Hi

My thanks to the good people at Wealden Woodturners in Robertsbridge. Having enjoyed giving a demo there some years ago, I was invited back last year to demonstrate again, but it had to be cancelled due to a road closure in the area making the hall inaccessible.

I was booked to be there this weekend, but a family situation has arisen which means I really can’t attend. I advised the club at very short notice, and I’m grateful for their understanding and kind words.

Maybe third time lucky next year?

Following a question that came in during the week, it’s time for my annual reminder about how the change in the weather can affect finishing!

Days are colder, and the atmosphere in some workshops may be a little bit damp, which can play havoc with finishing; especially when spraying. The finish can collect small amounts of moisture whilst travelling from the can to the timber, and this will stop the finish adhering properly. This usually shows up as white marks, usually cloudy.

This isn’t limited to spray finishes only, it’s best not to ignore the possibility. The easiest solution is to try and introduce some warmth into your workshop—you’ll be more comfortable, too! But, even just making a warm area for finishing (a big box with a small heater!) will make a big difference.

Our White Spirit Stain is a constant source of confusion. The real problem is that it’s not really possibly to make a proper White Stain! Ours is a sort of hybrid, with the solvent overloaded with a white pigment.

This gives a reasonable effect, but it’s not always enough to give a significant colour change when applied to timber—especially if the timber is quite dark to begin with.

The White Stain was created to be used as a tinter, to allow users to create pastel shades from our other Spirit Stains. You know that our Spirit Stains are all intermixable, don’t you?

Finally, for this week (I must find a new way to wrap up the question segment, I’m sure I say that too much!), we are being asked regularly about using our products on Jesmonite.

We haven’t been able to carry out any tests on this (having time to do so would be a miracle at the moment!), but from our understanding of the product, based on what we’ve read, we reckon that our finishes will be fine for this.

Obviously, most of our products are formulated for timber, and that’s how they’re marketed, but many of them are multi-purpose!
Maybe that’s a line I could return to later…

Well, that’s it for this week. I’ve got an unexpected weekend at home, but it’ll still be a busy one. Nathanael is busy too; he’s off to West Midlands Woodturners to give one of his own demos (otherwise we’d have asked him to go down to Robertsbridge for us). Be sure to say hi to him if you’re there.

All being well, I’ll be back here next week!

All the best

Terry