Hi

I hope you weren’t too affected by the floods and everything last week. It absolutely poured down here, and several of the roads near our warehouse were under water. Our delivery company couldn’t collect (sorry if you were waiting for an order!) and it was touch and go whether we’d get home or would be spending the night in the office! We made it in the end, but some of the local area was under several feet of water and our commiserations to anyone who was affected by this.

I was just about to start the Newsletter when a phone call came in with a question, so I thought I’d include it, although I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before. A little reminder never goes amiss, though, I think. Can Spirit Stain be added to a varnish? The answer is generally ‘yes’. The Spirit Stain mixes well with traditional oil-based varnishes, as well as our Cellulose Sanding Sealer, Melamine Lacquer, and most of our oils. It will even mix with our acrylic based products, although these won’t normally tolerate a lot of stain being added, it’s normally just a small amount to give a gentle tint.
As always, a test is recommended, any incompatibility should show straight away.

Another question asked about how to avoid removing a stain applied underneath a sanding sealer, when sanding the sealer. In particular, the question related to the Acrylic Sanding Sealer raising the grain. The simple answer here is to wet the timber before applying anything; the grain will be raised, but once sanded back it shouldn’t come up again, and won’t cause any problems.
I was surprised that the sealer was having this effect, though, as even the acrylic shouldn’t raise the grain. Any sanding is done to remove the sanding agent in the sealer, and there should be enough of the coating to withstand this without going through it. It’s worth remembering that when using an abrasive on a sealer, the aim is merely to smooth it, not cut through it.

Finally, this week, we were asked if it was advisable to use Cut’n’Polish on a Buffing Wheel. The answer on this one is a definite no. The wax would clog the wheel and make a mess of it, and it would also leave unsightly smears on the work. It’s best to use the compounds that come with the kit (or are available separately). No 1 (the brown one) is slightly coarser, and prepares the surface by making it smooth. No 2 (the white one) is much finer, giving an extremely smooth result, preparing it for the final finish with a wax stick.
My thanks to Chas Jones who also answered this question when it was asked on our Facebook group Conkers.

And that’s everything from me for this week. I hope you’ve had a good week, and an enjoyable weekend ahead.
I was able to meet up with our good friend Stewart Furini on Monday for a meal before he went on to give a demo locally. I’m hoping we can fix up some dates to do some work together – watch this space!

All the best

Terry