Hi

How has your week been? It’s been a hectic and unusual one for me. I announced a small price rise last week, unavoidable due to all the increases our suppliers are giving us. My thanks to those of you who emailed with your support on this, and the inevitability of price rises.
Thanks also to those of you who wished the Newsletter a happy birthday!
I’ve got a few more questions and answers for you..

I was asked what is the difference between Ebonising Lacquer and a matt black paint? It’s a subtle, but important difference. Ebonising Lacquer is a lacquer with a black pigment in it. We don’t need to use much pigment to make it black. This means that the lacquer also maintains a degree of translucence; the surface is unmistakably black, but it also allows some of the grain of the timber beneath to show through. A black paint will obliterate everything underneath it, leaving a solid black coating. (One of the reasons the original Model T Ford was black was because the paint didn’t need much pigment and was cheaper to produce, saving Mr Ford money!)

Another question was related to something I’d mentioned elsewhere, about using Burnishing Cream to cut back Cellulose Sanding Sealer. Why bother? I was asked. The reason is that the Burnishing Cream will bring the sealer up to a shine; this will show through the next coating, giving a deeper, brighter shine to the final piece. This works very well with Friction Polish and waxes, but importantly, shouldn’t be done if using a lacquer as the next coat. Any residue of Burnishing Cream still lingering on the surface could stop a lacquer from adhering properly. Friction Polish and waxes are much more forgiving and won’t be affected by any Burnishing Cream left behind.

And finally this week, a question very fitting to the recent weather we’ve had. Would the Acrylic Gloss Lacquer be a good choice for the turned handles on a set of small garden hand tools (trowel, fork, rake)? It wouldn’t be a bad choice, as the lacquer is tough and water resistant, so it would stand up to a lot of handling and sudden showers.
The only thing that concerns me on this is that any knocks the handles suffer, from being put down hard or things falling on them could cause the lacquer to crack, if hit hard enough. I think Finishing Oil would be a better choice for this project, as it is still hard wearing and water resistant but also has enough flexibility that if it suffers a knock it will move with it rather than crack.

With that, we’ve reached the end of another Newsletter. I’ll be back again next week with more information, questions and answers, and a reminder about our next Conkers LIVE with Darren Breeze, which is being broadcast on 2 August. Make a note in your diary if you haven’t already!

See you in seven,

Terry