Hi

I’ve had trouble keeping track of days this week, I haven’t know which day it is. I’ve finally realised this is because I was at a demo on Saturday, at Sandon Woodturners, and it’s thrown my mental clock out. I had a great time there though, thanks everyone for such a warm welcome and for being a great audience. It’s always good to spread the word about best finishing practice!
Now it’s time for some questions!

One of the questions that came up this week involved our Ebonising Lacquer being applied and giving a milky/cloudy finish. There’s a very definite reason why something like this happens, and any lacquer can suffer from this, and it’s even more common when the lacquer is sprayed (whether through a compressor and gun, or from an aerosol). It has come up before, but it’s always worth a reminder…
The cause is a cold and (especially) damp atmosphere. These are a deadly combination for finishing, as moisture will get into the lacquer and prevent it from adhering properly, which always shows up as white marks in the finish. Sprayed lacquers are even more prone to picking up moisture as the droplets travel through the air.
The only cure is to remove the affected finish; prevention is better, and if you think your workshop is cold, it’s liable to be slightly damp as well, so leave your finishing for another day.

Another question recently concerned a suitable finish for chisel handles. There are lots of options here, pretty much any of our products could be used; some (such as the waxes) would require a polish up every now and again, but would feel very nice in the hand. A lacquer would also be suitable, and the request here was for a black finish, so I suggested using Ebonising Lacquer to do the job in one. I think it’s worth mentioning this one as I think some people are confused by this product; it’s a heavily pigmented lacquer to give a black coating, but it’s still a lacquer and it is a finish in its own right. It can be overcoated with another acrylic aerosol or a wax, but it can also be left ‘as is’, for a final finish.

Finally this week, a question about the Newsletter itself! I know that many of you file these away for future reference, or print out the pdf version and keep it somewhere safe. But finding the specific piece of information you want can be difficult; if you’ve been saving these since the start there’s over four years worth of Newsletters to go through. That’s over 200!
The answer is quite easy. Head over to our website and use the ‘search’ function there. All of the Newsletters are available on the website (there’s a link below) and you can search for a key word to get the information back.
It certainly saves going through loads and loads of emails!

And with that I will bid you farewell for just a short while as I’m off on holiday next week. Fear not, the rest of the wonderful Chestnut team will be holding the fort for me and dealing with orders and phone calls etc, and I’m even going to allow Melissa to write next week’s Newsletter! I hope you’ll enjoy her ramblings, and I’ll be back again soon.

Stay safe until I get back

Terry