parts together. This high contrast photo, doesn’t do justice to the beautiful color of the top, nor can it show the incredible depth the dyed oil imparts.

This final photo shows the top after the oil has been fully applied and ready for the filler.

While a somewhat time consuming and at times nerve-racking process the end result is worth the effort, especially on inlaid furniture.

Rob Millard

False glue blocks, for a period look, without the period problems.

I want to have my reproductions faithful to the originals, inside and out; the problem with this is, doing so often requires joinery techniques that make the modern craftsman cringe. Period craftsmen seemed unconcerned with the potential for shrinkage and often fastened table tops to the aprons with glue blocks. The result was a top that cracked or became loose. This technique isn’t limited to rural or unsophisticated cabinetmakers; even a vaunted Goddard-Townsend tea table selling for several million dollars has its top attached in this manner.

So I can maintain the period look and still have an attachment method that holds the top firmly, yet allows for expansion and contraction, I have been using modern steel table clips concealed with a false glue block. I bought the clips from Constantine’s (part number 96N4). Some modifications to the clips are necessary before use. I saw tongue that will be covered by the glue block, to limit of the size of glue block require to conceal the clip. Depending on the thickness of the apron, I sometimes have to shorten the other tongue. Even if that other tongue doesn’t have to be shortened, I use a file to remove any burrs, so it can slide easily as the top moves.

The clip fits into a slot cut in the apron with a biscuit joiner. I’m careful to set the position of the slot so the clip fits snugly but without binding.

The glue block is just a short square section of secondary wood with one chamfered edge. With a 1 1/8” diameter  Forstner bit drill out a pocket for the clip. Be careful how deeply you drill this hole, so that it doesn’t burst through the chamfer. Depending on the dimension of the glue block, you may have to do a little extra trimming with a knife to provide clearance for the angled portion of the clip.

Use a pan head sheet metal screw to attach the clip to the top and with a dab of hot hide glue on the apron side of the glue block only, rub it in (many period pieces have the area where the glue blocks go, scored with a toothing plane). You’re left with a perfectly period looking attachment, but with none of the problems. While the tops were attached with a series of closely spaces glue blocks, I only put the clips in as many locations as required to keep the top flat. The remainder of the glue blocks are just blocks without the drilled recess.

The following photos show, from left to right (click on any photo to see larger version)

The clips, the upper one is as it comes from the factory, the lower is after being sawn and filed.

The clip in place and the glue block with the drilled recess.

The glue block in place.  

Make your own hand forged nails

When I first became interested in period furniture, I had this romanticized view of it, so it came as quite a shock to find that my perception and reality weren’t in sync. One of the things that surprised me the most was the fairly extensive use of nails. Where I would have expected a glue joint, or at the very least a screw, I found that nails were more common. In retrospect this makes sense, glue required clamps, holding up production (nails were sometimes used as clamps) and while nails were somewhat expensive, screws were even more so, and took longer to install.

At first I purchased reproduction cut nails. These had the period look, but each one was exactly the same, so I ended up doing a little hand forging to give them some individuality. I will admit I dislike cut nails. Despite the fact that they crush the fibers ahead of the point, they still have a tendency to split, and their tapered shape makes a pilot hole a compromise. Of course they do offer tremendous holding power, but in furniture they are used where they are loaded mostly in shear, so this is of lesser importance.

At some point I read about a restorer, who used common upholstery tacks that were hand worked and used to conceal modern nails and the idea hit me to take common wire nails and forge my own.

Use only uncoated common wire nails, I don’t know what if any effects heating a cement coated nail would have, but for safety sakes I avoid them. I do know that heating galvanized nails will release a toxic gas.

I have used nails from 4 to 10 penny. I look for nails that have fairly thick heads; some of the box and sinkers nails have head that are too thin to forge. Start by heating the head until it glows yellow and hammer it on its side, drawing out the head. Then rotate it 90 degrees and strike it a few times to square up the “ends”; you don’t want a square head, but you also don’t want a long narrow head.

The rest of the process can be done with the head cold. I have used two different methods to further form the head. The first is simply holding the nail in the vise a hammering the head to shape. The other involves a stout block of steel with a hole the approximate size of the nails shank.

In looking at period nails, the most common head shapes were ones with either 3 or 5 facets to the head, although not every blacksmith got that memo. I like the look of the head with 5 facets.

One of my favorite memories of the first furniture show I went to, is of an older gentleman, not looking at the front of the desk I had on display, but instead the back; he said “nice work sonny, right down to the nails” I said “yep they are “forged” ( as in a fake signature).

