Hi,
I have a backgammon board which I've made and am just about to the
finishing stage. The board itself is made of wenge and zebrawood, made
of solid wood with the pattern from the 1982 woodworking magazine.
There's also a frame around it made of walnut to hold the pieces,
dice, and to fold up into a case.
My question is what's the best way to finish it? I read one thread
about doing a multi-step process involving oil, pore-filler and
shellac... I believe I've read elsewhere someone suggested spray-on
Minwax... does anyone have any experience and ideas on the matter?
This is the first real woodworking project I've taken on so it's all
new to me.
Thanks.
On Jan 6, 6:40 pm, professorpaul <[email protected]> wrote:
> Let the flames begin....
>
> I like to keep things simple. I've had the best general results with
> things like Formby's tung oil -- gloss or matte. Thin coats, smooth
> things out with 0000 steel wool, use a tack cloth, etc. Gun stocks,
> some furniture projects, etc. For stuff like tables, I go for the
> urethane varnishes myself, especially if they are going to be subject
> to water, glasses, heat, etc.
>
> I think the only problem I can see is the fact that you have 3
> different kinds of wood that might behave slightly differently.
>
> Let us know what you end up doing. For an experiment, to test things,
> could you work on the back??
Can't even work on the back. The back we ended up covering with a
brazilian cherry veneer that my friend had left over from a bookcase
he did. And that was placed over the back of the board before the glue-
up of the frame and transporting it to NYC which is where we live.
I ordered Flexner's Understanding Wood Finishing and am trying to read
up as much as I can online, here and in other places, to get my arms
around what it is I really want to do.
I would suggest a wipe-on-poly. Poly is the toughest finish and wipe-
on it is pretty much fool proof and you can build it up to the gloss
you want but still leave some feel of the wood. Put some oil on the
item first to bring out the color.
1. Sand to 320.
2. Saturate with a mixture (1 to1) of Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) and
mineral spirits.
3. Wipe down excess after 30 minutes.
4. Let dry at least 24 hrs.
5. Wipe on first coat of ploy. (I suggest buying pre-mixed wipe-on-poy
and follow their directions) basically saturate and ring out a smooth
rag and wipe it down, careful to just wet the surface with very, very
thin coat, almost not a coat but no dry spots. Dry about 8 hours (or
as the can says) then steel wool it to smooth out any dust nibs. Coat
again. Repeat as many times as you need to get the look you want. The
first few coats will hardley even look like you did anything (if you
are doing it right) but then it will start to build up. Once it's done
let it dry a week and use steel wool and apply a good furniture wax
and buff that baby out per the can direction.
Careful with the wax, too much is a pain to deal with.
The biggest thing is to trty this entire process on a scrap, or even a
2x4, just make sure you experience all of the setps and the finish
looks like you want it to (you can wax the samp,e after a day rather
than waiting a week). Remember, one reason they call it finish is that
once you put it on you are finished and you aint gonna get it back
off. Not the time to make a mistake.
On Jan 6, 5:45=A0pm, [email protected] wrote:
> On Jan 6, 7:02 pm, "Bonehenge (B A R R Y)"
>
>
>
>
>
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 09:25:24 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
> > >My question is what's the best way to finish it?
>
> > What look are you wanting to achieve?
>
> > There's no wrong answer...
>
> > Glass smooth, like a gym floor?
>
> > Shiny with a bit of grain texture?
>
> > Matte with a bit of texture?
>
> > Do you own spray gear, or would you like a hand applied solution.
>
> > > I read one thread
> > >about doing a multi-step process involving oil, pore-filler and
> > >shellac...
>
> > GREAT for a glass smooth look, with a tick of a French Polish look...
>
> > >I believe I've read elsewhere someone suggested spray-on
> > >Minwax...
>
> > This can also work perfectly, if your desired result isn't a gym floor
> > and you don't mind waiting longer, protecting the wet finish from
> > dust, and possibly rubbing out some dust nibs.
>
> > >does anyone have any experience and ideas on the matter?
>
> > Lots of folks here do!
>
> > >This is the first real woodworking project I've taken on so it's all
> > >new to me.
>
> > 1.) Set aside as much scrap from the project as you can.
> > 2.) Decide on the final look you'd like.
