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The more I thought about it, the more I realised this is how most people feel when faced with doing a new design. Scared. Scared big time. You want to make a special piece, but you are facing the probability that it won’t actually be that special…and you don’t want that. This was to be a lovely writing table for my beautiful wife, Carol, and with it a special chair. We have made lots of chairs through the years, and I have built a reputation for it. I wanted a chair that would sum this up in one piece. I wanted it to be elegant but not overly complex, to be the most difficult piece in the book, but makeable for the careful amateur maker. If you are like me, you carry images in your head of the pieces you want to make. They may not be in clear focus or show the whole piece of work. But they show us bits of it – a leg, or a detail for a flashing moment of clarity on the drive to work, or whilst soaking in the bath. But nobody else can see it there between your ears. You can tell people of your blinding ideas and they will look at you as if you needed a kind, helping nurse. Poor sad old devil; can’t get it up any more. So, you go to downloading. This is the process of getting it down somewhere in sketchy notes. Three or four lines in ink on a Post-It Note can do the job. Which was all I had at the start of the chair. — from “The Intelligent Hand” by David Binnington Savage @finefurnituremaker #The_Intelligent_HandI’m closing in on finishing this Nicholson campaign chest for a (very patient) customer. Today I cut all the mortises for the brass strapwork (not shown). Tomorrow I’ll install the drawer stops and do the “make pretty.” If the weather cooperates, I’ll apply shellac Wednesday or Thursday.Forming a volute - an arc that continues to descend. After each arc, move the (compass) point to the next focal point and reset the line. — from “By Hound and Eye” by Geo. R. Walker @georgewalker.design and Jim Tolpin @jimtolpin #By_Hound_and_Eye@RudeMechanic on Twitter
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Category Archives: Finishing
Finishing Lies
Covers in one coat Protects from inside the wood Stain and polyurethane in one step No harsh fumes – strips multiple layers Danish Oil (ask the Danes about this finish) Spar varnish – exceptional protection from sunlight, rain & moisture … Continue reading
Posted in Finishing, Uncategorized
36 Comments
Don Williams! Beeswax! Pollisoirs!
I don’t think I’ve ever used that many exclamation marks… ever. If you are coming to the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool event at Braxton Brewing on Friday or Saturday, look for Don Williams. He’ll be selling his excellent beeswax and mind-blowing … Continue reading
Posted in Finishing, Personal Favorites, Uncategorized
2 Comments
Apply Soft Wax to a Carcase
Soft Wax from Christopher Schwarz on Vimeo. Today I applied soft wax to the drawers and carcase of the chest of drawers I recently completed. Because we get so many questions about using the stuff, I shot this short video … Continue reading
Posted in Finishing, Uncategorized
9 Comments
Soap Finish: What’s it Like?
The more I use soap finish, the happier I am with it. But many woodworkers are skeptical. And I applaud that. For too long companies have tried to sell us this, that or the other as the “miracle” finish that … Continue reading
Posted in Finishing, The Anarchist's Design Book
29 Comments
Soft Wax from the Anarchist’s Daughter
My daughter Katy has an entrepreneurial spirit that is similar to when I started selling “bark jewelry” to neighborhood kids at age 10. Unlike me, Katy is committed to making something useful. During the last few months, Katy and I … Continue reading
Posted in Finishing, Personal Favorites, Uncategorized
16 Comments
Milk Paint – Advice and a Mad Chef
In addition to the Milk Paint appendix in the “The Anarchist’s Design Book” there are a few more resources that the new milk painter might find useful: Chapter 25 on Finishing in “Chairmaker’s Notebook” by Peter Galbert, available from Lost … Continue reading
Milk Paint: A Short History
In “The Anarchist’s Design Book,” one appendix is devoted to milk paint. As Chris notes there are plenty of milk paint recipes from the 1800s and provides a reference from 1836, “The Painter’s, Guilder’s and Varnisher’s Manuel…” by Henry Carey Baird. … Continue reading
Posted in Finishing, The Anarchist's Design Book
31 Comments
