Wood is finished to protect it from moisture and dirt and to give it a color that will harmonize with its surroundings. For out of door work paint is usually used, but because paint conceals the grain of wood, it is seldom used on furniture.

Staining and Polishing

Before starting to stain or polish your work look up scraping, sand papering, and the experimental work suggested at the end of this section. The complete process of staining and finishing is as follows:

1. Stain the wood any desired color. Wipe out the "laps" with a cloth, and sand the surfaces lightly after the stain is dry, not enough to cut thru, but enough to bring out the grain. The work may then need a second light coat of stain.

There are three classes of stain - water, spirit, and oil.

1. The water stains come in a wide range of colors. They penetrate well and are inexpensive, but they raise the grain of the wood badly, and so require a great deal of sanding.

2. The spirit stains also come in a wide range of colors. They penetrate well and raise the grain of the wood but very little. They are, however, rather expensive.

3. The oil stains range in price between the spirit and the water stains. They do not raise the grain of the wood, but they will not penetrate deeply.

2. If the wood is open grained it must now be filled.

The filler comes ground in oil. It should be thinned with turpentine, benzine, naptha, or gasoline, until it is about as thick as cream. Apply the filler with a brush and allow it to set about fifteen minutes, or until it begins to look "flat". Then wipe off across the grain using burlap or shavings.

Prepared fillers can be obtained, stained almost any desired color, or the natural filler can be darkened with burnt sienna, raw umber, Van Dyke brown, or drop black. These and many other colors can now be obtained in collapsable tubes.

3. When dry, sand lightly; not enough to cut thru, but enough to make the surface feel smooth to the hand. Be especially careful of the sharp edges. If you cut thru them they will always show lighter than the rest.

4. Wax and polish, using prepared floor wax. This gives a beautiful finish. It is easily applied, and the finish easily renewed whenever it becomes dull or spotted.

5. In place of the wax, white shellac, varnish, or any similar finish may be applied. When dry, sand with very fine sand paper, sanding always in the direction of the grain. Shellac or varnish should be applied only in a warm, dry room that is free from dust. Dust is especially bad, for every particle that settles on the work will show unless removed entirely with sand paper or pumice-stone before the next coat is applied. Shellac is a solution of lac and alcohol. It therefore dries very quickly; hence, one must not attempt to do much "brushing out" with shellac. If one does, the alcohol in the brush will only soften up some parts more than others, thus piling up the finish in some places while drawing it away from others. Several thin coats of shellac, each carefully sanded after it is thoroly dry, will give the best results.

6. Wax may now be applied or the work given as many coats of shellac, varnish, or other finish, as desired. Each coat should be given ample time to dry, and then be sanded before the next coat is applied. Pumice-stone and water may be used in place of sand paper to rub down the surfaces. Since varnish and shellac do not work well over oil, pumice-stone and oil should be used only for the final rubbing or polishing. Several coats of shellac or varnish, each rubbed down well, will fill any surface, but for open grained woods like oak or chestnut the prepared rock filler is cheaper, quicker, and just as satisfactory. For close grained woods the shellac or varnish is to be preferred.

Experimental Work:

A good finish can never be given to wood unless the surfaces have been made true and smooth with the plane, the scraper, and sand paper. Scratches and torn places only show worse after the finish is applied. To convince yourself that this is true:

1. Find a cross-grained board that tears somewhat under the plane. Plane, scrape, and sand a wide surface, an edge, and an end until they are as true and smooth as you can make them. Plane the other surfaces but do not scrape or sand out the torn places left by the plane. You might, however, do a little sanding across the grain, using coarse sand paper, but not enough to remove the torn places.

2. Stain and finish all the surfaces in the same manner, using the same materials on all and following the order of steps given above. The results obtained will be very convincing.