80 August 2005 Woodworker’s Journal

In previous columns, I’veexplained virtually every step

of the finishing process in detail.Today, I bring it all together withan annotated flow chart thatshows the order of those steps,which steps are mandatory andwhich are optional, and whatquestions you should ask inorder to tell the difference.

I will assume only two things:that you are starting with clean,new wood, and that you havealready made samples. The lastthing you want during finishingis a surprise, and making samplesof your intended finish steps onscraps of the wood you plan tofinish will go a long way towardavoiding unpleasant surprises.

In this chart, all mandatorysteps are yellow (rectangles), alloptional steps are red (circles),and all questions are blue(diamonds). This running text

Finishing Flow ChartBy Michael Dresdner

An annotated flow chart for your workshop’s wall

contains a bit more clarification.For in-depth explanations of eachstep, you should read the pastcolumns that covered thosetopics. One thing that shouldbe comforting is that there areonly four mandatory operationsin a simple finish, half of which arepreparation steps involving sandingand cleaning.

The WorkflowGlue spots: Check for glue spotsby wetting wood with either wateror mineral spirits to make the spotsmore obvious. Remove the glueby scraping or sanding. First sanding: Hand or machinesand with at least three successivealuminum oxide grit sizes: 80 (or 100),followed by 120 (or 150), followedby 180 (or 220). Wood putty: Fill dings or nickswith wood putty that matches thecolor of the wood, or so that whenstained, it will ape the stainedwood. Leave the putty slightly

Start

Glue Spots?Scrape

or Sand

First Sanding

NO

YES

Nicks orDings?

H2O Based Dye or

Finish?

ColorChange

Required?BlotchLikely?

LargePore Wood?

FilledPore Finish?

Wood Putty

in Voids

Hand Sand, Clean Off Dust

NO

YES

YES

YES YES

YES

Stain/DyeBefore

Pigment

NO

NO

NONO

RaiseGrain &De-fur

FillPores

YES WoodConditioner

NO

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81Woodworker’s Journal August 2005

conditioner on, wipe it off, and stainwhile the conditioner is still wet. Stain: Flood stain on liberally, andwipe it off while still wet. Whenusing two types of stain, dyes goon first, followed by pigmentstains. Let each application drycompletely before proceedingto the next step.Fill pores: Open pore finisheson large pore woods are bothcommon and attractive. However,if you prefer the look of a glasssmooth surface, fill the pores withinert pore filler. Seal the wood witha very thin coat of dewaxed shellacor Zinsser SealCoat™, or usea thinned coat of your intendedtopcoat. Apply the filler, removeit, and when it’s dry, sand lightlyto remove any filler residue on the surface. Let waterbasedfiller dry overnight, and allowthree days for oil-based filler.

In this chart, all mandatory steps are yellow(rectangles), all optional steps are red (circles),

and all questions are blue (diamonds).

proud. After it has dried, sand flushduring the next step so that thesanded area reveals the exactshape of the original void. Hand sand & clean off dust:This time, sand by hand, goingwith the grain when possible, using180- or 220-grit garnet paper (asopposed to aluminum oxide paper).This step also sands putty flush.Always sand all areas of the piecethe same way, in the samesequence, using the same size andtype of grit. Wipe, blow or vacuumoff sanding dust. Raise grain, de-fur: Spongewood liberally with clean water,wipe it all off, and let it dryovernight. Sand very lightly thenext day with 400-grit paper.Sand only enough to remove theraised fur. Conditioner: Apply woodconditioner only when necessary.Some woods and stains require it,while others do not. Making sampleswill tell you if you need it. Flood

Finish

“”

continues on page 82 ...

SpecialSealer

Required?

First Coat

Topcoats

YES

NO

NO

NO

TouchupNeeded?

AdditionalColor Modification

Needed?

Nibsor WrongSheen?

NO

ApplySpecialSealer

YES Touchup

YES

YES

Glazeor

Tone

RubOut

Finish

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