The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Furniture Finishing

CLOSE-PORED WOODS

1. Shellac—One coat of the pure orange article, three to four and one-half pound cut, drys quickly, fills well and gives a fairly agreeable natural lustre without rubbing. However it mars readily on contact with moisture.
2. Shellac Substitute.—Usually cheaper than the above and popular chiefly for this reason. A few are waterproof, but most are not; when tinted with alcohol soluble anilines the color will fade and possibly come off on contact with moisture, as spirit colors are partially soluble in water.
3. Wax.—Over one coat of shellac or substitute, wax offers a surface easy to keep clean and more agreeable in lustre than either of the above. The wax may be tinted.
4. Wax.—Used alone it is a purely temporary proposition. When tinted with color in oil, heat or contact with anything greasy or oily may soften it and cause the color to come off. If wax alone is applied, the wood must be sanded extra smooth.

5. Varnish Leavings.—A slush coat may be made by working over the drippings and skins of varnish with benzine that will answer as a finish on very cheap work. Unless the mixture is well strained it gives a coarse finish with an uneven gloss. An economy job pure and simple best suited to backs.
6. Flat Varnish.—Very popular for the better class of furniture, usually applied over a first coat of shellac, substitute, or varnish firstcoater. Possesses much of the merit of wax with none of the drawbacks, though naturally more expensive in cost and slower in drying than any of the above.
7. Oil.—This method operates as follows: Apply two thin coats of shellac or substitute; sand and oil off with a rag saturated in paraffin oil. This is quick and inexpensive and gives an agreeable lustre, but is not durable and may be affected by heat.
8. Drawer Coater.—There are a number of leading brands most of which are based on one or another of the above. They are waterproof, may be obtained tinted, and vary in cost and speed of drying according to whether on a shellac, substitute or varnish base.
9. Coach Varnish.—May be obtained at low cost and makes an excellent undercoat for wax or flat varnish, but alone is not recommended on porous softwoods and does not give an agreeable lustre. It is sometimes tinted a light oak or walnut shade by adding a little asphaltum varnish. One objection, which also applies to varnish leavings, is that hot weather may tend to make it sticky.
10. Ruhbing Tarnish.—"When employed as a drawer finish only a light rub is given—just enough to knock off the gloss. An undercoat is required as for flat varnish; for a tinted effect the wood must first be stained or wiped over with filler. This is distinctly a quality method for quality furniture.