Hi

As I mentioned last week, today is our 30th Birthday! We’ve been out in the big wide world providing great finishes to woodworkers for thirty years. Where did that time go??
I do hope you’ll come and join in our quiz tonight, it’s just a bit of fun but we’d love to celebrate with you.
I offered the chance to ask any Chestnut-related questions last week, and I’m secretly pleased that no-one took us up on it. I’ve always preferred to let our products do the talking for us. It’s not that I don’t think of Chestnuteers as friends… I just don’t think you want to see my holiday snaps!
So I’ve got your normal three questions for you this week…

If you look on our Compatibility Chart you’ll see that we say that our Microcrystalline Wax can be applied over the WoodWax 22. We were asked this week about the benefits of doing so. Applying a number of coats of wax will give a deeper shine, and using WoodWax 22 for the first couple of coats will be much quicker than using Microcrystalline Wax. However, the more coats of WoodWax 22 that are applied, the softer the finish will become. In most cases we wouldn’t recommend more than two coats. Applying the Microcrystalline Wax on top, though, will give a harder wearing surface, meaning the finish will stay looking good for longer. it’s technically possible to use the waxes the other way around, but it will result in a softer finish.

From time to time, we get asked about finishes suitable for outdoor use; one came up this week. This isn’t really our strongpoint, but we do have a couple of suggestions. The question this week was about a house sign, and either of our options would work on this…
As it’s fairly small, the Acrylic Gloss Lacquer would be a good choice. It’ll be easy to get a good finish with the aerosol, and it is hard wearing enough to withstand most of what the British weather can throw at it. The other option would be our Finishing Oil, which is similarly hard wearing. Both of these products also have UV filters in them to protect themselves and the timber below. Finishing Oil is also great for larger items (benches, tables etc.) as well, if you need to finish or renovate them, although, of course, it’d be extremely difficult to get a good finish on large items with an aerosol.

Finishing over a stain was something I was asked about this week, and it’s another place where an aerosol finish is definitely useful. It’s not quite as essential if only one colour has been used, but where a pattern has been created care needs to be taken. Regardless of the type of stain, it’s very easy for the next coating to reactivate it and make the colours run into each other, ending up a murky brown.
Using an aerosol finish won’t necessarily stop them from reactivating, but because there’s no mechanical contact involved in the application, the stains don’t move. The sealer/lacquer hits the surface and dries on the spot, usually very quickly; there’s no cloth or brush to move the stain around.

Some of these questions came up at the demo I gave to the Herts and Beds Woodturning Club on Tuesday evening. Thanks to everyone there for making me so welcome, it was a great evening; so much so that I’m going to have to come back another time to do the second half of the demo! If you’ve signed up to the Newsletter after the demo, welcome.
Don’t forget the quiz, there will also be a small announcement tonight…

I hope to see you there

Terry