Hi

Whilst I think the hot weather is keeping people out of their sheds at the moment, and the amount of woodwork going on has dropped a little, we are still as busy as ever. Our next Conkers LIVE is being broadcast on Monday, featuring a demo from Darren Breeze. You might not know the name, but I can guarantee it’s going to be worth watching, so be sure to tune in. As always, it’s completely free, no downloads or sign-ups. Just click on this link to set a reminder. And be sure to read to the end of the Newsletter (I’m sure you do anyway!) for a teaser about our Woodturning Weekender…
But first, some questions…

First up this week, someone asked if Finishing Oil will affect a glue, stopping it from working properly? It shouldn’t; if the oil is fully dry, and is itself properly adhering to the timber, then it should’t give the glue any problems. Oils aren’t great at allowing other things to stick to them, but a good glue shouldn’t struggle. If it does cause issues, and the situation allows, I’d abrade the surfaces lightly with something like a 120 grit. This will give the glue more traction whilst removing some of the oil coating as well.

Here’s an interesting one; on our End Seal bottles, it doesn’t say that shaking the bottle is required before use. Is that the case, I was asked, or an oversight? Is there any harm in shaking the product? End Seal is a liquid wax emulsion, it doesn’t separate during storage so there’s nothing to drop to the bottom of the bottle and require mixing back in, so shaking it isn’t required. Doing so can cause it to froth up slightly, which isn’t a huge problem but it can get messy!
The instructions do say to apply up to three coats; our correspondent also mentioned that getting the first couple of coats on was easy, but the third didn’t want to stick. This usually means that there’s enough on already and the surface is suitably sealed; more absorbent woods might need that third coat, but the End Seal will tell you when there’s enough!

Finally this week, we heard from someone having white specks show up in the grain of their wood after applying a sanding sealer. They explained that part of their preparation process was to wipe the surface with white spirit after sanding. I’ve seen this practice carried out many times on YouTube, and I’m still a bit mystified why. All it does is wash the timber, and I’ve seen reference to it ‘degreasing’ the surface. This shouldn’t be necessary; in most cases any contamination should have been removed during the shaping and sanding process. Anything deeper than that isn’t going to be removed by white spirit, and it doesn’t remove any stray debris from sanding, it just washes it and leaves it where it is. A Tack Cloth is the best way of removing unwanted material. And getting back to the original question – any white spirit left behind, probably hiding in the grain, can affect the sanding sealer if they’re not compatible, causing, you’ve guessed it, white specks.

And that’s all the questions this week, but if you’re one of the many waiting for definitive news about our Woodturning Weekender, you can expect another email from me on Sunday, with what I hope will be exciting news. If you haven’t signed up for these emails you can do so here, (and get bulletins about Conkers LIVE too). It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, as we’re getting better at livestreaming too..!

I hope to be writing to you on Sunday, but if not, I’ll be back next Friday!

Have a good week

Terry