Happy Friday everyone (I know at least half of you read this on a Friday so that’s most of you!)

I’ve been suffering this week with this lurgy that’s going around recently, not fun, I hope you’ve managed to avoid it and if not you have my sympathies.
This week’s newsletter is just a little bit different.  I don’t think you ever stop learning, and just to show that you can teach an old dog new tricks, this week I want to pass on some of the new tips I’ve learned recently and update some previous answers.

I’ve said before that the Iridescent Paints are totally opaque and this isn’t quite correct. They have a very slight translucency which means that when applied over different colours – and layering them over the Spirit Stains works fantastically well – subtle colour variations can be achieved, opening up a whole new palette of colours and possibilities. The important thing here is that they don’t have to be used solely over a black background.

Another thing I’ve said, and stand by, is that you don’t need a finish over an Acrylic Blank; nothing will be as hardwearing as the acrylic. Which is true. But a pen turner this week pointed out that whilst using a Microcrystalline Wax doesn’t improve the look or toughen the surface, it DOES keep the pen free from fingerprints. Particularly useful if you’re displaying them somewhere where they’re likely to picked up and inspected a lot.

And finally for this week, I mentioned last week about being asked for a finish for a soap dish. Lemon Oil is still a good choice here, but I’ve been told that using Cedar as the timber will also help as this is able to withstand the wetting/drying conditions that a soap dish is liable to be subjected to.

And there you go for this week! No demos or shows for me yet to tell you about, they’ll be starting up very soon. More details on our website; there’s a link to it in the footer below, plus others which if you haven’t investigated them yet are worth doing.
And just to complete the set here’s a link for our Woodturning Weekender, just in case you’re new here! I wouldn’t want you to miss it!

I’m off now, have a great week, stay warm and stay well, I’ll see you same time, same place!

Terry