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

Furniture Finishing

The Finishing Room, Equipment, Materials, Colors

THE first thing to be considered in the construction of a finishing room is light. Nothing is more necessary to insure perfect matching of colors, and avoidance of strain on the finishers' eyes. Furthermore many skips and rubbed-through places can be attributed to poor lighting facilities. If possible, there should be light on three sides of the finishing room, and the more wall space given to windows, the better.

If artificial lighting is necessary, and it is on dark days, the room should be so flooded with light, indirect if possible, that few shadows can be noticed. If the ceiling is painted a luminous white, an indirect light will not injure the eyes even though very strong. Lights should never be hung low near the workman, as the rest of the room will appear dark and many shadows will cause poor finishing.

Heat is another requisite and the room should never fall below 75° F. while work is progressing. The heat should be evenly distributed in the room. If the exha'ust equipment is on opposite side of the room, all heating should be on the side fresh air is taken in. Of course the heat of the drying room should be raised to 100 degrees or more for quick oxidization of varnish coatings or enamels. Most production factories using varnish are equipped with drying systems designed to hasten the drying of the material. If lacquer or shellac is the finishing coat, it will not be necessary to have extra heat or a special drying system. With these materials coated pieces can be placed in the drying room with just comfortable room temperature, for they dry quickly.

An important thing to consider in any finishing room or drying room is the air-tight construction, so that no dust can be carried into the room from the outside to settle on finished work and thus cause pimples and more labor to rub out. Windows should be metal frame and tightly cased. Small openings may be allowed with double screening for ventilation. An efficient ventilating system should be installed, especially in large plants.