Rick's Spruce Burl

Mahogony insert on bottom of bowl

 Woodwork Topics

Jointer/Planer use

Milling/Glueing/Scraping/Sanding

Scrapers

Finishing-brushes etc

Sanding Papers

Hand planes

Lathe basics

Sharpening lathe tools

Chisels:how to sharpen

Wood identification

Wood drying

Grinding wheel use

Shop machinery

Safety and cleanup

Measuring

Drawing Plans: How to read them

Hand tools adjustment

Types of furniture

Bending wood

Raised panel doors

Dovetails

Car-case joinery

Gold Leaf

Patterns

Sharpening

Laying out work

Veneering

Clamping

Carving basics

Types of abrasives

Shop techniques

Mortice and tenon

Glues-uses

Stains-uses

French Polishing

Making shop tools

Spraying and Finishing

Preparation of the workpiece or surface is one of the most important things

Remove any plane marks with a scraper before sanding

Start sanding with #80 , then 100, 120, 150, 180.  Finer than this leads to burnishing the wood. Clean off the dust before going to the next grit.

Ceiling tiles make good sanding blocks.

When the surface is ready you can start the spraying eg lacquer, varnish

If staining, it can be applied with brush, rag, spraying.

Start by applying with the grain and then with a rag go across the grain. The final application should be with the grain.

Spraying equipment

A good spray gun is important. One with a regulator to adjust the air flow and finish flow (eg paint, varnish, lacquer). The compressor should have an air reservoir so that you can adjust air flow.

Types of Lacquer

Nitrocellulose lacquer is what one usually uses.

It comes in three sheens: Gloss, Medium rubbed, and Flat

These lacquers are made from ??? with an acetone base(thinner). It dries by evaporation off the thinner which would be volatile ( acetone for example).

On the other hand varnishes dry by polymerization.

Spraying should be done at about 40 lbs pressure.When spraying inside a closed surface ,eg inside a drawer or cabinet, the pressure should be??????

Make sure that the lacquer is thin enough to spray” too thick will clog the gun and too thin will it will run n on the surface being sprayed. Hole the gun about eight (8) inches away from the surface. Always spray with the grain if possible. Spray beyond the ends of the workpiece so that you don’t get a build up of product at the ends. let dry. Sand between coats. Generally one applies 2-3 coats at least.

Use Stearate sand paper with Varsol to sand between coats and clean with rags and vacuums between coats.

For a polished finish one can use 600 grit wet paper followed by rottenstone and a light wax as a final step.

February 17, 2026

Miles,Paul,Rick,Francis,Jim MacLean,   Lawrence

Miles's Scroll saw project

Rick-Spruce Dish

Rick Spruce,-Birch

The meeting today was excellent.

Lawrence demonstrated a charcoal pouch he made to use with the perforations carving template he showed us at last session. He used a lump of charcoal from the fire place and pulverized it and wrapped it in  cloth. One dabs it on the paper template and when the paper is removed one connects up the dots which are left on the workpiece.

Lawrence discussed the salient issues with respect to spraying finishes:

1    Use a good spray gun, one that has a regulator to enable changing the spray field.
2    Make sure ventilation is good so that the air is evacuated as needed
3    Use a good face mask to trap fumes: one with filters that are replaceable is best
4    Spray beyond the workpiece and with the grain pattern
5    Before spraying, sand the workpiece with 120, 150 paper. Using finer grits is usually not needed
6    Let the piece dry-20-30 minutes before proceeding to a new coat
7    Lay down lots of coats
6    After each coat, cut the last layer with finer sand paper and Varsol lubricant
Rick brought several of his burls and discussed how he goes about turning them...paying strict attention to grain patterns and preserving intricate patterns and knots etc

Francis discussed the issue of radon gas in a home. He has been getting high readings and has had to get a ventilation system installed.  The Passerini Company is local and will do a 90 day radon detection analysis at a cost of $500.(Paul's information)

He also had questions about the use of several chucks-The McNaughton coring system and the Barracuda type chucks. Lawrence was able to explain  how to use the systems.

Lots of discussions about the late  Leo Macneil's expertise and teaching skills and some of the past (deceased) members woodwork skills.

Lawrence demonstrated several pin chucks made of wood and jam chucks.He also demonstrated several turning tools which he made from Vehicle struts!

Lawrence took Paul's bowl out of the refrigerator kiln. The humidity was down to 10-15 % in various spots. He had coated the bowl inside and out with white glue diluted with water to prevent too rapidly  drying the wood.

Rick suggested he bring in an old school desk and use it to go through a finishing session.

Some Canadian Sources:

Bandsaw Blades 

Tufftooth blades

Woodessence

Finishing Supplies

Exotic Hardwoods Canada

Burlington Ontario

Above:  Paul's  improvised Polishing system

November 10 Notes

In attendance: Jim Hiltz, Jim MacLean, Chris, Rick

Leo tip: use dividers to mark equal distances. You adjust them as necessary to achieve this. As well, it is a good idea to have an extra set with one of the legs bent inward . This makes it easier if you’re trying to divide a board in half.

Leo tip: if you’re cutting threads in wood—make your own tap by cutting a notch part way up the bolt. This helps clear the wood chips.

If shellac gets hard add methyl hydrate to it. A good mix for shellac is 3-1. If you are using a brush for shellac, you should soak it in methyl hydrate.

We brushed shellac on our bowls (inside and out) and then lightly sanded them using 400 grit. You then wipe them with a lint free painters cloth. 

Leo suggests not to use a tack cloth.When spraying a curved surface such as a bowl, use a circular motion. The spray pressure is 12lbs.

Tip:  I discovered by accident that lacquer thinner will partly dissolve and dull the finish on pens finished  with CA glue. Adding thinner into the pen makes it easier to dissemble the pen for correcting flaws.

Salad bowl finish seems to stick to shellac and vice versa

Wonders of Shellac

Attendance: Paul, Miles, Chris, Him Hiltz, Jim MacNeil, Rick macDonald

Everyone had a piece of wood and we practiced various methods of staining.

Various approaches can be used to get a good result:


Sanding the wood  to a fine finish is important regardless of methods used.

Coat with clear dewaxed shellac
Let dry: then begin to build layers of stain
Add a WATER based vinyl stain (Clear varnish) :  use a good brush
wait several minutes
wipe off gingerly and let dry
Coat this layer with an OIL based stain, wait a few minutes and wipe off and let dry
Repeat with the WATER based stain until the color is right

(The reason for alternating is because  adding  water based stain over a water based stained layer just results in dissolving the first layer: same for the oil based layer so alternating the Oil and Water based stains gives the best result)

Finally dry overnight and coat with clear shellac by spray gun using a low pressure

Alternatively:

Coat wood with Bond or the Vinyl first
Let dry
Coat with water-based stain;- wipe off after a few  minuted and let dry
Coat with Oil based stain;  wait a few minuted and wipe off- let dry
Re-coat with the water base stain until you get the right color

Finally spray on clear shellac after an overnight dry

Leo put  a piece of wood  immersed in water for 5 days that he had shellaced and the finish remains hard and dry!

For wood with voids:

Coat with Clear shellac
Use a shellac -cabosil mix brushed on to fill in the voids
Proceed to stain as above

Hint:  Adding a little Ammonia to a water stain  makes the stain eat into the wood better when the wood is pre-treated with the vinyl  or shellac layer: Otherwise the stain does not penetrate and will wipe off completely

Leo gave all hands a bottle of  Ammonia
Paul gave all hands a supply of Acupuncture needles.
We might find a use for them in the New year projects