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| Leave it to the pro. Michael Dresdner, a nationally known wood finishing and woodworking expert, has answered hundreds of common wood finishing questions in Varathane’s Q&A library to help you successfully complete your project. Click on a link to the left for help and solid advice. |
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| Q: We have been remodeling our kitchen and now are at the point of putting a finish on a couple of doors. The cabinets are cherry and we would like to match it as much as possible. The door is unfinished and I don’t know what wood it is but my question is do we need to put some sort of a sealer on the wood before the stain?
A: Nope. Stain goes best onto raw wood. What you will need to do is make samples first on scrap of the same type of wood if at all possible, sanded the same way the doors themselves were sanded, then sealed afterward with your finish. That way you can make certain the color is what you want not only on raw wood but under the finish as well, since even clear finishes slightly alter the color of wood and stains. |  | |
| Q: I have a table ready to be polished out. It has eight thin coats of oil base Varathane. The table has a three inch wood inlay border with the grain perpendicular to the edge. Part of the border will be difficult to sand without rounding the edge. How fine a grit can be used in a circular sanding pattern, and still be polished out without scratches?
A: Any grit can be used on a circular or random orbit sander. The key to remember is that once the grit scratches are small enough so that you can not see them, it really does not matter which way they are going. In other words, if you are going to polish all the way to gloss, sanding scratch direction will not matter because there will be none to see once you are finished.
On the other hand, if you are planning to go only to satin rub, do not sand with a machine at all. Sand only by hand, very lightly, with 400 grit paper or finer, and only in the direction you will eventually rub using steel wool. In short, keep all scratches that will be seen going in the same direction. | | |
| Q: We want to do our ceiling with pine planking. I would love to keep the real pine look, and think even the lightest stain will make it too dark but in shop class everyone says you must stain it first.
A: That is not even close to true. I think what they probably said was that if you are going to stain, you must stain first before applying clear finish, but in no way is stain a necessity. Stain is always optional, and you certainly can simply apply clear finish without staining. | | |
| Q: I bought a new hunting rifle a year ago, and in using it the past season found that it had sustained some gouges and nicks. I’d like to refinish the stock but it is permanently attached. I worry about doing damage to the metal if I choose to strip the present wood finish, sand the marring on the stock, then go through the process of refinishing it.
A: Most solvent based strippers (as opposed to some of the water based ones) will not harm metal, but avoid marine strippers that have added acids or bases. I would also carefully mask the metal first with green lacquer tape and take pains to keep chemicals off it. After stripping, remove the tape, clean the metal, and remask. A couple of layers of masking tape will give you a buffer against accidentally hitting the metal with sandpaper, but if that is not enough, make a masking shield of thin sheet metal and mask that in place before you sand. |
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