Hi
I haven’t been around much this week. I was due to give a demo in Sussex on Sunday and tacked a couple of extra days onto it to spend some time in the area relaxing, especially after the Weekender. Sadly, the demo was cancelled, but as everything was booked I went anyway, and have enjoyed the R&R. Then a day in the office, before heading down to Swindon for a site visit to the venue for next year’s Weekender. I hope your week has been less hectic!

Something that always seems to confuse people, is when to apply a stain. Is it before the sealer, or after?
The general rule here is before the sealer. If you remember that a stain wants to be absorbed by the wood, and allowed to soak in. If the wood is sealed first, this can’t happen.

There are a couple of occasions when the wood can be sealed first. A diluted sealer can be used as a sort of conditioner, to even out the porosity of the timber. This will give a more even coverage on timbers like pine, which can be difficult to stain.

And, sometimes, a sealer can be used to keep the stain wet longer, for decorative effects. But, in the main, stain first, then seal.

Which sort of leads onto another question – what’s the best sealer to apply on top of a stain? Any of our sealers can be used, but the Shellac and Cellulose versions can reactivate the stain and cause the colours to run. This isn’t a problem if you’ve only used one colour, and the stain is applied gently. But, if you’ve created a pattern or design on the wood, you’re likely to end up with a single colour after they’ve all blended together. In this case, use one of the aerosol spray sealers.

These work because the sealer lands on the surface, and dries in place (unless you put way too much on and cause a run, which is a separate issue). There’s no cloth or brush being dragged across the surface to move the stain.

A caller last week wanted to buy some Dome Buffs, and was a little confused about which ones would be best for them. The ‘problem’ is, as well as doing them in the A, B and C cloth grades, each to be used with the correct compound or wax, we also do them in three different sizes as well. Which is the best one?
That’s not really answerable, it depends so much on what is being made, but the Medium Dome Buff, which is about 100mm at its widest point (i.e. at the base of the dome), is the most popular. It seems to be the right size for most bowls etc. The Small one could be used, but would take a lot longer.

We’ve got a new YouTube video about the Dome Buffs, if you want to see them in action. You can watch it >>>HERE<<<.

That’s everything from me for this week, I’ll be back in seven days as always.

Cheers

Terry