> > 3.) Post the desired look from #2 =A0here
> > 4.) Practice the suggested solutions on the scrap from #1.
> > 5.) Finish your project confidently and stress free, and show off your
> > fantastic work.
>
> Thanks for the reply.
>
> I'd say the look I'm going for is shiny, maybe with a bit of grain. I
> don't think a gym floor-gloss is necessary. Just something that is
> first and foremost durable to stand up to the dice rolling on it and
> second to bring out the rich natural color and graining of the wood.
>
> Sadly, I don't have much scrap left, just one piece of the walnut. I
> did the work at a friend's father's workshop half the country away and
> left all the rest of the scrap there. So I'm doing all the finishing
> work by hand; have sanded everything down and now just want to make
> sure that I do the final step right.
>
> Any other thoughts? I appreciate the help so far.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Let the flames begin....
I like to keep things simple. I've had the best general results with
things like Formby's tung oil -- gloss or matte. Thin coats, smooth
things out with 0000 steel wool, use a tack cloth, etc. Gun stocks,
some furniture projects, etc. For stuff like tables, I go for the
urethane varnishes myself, especially if they are going to be subject
to water, glasses, heat, etc.
I think the only problem I can see is the fact that you have 3
different kinds of wood that might behave slightly differently.
Let us know what you end up doing. For an experiment, to test things,
could you work on the back??
On Jan 6, 7:02 pm, "Bonehenge (B A R R Y)"
<[email protected]> wrote:
> On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 09:25:24 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
> >My question is what's the best way to finish it?
>
> What look are you wanting to achieve?
>
> There's no wrong answer...
>
> Glass smooth, like a gym floor?
>
> Shiny with a bit of grain texture?
>
> Matte with a bit of texture?
>
> Do you own spray gear, or would you like a hand applied solution.
>
> > I read one thread
> >about doing a multi-step process involving oil, pore-filler and
> >shellac...
>
> GREAT for a glass smooth look, with a tick of a French Polish look...
>
> >I believe I've read elsewhere someone suggested spray-on
> >Minwax...
>
> This can also work perfectly, if your desired result isn't a gym floor
> and you don't mind waiting longer, protecting the wet finish from
> dust, and possibly rubbing out some dust nibs.
>
> >does anyone have any experience and ideas on the matter?
>
> Lots of folks here do!
>
> >This is the first real woodworking project I've taken on so it's all
> >new to me.
>
> 1.) Set aside as much scrap from the project as you can.
> 2.) Decide on the final look you'd like.
> 3.) Post the desired look from #2 here
> 4.) Practice the suggested solutions on the scrap from #1.
> 5.) Finish your project confidently and stress free, and show off your
> fantastic work.
Thanks for the reply.
I'd say the look I'm going for is shiny, maybe with a bit of grain. I
don't think a gym floor-gloss is necessary. Just something that is
first and foremost durable to stand up to the dice rolling on it and
second to bring out the rich natural color and graining of the wood.
Sadly, I don't have much scrap left, just one piece of the walnut. I
did the work at a friend's father's workshop half the country away and
left all the rest of the scrap there. So I'm doing all the finishing
work by hand; have sanded everything down and now just want to make
sure that I do the final step right.
Any other thoughts? I appreciate the help so far.
On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 09:25:24 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
>My question is what's the best way to finish it?
What look are you wanting to achieve?
There's no wrong answer...
Glass smooth, like a gym floor?
Shiny with a bit of grain texture?
Matte with a bit of texture?
Do you own spray gear, or would you like a hand applied solution.
> I read one thread
>about doing a multi-step process involving oil, pore-filler and
>shellac...
GREAT for a glass smooth look, with a tick of a French Polish look...
>I believe I've read elsewhere someone suggested spray-on
>Minwax...
This can also work perfectly, if your desired result isn't a gym floor
and you don't mind waiting longer, protecting the wet finish from
dust, and possibly rubbing out some dust nibs.
>does anyone have any experience and ideas on the matter?
Lots of folks here do!
>This is the first real woodworking project I've taken on so it's all
>new to me.
1.) Set aside as much scrap from the project as you can.
2.) Decide on the final look you'd like.
3.) Post the desired look from #2 here
4.) Practice the suggested solutions on the scrap from #1.
5.) Finish your project confidently and stress free, and show off your
fantastic work.