From left to right the photos below show, (click on any photo to see a larger version)

The heated head ready to be flattened on the “anvil” portion of a machinists vice

The head being formed while the shank is held in the vice

The head being formed while held in a block of steel

The progression of the nail from, factory, to having the head flattend, having the ends squared, a three facet nail, and a five facet nail.

                                                                 Rob Millard

Sharpening the card scraper

It seems everyone who writes about woodworking is obliged to do a piece on sharpening (and dovetails). I use to think this avalanche of articles was redundant, but now I see where it allows for a diverse set of techniques for the woodworker to choose from; a smorgasbord if you will. What I do not like are articles that over complicate the process of sharpening, (or any aspect of woodworking) these only serve to intimidate newcomers, or make the writer look smarter than they are. I also dislike jigs or guides for sharpening; the only one I use is the tool rest on my hand cranked grinder. Learning to trust your hands and eyes is fundamental to efficient work, in not only sharpening but all of woodworking.

Below is the way I sharpen the card scraper. It produces an excellent edge that lasts as long as any method, and is so quick and easy that it becomes second nature, which is the way all sharpening techniques should be.

(You can click on a photo to see a larger version.)

The process starts with filing the edge. I have a small block of pine with recess routed into it that receives a 6 inch mill bastard file. Hold the scraper on its edge, squaring it by eye, and push it down the file 2 or 3 times.  It is important that the scraper be held square, or one edge won’t be serviceable. This will result in an edge that won’t require any further honing. This filing does raise a burr on the face of the scraper that must be removed. To do this, I use a super fine diamond hone. I like the diamond hone, because it doesn’t require any kind of lubrication. I’m careful to hold the diamond hone flat on the face; letting it tip over edge just once, will ruin that edge.  

It would seem like the steel in the scraper is so hard that it could not be easily deformed, but that is exactly what must be done to form the cutting edge. In order to do this, you must work the edge (burnish) with a tool harder than the scraper; that tool must also be highly polished. I have heard of everything from the backs of chisels, screw driver shanks, valve stems from car engines, to purpose made burnishers, but I use a broken solid carbide endmill, shoved in an old file handle. Carbide is an ideal material, being very hard, slick and in the case of the shank of an endmill, highly polished.

The first step in burnishing, is to draw out some metal from the faces of the scraper. To do this, hold the scraper flat on the bench and take several firm strokes down the edge, holding the burnisher, slightly off level. Be sure to work the full edge. When complete, if you magnified the edge, you’d see a sort of C shape, with little projections of metal drawn out on each face.

   

The next step is the trickiest; these projections must be flattened out, so the cross section would now look like a T. To do this, hold the scraper on edge, and with extremely light pressure run the burnisher down the edge. You should really only use the weight of the tool on the first couple of passes. You will feel a slight drag at first, as those projections are flattened out. When this drag is gone you can increase the pressure slightly for one final pass (as before be sure to do the entire edge). The common mistake at this stage is to apply to much pressure, which will gall the burr, or work harden it; neither of which is a good thing.

 

Now that burr must be rolled over, to form a cutting edge. To do this lay the scraper on the bench with its edge overhanging the bench and run the burnisher down the edge, holding it just a little off the vertical. I only make two strokes down each of the 4 edges, using a good pressure. On one stroke, start at end towards you and run it off the far end, on the other stroke, start it way from you and run it off the end towards you; this way you get the burr turned for the full length of the cutting edge. As with the last step over working the edge will work harden it, and it will dull more quickly. The common error here, is turning a burr that is too aggressive. Over doing it, will result in a burr that dulls quickly and you won’t have the control you need, because you have to lean the scraper too far forward to get a good bite.

 

The cutting edge of scrapers are not long lived. You’ll know when they dull because they will make dust not shavings. As long as you didn’t over do the burnishing of the burr on the first go around, you can re-roll the burr at least once, before you have to go back to the file.

To re-do the edge, place the scraper on the bench and flatten the burr, much like the first step in forming the burr after filing and honing, only here you must use very light pressure, as in the second burnishing step described above. Here again, you will feel a slight drag at first. To finish, just repeat the second and third steps above, and go back to scraping

I hope you found something of use in this installment.

