Hi

It wasn’t very long ago at all that I mentioned the wind and rain brought by a storm; as I’m writing this more rain is lashing down on the roof of our warehouse and many local roads are under water again. We’re sufficiently high up enough that we aren’t at risk (not looking forward to the journey home, though); and once again, I hope you haven’t been adversely affected by the weather.

A question that came in this week asked if it was acceptable to apply Hard Wax Oil over a coat of Lemon Oil. Being oil-based, it was hoped that it would be fine. I’m not a huge fan of doing this; although it will probably be OK, not all oils are the same, and once they have dried they can be fussy about what else sticks to them – even which other oils. So, where possible, it’s best to avoid mixing them. In the case of Lemon Oil, it is very low build, so it’s the least likely of them to cause a problem.

We were also asked about how to stop a water-based stain from bleeding when using a stencil – our correspondent describing the process as ‘futile so far as the stain just follows the grain [which is] acting as tiny straws.’
A good solution here is to use our Spirit Stains; these are especially successful when applied with an airbrush or one of our Spray Diffusers, as the stain dries very quickly and doesn’t have time to bleed across, which is what ruins the effect. At a push, the water-based stain could be applied on top of one of our sanding sealers, but this isn’t ideal as it won’t be able to soak into the wood, and could be easily removed. A coat of a compatible aerosol lacquer over the top of it would help reduce this risk.

Finally, this week, an odd one but I can’t resist telling you about it. I hope you won’t mind a small deviation from the normal questions I’m asked…
I’m grateful to Alex R for sending in what was a first for him. He’s a keen cryptic crossword solver as well as a woodturner, and was excited to find a clue in the i newspaper combining both of these passions. The clue was ‘Turner in endless panic’ (5).
Not being good at cryptic clues, I was grateful that he included the solution, along with an explanation:
Someone in a panic could be described as being in a lather. Being ‘endless’ is a sort of code to remove the last letter – ‘r’ – which gives ‘lathe’, which could, loosely, be described as a ‘turner’. All clever stuff!

We’re currently all systems go, getting ready for the Harrogate show next week! An extra attraction to look out for on our stand will be Nathanael Griffiths, who is doing so well in the Handmade TV show, who will be putting in a guest appearance as a demonstrator. I hope you’ll come and say hello!

Terry