Interior Wood Finish - Hardwood Finishing

¶ Natural Finish: New Interior Hard Wood Trim, Oak, Ash, Chestnut, Cherry, Walnut, Gum, Birch and Maple.

¶ Operation 1: Clean up the wood with your duster brush and putty knife. Sandpaper the rough places.

¶ Operation 2: Bleach. Maple, Birch and any wood which is to be finished with the lightest possible color should be bleached as per the directions given in bleaching wood. Then a coat of bleached white shellac, very thin, should be put on after the surface is dry and has been sandpapered to smooth the raised grain caused by the bleaching with water solutions. Or the sandpapering may be done after the shellac coat, as preferred by some. The shellac coat will seal up the wood against discoloration from the oil in filler coats or varnish coats to come.

¶ Operation 3: Filler. Open-grain woods such as oak, ash, chestnut, walnut, etc., require filling usually, but not always, with a paste filler. Some finishes like Jacobean and Missions call for unfilled wood cells, the open-grain effect is correct. Birch, maple and cherry and gum, close-grain woods are usually filled sufficiently with a coat of shellac which is rubbed close. Paste filler is used on these woods by some finishers after mixing it very thin. Let the filler dry at least 12 hours; then clean up the wood grain by wiping over it with a cloth dampened with benzine. For mixing methods and use of fillers see wood fillers. No color is used in the filler for natural finishes.

¶ Operation 4: Putty. Fill all holes, bruises and cracks with lead putty mixed from white lead in oil, dry whiting and a little japan drier. Be sure to wipe off all putty marks from around the fillings or it will cloud the beauty of the finish. Let the putty dry over night if possible and sandpaper the filled places. Clean up the whole surface with a duster brush and wipe over with a damp chamois skin.

¶ Operation 5: Shellac. A thin coat of shellac of the white or bleached kind is next applied. About a three-pound cut, that is, three pounds of shellac gum dissolved in 1 gallon of denatured alcohol. Let it dry hard, requiring about an hour or so if the shellac is pure. Then lightly sandpaper the surface with No. y2 paper or steel wool. Dust off the surface and wipe down with the damp chamois skin. Some finishers prefer to omit this shellac coat, but it is really a benefit on either open or close grain woods, since it acts as a liquid filler, when sandpapered close as it should be, and puts on the finishing touches in leveling up and sealing the surface porous places.

¶ Operation 6: Varnish. Apply from one to four coats of first class interior varnish. When more than one coat is used each undercoat must be sandpapered enough with No. ½ or No. 00 sandpaper to remove the gloss. Then clean up the surface, cracks and corners with your duster and chamois skin before brushing on the next coat. Be sure the varnish coat is bone dry, however, before any sandpapering is attempted. Thin the first coat only of varnish 25% with pure turpentine.

¶ Operation 7: Rub Dull. If a dull, flat finish is wanted rub the last coat also when dry after two or three days, with FF, pumice stone and oil or water on a felt pad as noted here. Wash up with benzine after an oil rub and polish the surface dry.

¶ Operation 8: Wax. A wax coating may be applied immediately after Operation 4, but a much more serviceable job results from waxing over a coat or two of varnish. After applying the wax, let it dry fairly hard and polish. Then let it dry two days before applying a second coat. Polish the second coat to a hard surface with the usual weighted brush or rotary electric machine polisher.

Next Page: Soft Wood Finishing.