Hello again

Happy Easter, if you’re lucky enough to be having a long weekend I hope you’re enjoying it and find some time for some woodworking! Don’t forget you can share what you do on our Facebook page, we’re always interested to see what you get up to. Links at the bottom of the page.

I covered sanding sealers in depth a couple of weeks ago, but a question came up last week from someone wanting to use a spray paint and wondering which sealer to use. It’s always tough to answer confidently when another manufacturer’s product is involved, so a test piece is essential in situations like this, but the general rule of thumb is to stick to the same solvent base wherever possible. If you’re not sure, then the Cellulose Sanding Sealer is the most universal of our sealers, there’s not much you can put on top of that that will cause any damage.

And what about the other way round? We’re often asked what can be applied over xyz brand paint (usually but not always an acrylic). Again, there’s no cast iron guarantee on this but if another coating is needed over the top for extra protection then we’d go for the Acrylic Gloss Lacquer or the Acrylic Satin Lacquer, depending on the degree of sheen required. These lacquers shouldn’t attack the paint below and the gentle spray application should ensure no harm at all. But always test first!

Many high solids (ie quite thick) woodfinishing oils can get thicker as they get older, if the can has been started they react with the air inside the can and eventually will end up as an unusable gel. This will take quite a while and a can should last at least a year, but it is possible to slow the process down even more. One way of doing this is to put the oil into a smaller jar so that there is no air gap, but you should also transfer all the relevant warnings from the tin to the jar as well, so not quite so easy. The other method is to put small, clean pebbles into the tin to raise the level of the liquid, again reducing the air gap.
I have seen plastic bags (think of the type of bags used for saline drips and the like in hospital) sold for this purpose overseas, but they can’t be used in the UK as wouldn’t have child-resistant closures, which is a legal requirement. We tried to find a way to make this idea work but couldn’t!

Have a great weekend; some advance notice that on 27 April I’ll be at the Axminster store in Nuneaton demonstrating our finishes, talking about them and answering any questions you may have, and promoting our Woodturning Weekender as well, which is slowly creeping up on us. Hope you’ve got your tickets!

All the best

Terry