Rob Millard

A new finish continued

The table is now finished (or is it refinished?), and on its way to the customer. Although I’m still experimenting with the Ultima Spray Lacquer (USL), it has proven to be nearly trouble free. With the varnish I was using, I continually tweaked the finishing schedule in the quest for an ideal finish. I doubt such an approach will be necessary with the USL, because even at this early stage, the results achieved with it are not only flawless, but painless.

  For mahogany, which makes up the bulk of my work, I color the wood and then depending on grain type, I enhance the color with the thinnest possible coat of dyed or plain Tried and True Danish oil; swirl and crotches should only be enhanced with the plain oil. After the oil has cured a day, I apply oil based grain filler. The oil and filler are allowed to cure at least 7 days, and a padded on coat of de-waxed dark shellac is applied to seal the oil/filler and to further enhance the color. I let the shellac cure overnight and scuff sand it.

    Now comes the fun part, spraying on the USL. I followed, to the letter the instructions where it said to stir for one minute. I strained the finish through a 190 micron strainer. Being a card carrying cheap skate, I rinse these out and reuse them. The USL has a pretty high solids content, so over a filled mahogany finish, you’ll only need three un-thinned coats to build a good thickness. I put these coats on in quick succession, with just the minimum drying time between coats. I’ll freely admit I’m a lousy sprayer, but the HVLP gun, makes me look like an expert (See below for the equipment set up). I position the table so I have good lighting that lets me see spray pattern. To insure even coverage, spray from side to side and then from front to back. The USL comes out kind of milky, and wrinkly, but after just a few minutes, it clears up and smoothes out.

   I let the first three coats dry for 24 hours, and wet sanded with a 320 grit sanding sponge to level the finish. If every thing looks good (it always has) then move on to the two final coats. These final coats are thinned about 5%-10% with distilled water and double strained. As I noted in the first installment on this finish, the lacquer does not burn in 100% if allowed to dry more than about 2 hours between coats, so I’m careful to apply these with no more than an hour and a half between the coats. These flowed out and looked great.

  After a 5 day cure time, I did the rub out, which is the icing on the cake; it rubs out more easily than shellac. The rub out, is one area where some more tweaking of the process is in order. For the test panels and the candlestand, I used 800 grit paper and followed with rottenstone on a felt block; using water as a rubbing lubricant. I wrap the sandpaper around an eraser, which gives the prefect backing.  On this table, I used 1000 grit paper and the rottenstone. In the future, I’m going to try 1500 or even 2000 grit paper and skip the rottenstone, because I noticed a huge improvement in the appearance by going from the 800 to 1000 grit. I’m also going to see what effect a longer cure time (7-10 days) before rubbing out would do. Even after a five day cure before rubbing out, the USL will turn a little milky from the water used in the rubout. At first I thought this would make it prone to water rings, but after a longer cure time, the lacquer shows no reaction to water; I left a wet rag on a test panel for at least a day, with no ill effects. The only problem with the rubout, is how tenacious the sanding slurry is, you have to keep the surface fully wet, and clean up the top immediately. A little soap in the water would help ease the rubout, but I’m worried about contamination, should another coat be necessary.

    The USL looks great with everything from a fairly dull sheen to a wet gloss. The varnish I had used, on the other hand tended to look cloudy with anything but a near wet gloss, which made balancing it and the shellac used on the rest of the piece, a real challenge. It also, looked a little plastic when left with a full gloss. The USL has much better adhesion than the varnish, which surprised me. The varnish always felt like I was stretching a layer of plastic food wrap over the surface. As long as the surface film remained intact, everything was okay, but even a mirror break in the film could lead to a serious delamination, such as where the hinges on the leaves pinched the finish.

    In the past I’ve been disappointed with the results when I wax a piece of furniture. I had one breakthrough when I learned to completely clean the surface of all the oil used in the rubout (on varnish and shellac surfaces I use mineral oil as a lubricant)  Still, it wasn’t perfect, so I have not used wax. Then I read an article by Peter Gedrys that was full of excellent information. Just the other day, the person who bought the card table, told me he cuts the wax with a little mineral spirits. I tried this on the table, and for once I’m totally satisfied with the wax finish.

 

In the test panels I did, I wanted to try using the finish as a filler for all those inevitable (but tiny) depressions around the inlays. With the varnish, it dried too slowly and shrank too much, to use it as the filler, so I used clear burn in sticks. With the USL, I was concerned about the compatibility of it and the burn in sticks. I thought that if the USL didn’t shrink excessively, its fast cure time, might make it a useful filler; one with no worry about compatibility. As it turned out, it worked better than I had hoped.  I used an artist brush to dab a bit of the USL on the problem area, and then quickly sprayed the surface; this caused the brushed on application to flow out and blend in beautifully.

