Hi

Much as I enjoy the extra day off a Bank Holiday brings, it throws my internal clock out completely. I thought I still had an extra day to write the Newsletter, I remembered just in time. I also remembered my demo at SECB, which was great fun as expected. Thanks to everyone who came along, and especially for joining in!

Here come the questions…

Using a sealer before Gilt Cream?
I had a call from someone who was making a piece out of ash. He wanted to colour it with stain, then use Gilt Cream to highlight the open grain. Is it vital to use a sealer before using the Gilt Cream, I was asked.
It’s not essential, the effect will work without a sealer (which could also be a clear lacquer), but I strongly recommend it. The close grained areas of ash can still allow some of the Gilt Cream to show, even after cleaning. If they are sealed first, less will stay where you don’t want it, giving a more dramatic effect. The sealer will follow the contours of the wood, so it won’t inhibit the Gilt Cream from staying in the open grain.

Another question came in from one of our stockists in Germany. They’d been asked for a suitable finish for snooker/billiard cues – could we suggest anything? Possibly one of our lacquers? They were already on the right track; our Melamine Lacquer is not only great for this job, but we already supply it to a number of cue makers who are very happy with it. The accepted method of application for it might surprise you, though. In order to make the process quick and easy, the cues are passed through the middle of a sponge-type material pre-soaked in the lacquer. This applies a thin, even coat which is allowed to dry and generally looks great. It’s a bit of an art, but once perfected it makes the job a lot easier!

It’s always nice when you get an email from someone who’s followed your advice and they’re happy with the result. This happened a couple of weeks ago, and I can’t quite remember the exact question! But it had to do with applying Hard Wax Oil. A coat had already been applied, but it wasn’t quite as dark as anticipated. Could it be stained, or have a coat of Finishing Oil to tone the wood down? Sadly not, but all was not lost. It is possible to add some of our Spirit Stain to Hard Wax Oil to tint it, to provide a subtle colour change. This was done, and the result was exactly what was wanted.
This is worth remembering, and also that you can add the stain to our Cellulose Sanding Sealer and Melamine Lacquer too!

That’s everything for now. A quick check of my calendar tells me that I don’t have any demos now for the rest of the month, due to staff holidays and also my holiday at the end of the month. I’m looking forward to that!
I hope you have a great week, and I’ll be back here (counting the days) next week.

All the best

Terry