The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
Always finish lightly with the grain of the wood. The last operation is very important, but will avail nothing if the circular strokes leave marks in the finish, because the strokes with the grain are only for finishing and cannot easily take out circular strokes. Be sure that the surface is very smooth before attempting to finish with the grain. If necessary allow time for the surface to dry and then sand with dry garnet paper, 7/0, afterward stroking with the rubber with the grain to finish.
Matching the Surrounding Surface.—After eliminating a light scratch by French polishing, it is necessary to do one of two things; either to polish up the rest of the surface to match or else dull the spot to match the rest of the plane. If working on a highly polished surface, you will have only to make a good job of the polishing and perhaps polish the rest of the immediate surface.
If the work is on a very small surface, it is always best to polish the rest of the surface by frenching, for in no other way can the work be so easily matched.
If the surface is extremely large and the scratch repaired is small, you would not be required to patch the entire surface, but rather attempt to match the rest of the surface with the spot you have frenched. In most cases it will be necessary to dull the spot to match.
Dulling the Patch by Brush Method.—The most effective way to dull a frenched surface is to use a stiff bristle brush in which has been dusted a quantity of FFF pumice stone, brushing this over the spot rapidly before the spot has time to dry thoroughly. Another method, one that has been tried with varying success, is to allow the spot to dry hard and then rub with pumice and oil to match the rest of the surface. This does not always work for the reason that French varnish has been used and the coating is so thin, that, when rubbed with a felt pad and pumice stone, the surface cuts through and the patch is rained.
For quick work on small spots and especially large surfaces dull with the dry brush method described above. Of course one must select a brush with comparatively short bristles, stiff enough so that they will scratch the surface as they pass over and not bend on their sides. The bristles must be cut off square and not chisel-type. The correct amount of pumice is a matter for experiment.
Many finishers use a dulling brush with rubbing oil and pumice for dulling spots after they are hard, but this method has never met with much success and can be relied on only in places so obscure as not to be noticed anyway.
