Greetings!

Yes, I’m back again after a busy but enjoyable week, including a visit to West Midlands Woodturners (who looked after us incredibly well, thank you) and the Lincolnshire Association of Woodturners (also very hospitable). If you signed up at either of these demos a warm welcome, or if you’ve arrived here via another route it’s good to have you along.

I was struggling a little for new questions this week, it’s traditionally our quiet time of year, and all of these came in on the same day! The first one was about using Spirit Stain outdoors and if it would be ok for this. The short answer is yes, the pigments are incredibly fade resistant so they will stand up to the UV light (we’ve been here before I think) but they only colour the wood, they will need to be sealed in against rain as sufficient water (in the UK? Surely not) will re-dissolve them and make the colour run. It probably won’t remove all of it, but enough to make a mess. And a little Spirit Stain goes a very long way! Any exterior rated finish will be fine for this.

Still talking of colouring wood, and this time trying to avoid it, we were asked which lacquer from our range would impart the least colour. The Melamine Lacquer is pretty clear but in this case had been tried on a very pale wood and a faint yellow tinge was visible, and detracted from the whiteness of the timber. Our suggestion in this case is the Acrylic Lacquer which is as tough as the melamine once dried (relevant because this was for kitchen cupboard doors) but will be much clearer – so worth knowing if you’re working on a similar timber.

Funnily enough, I’ve just realised the last question is about colouring wood too, someone finishing the neck of a guitar asking about whether Ebonising Lacquer will go over Black Spirit Stain. The answer is yes it will, but the reason for doing so might not be immediately obvious; after all, won’t the Ebonising Lacquer hide the stain? It will, but if somehow (and whilst hard to do it’s possible) the lacquer gets chipped and exposes the bare wood, the lighter timber will stick out like a sore thumb (where does that saying come from?). If, however, the wood is stained black the damage won’t be anywhere near so obvious. It’ll still need to be repaired but it won’t be quite so urgent.

So that’s all three for this week; you might remember recently that I mentioned something happening on the first weekend in August 2019 (3rd and 4th)? We’re nearly ready to announce what’s going on and hopefully next week I’ll be able to give you a few more details.
Until then, have a great week and I’ll see you then!

Cheers

Terry