The equipment setup is very basic and for the outstanding performance, inexpensive. The gun is the Qualspray QS-125WB, with an in line regulator, and a 1.5mm nozzle set. The compressor is a 4.5 gallon pancake compressor from Porter-Cable. The simple stand for the spray gun, has been very helpful, and I can’t understand why I didn’t have one for the touch up gun I was using for spraying dyes and lime; I never could sit it down.

Well, I guess that is enough about the Ultima Spray Lacquer, for now, but it will come up again, as I’m sold on it.

Rob Millard

A new finishing method

   For over 8 years, I've been using varnish to finish the tops of the furniture I build. I like the protection offered by varnish and the look of the final finish, but that is all I liked about it. The drying time was glacial; the process prone to time consuming setbacks, and it was labor intensive. I continually sought other options, but no brushed on product offered the level of protection and appearance of the varnish. The lack space for a proper spray booth, limited my options. This summer, I made a small table while volunteering at a living history museum, and I decided to try a brushed on water based coating. The results were far superior to those I had with an early generation of water based coating nearly 10 years ago. The finish on that table came out very nice, but lacked depth, and it was a little “cold” (I could have added a touch of dye to warm it) also, it wasn’t quite as scratch resistant as I wanted. Early last fall I made card table, which I finished with varnish, but I had, had enough with it. I had often heard of Ultima Spray Lacquer (USL), as being an excellent product, so I decided to give it a try. The first hurdle was my total lack of spraying skills; I had tried spraying shellac with what were, shall we say, less than stellar results, so I resolved to practice. The other problem was what, spray equipment to buy; I knew I wanted HVLP, but did I want a turbine system, or a conversion gun? A quick email to Jeff Jewitt, solved that problem, he had a new gun that amazingly would work off my small pancake compressor that I used to apply shingles. A few days later the gun, accessories and some of the USL were on my doorstep.

   I shot a panel of raw walnut with the USL, and was very impressed at the color, but even more so at the depth of the grain. That wasn’t all that impressed me. The gun was very easy to use; I had no trouble whatsoever achieving a beautiful even coating, the compressor had plenty of power to atomize the finish and keep up the airflow. Clean up was also a breeze. I did a few other test panels, and allowed them to cure, before rubbing out. At this stage I was pretty excited about the look of the USL, but I still hadn’t seen what its scratch resistance would be. I read where the USL achieved a chemical cure in 72 hours, but I displayed uncharacteristic patience and waited 5 days before rubbing out. The rubout was like a vacation, compared to the varnish. A few seconds (yes seconds) with some 800 grit paper and water, had a uniform scratch pattern. I followed with some Rottenstone and water, to bring up a nice deep sheen. Total time involved couldn’t have been 3 minutes. At first the scratch resistance was good, but not quite that of the varnish, but I kept trying it each day for a few more days and after about 8 days of curing, the finish equaled that of varnish. This test wasn’t very scientific, nor was it truly fair to the USL, because I used a piece that had been varnished years ago as a comparison. The only problem I found and it was a minor one, is that the claim of 100% burn in between coats is not quite accurate. As long as a coat has dried less than about two hours, you do get 100% burn in, but wait longer than that, and you can see witness lines when rubbing out. Witness lines were the most devastating issue with the varnish, because it meant recoating and waiting an interminable amount of time for it to cure, before you could rub it out again.  The USL on the other hand dries so fast that dust nibs aren’t a problem and it flows out so smoothly that very little sanding is necessary to level the finish.

  Over the Christmas holiday, I made a candlestand and used the USL on it; I couldn’t have been more pleased with the results.

  About two weeks ago, that card table, which was to be my final piece finished with varnish, was ready to ship ( the customer couldn’t take delivery of it until then). I noticed a small scratch, which I fixed with little trouble. Then on the actual day the shipper was picking the table up, I was doing my usual clean up of the piece, when I noticed that the leaves near the hinges were binding and delaminating the varnish (despite taking precautions to avoid this and I’ve opened and closed that table dozens of times since it was finished in mid November, without it happening). That was it; I called the shipper and the customer to say it wasn’t leaving, and got out the stripper, goodbye varnish, hello USL. This was only the second time in over 125 pieces of furniture I’ve made, that I have stripped a piece and refinished it.

Rob Millard

 

Applying the stripper

The top after being filled again and given a barrier coat of de-waxed shellac