Sal Marino's WoodCourse.com (Articles)

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	Woodfinishing
	Finishing Cherry Cherry has been one of the most popular furniture woods for the past two hundred years. While being one of the easiest hardwoods to work with either hand, machine or power tools, cherry is a very difficult wood to stain and finish. This article covers several ways to deal with these problems.		Brushing On Varnish While not very easy to apply by spray application, oil based varnish is one of the easiest finishes to apply by brush. Because varnish sets-up slowly it gives the user plenty of time to brush and spread it out evenly on to the surface. Learn how to brush properly and avoid common problems that occur when brushing any finish.

	Filling The Pores of Wood It's much easier to obtain a glass smooth surface on some woods like maple, cherry and birch, because the pores in these woods are relatively small and uniform. Therefore, when you apply a topcoat finish such as lacquer, varnish or poly, the first one or two coats will usually be enough to fill the pores and level the surface. Other woods like oak, ash, mahogany and walnut have pores that are larger and not as uniform, and require additional work.		Marbleizing Faux (pronounced foe) finishing is the art of painting to create the illusion of real materials like marble, granite, wood grain and wood tones. Traditionally, faux finishing was done by experienced finishers or craftsmen that learned the techniques mostly from family members. Learn how to produce a beautiful marble finish with common tools and materials.

	Finishing Oily Woods Traditionally, some of the world’s most colorful woods like rosewood, teak, ebony and cocobolo are often used to build musical instruments, decorative boxes, jewelry, accents and trim on furniture. Recently though, many of these woods are being used to build whole pieces or sets of custom furniture. As more are being used by not only professional but amateur woodworkers, many people are running into difficulty when it comes to finishing of these woods.		A Pickled Finish Although certain stains are sold under the name pickling stain, technically, pickling is a method not a finish. Originally, pickling was preformed on new wood to make it look old. Let's take a look at what a pickled finish is today.

	Behlen Rock Hard Tabletop Varnish If you are looking for a good old fashion varnish that is very resistant to, alcoholic beverage spills, abrasion and water rings, Behlen Rock Hard Tabletop Varnish is a great choice.		Rubbing Out A Finish What makes the difference between a good finish and a great finish? Rubbing out the finish. From the second you start rubbing the finish, you start to improve the surface tremendously.

	Super Smooth Oil Finish What makes the difference between a good finish and a great finish? Rubbing out the finish. From the second you start rubbing the finish, you start to improve the surface tremendously.		Surface Preparation The first step to a good finish is to make sure the surface the finish will be applied to is free of all defects such as dents, gouges, scratches and milling marks. This article will give you a step-by-step procedure for preparing your project for a good finish.

	Veneering
	The Great Cover-Up Learn how to work with veneers and inlay borders to turn ordinary wood info beautiful surfaces. Used with permission from WOOD Magazine ®		Veneers And Inlays One of the most enjoyable aspects of veneer work lies in selecting the woods and inlays for a decorative project. As you'll see here, choices abound. Used with permission from WOOD Magazine ®

	Flattening Wavy Veneer The grain in veneer is particularly important in its effect on the figure of wood. Different types of irregular (highly figured) woods may raise, crack or blister. Some of the best examples of this are the burls and crotch veneers. This article shows you how to flatten these wildly veneers.		Removing Old Veneer Removing old veneer from a work piece can be a nightmare or relatively easy undertaking. This all depends on what type of glue was used to bond the veneer to the surface.

	Trimming Veneer The two most commonly used tools to cut and trim veneer are a veneer saw and a craft knife. I will cover the use of both these tools in this article.		Veneer Grain Patterns The actual grain pattern of a piece of wood is often determined by the way it is sliced from the log. The way veneer is cut off the log determines the appearance of the grain. Veneer cut from the same log will have an entirely different appearance if cut using different methods. Wood mills use several different sawing methods to turn logs into lumber boards. What follows is a discussion of some of the more common methods.

	Jointing Veneer There are a number of ways to obtain a good, tight joint that will be virtually invisible and will not lift or pull apart. While the following method may not be the quickest or most practical, I have always had great success with it.		Buying Veneer Today, there are many different types of veneer available to both hobbyists and professional. In general, veneers can be broken down into two categories, Flexible and Standard. Both are used extensively by pro and amateur, however there are significant differences in cost and ease of application. I will briefly describe these two types of natural wood veneer and talk about how to store them in your shop.

	Refinishing
	Bleaching Wood Woodworkers use several ways to actually lighten the color of a piece of furniture, but applying a lighter stain over an existing darker color usually does not work, this is where bleaching comes in.		Howard's Restor-A-Finish Before you decide to strip that scratched, crazed or crackled finish, you should try Howard's Restor-A-Finish. There are many other types of amalgamators and products that claim to remove scratches and restore the luster and beauty to a finish, this one works.

	How And When To Use Paste Wax Contrary to popular belief, paste wax is not a good choice for a protective finish. Even though you may still read articles or hear other woodworkers advocating the use of paste wax as a protective finish for raw wood, the simple fact is that it should be used as a maintenance product, not a finish.		Touching Up Minor Scratches There are a number of methods you can use to touch up scratches in the finish on a piece of furniture. The method I use, depends upon how large (deep, wide and long) the scratch is. Before we discuss this method, I feel it is necessary to define exactly what a scratch is and how to determine the extent of the damage caused by the scratch.

	Removing Water Marks And Rings Most white marks or rings on furniture are usually left by water or moisture penetrating through the protective finish (varnish, shellac, lacquer etc.) and then getting trapped below the finish. When this happens the finish in that area appears white and looses its transparency. Here we show you how to remove these hazy marks.		Repairing Veneer Even veneer that's applied properly and handled with care can chip, crack or bubble over the years as the glue breaks down. In this article, I'll show you how to repair the most common kinds of veneer damage.

	Staining
	Ebonizing It's hard to beat the dramatic look of a jet-black music box or furniture piece, however ecological concerns and the sky high price and scarcity of ebony keep lots of woodworkers from using this wood. With ebonizing, learn how to transform less expensive woods into eye-catching pieces. Used with permission from WOOD Magazine ®		Wood Stain Formulas If you like working with colors and do a great deal of staining or matching stains. The following formulas will help you reproduce various natural wood tones. All the colors are available in many mediums like oil (Japan Colors), acrylic colors and Universal Tinting Colors which can be dissolved in any medium.

	Making Your Own Oil Stain Sometimes it is impossible to find a stain that is the exact color you need. This is especially true if you are building a piece of furniture and want to match the color to an existing piece. No matter how many colors stain manufactures offer, these companies will never be able to supply us with the infinite number of color combinations needed to suit every job, therefore we need to make our own.

	Woodworking
	Showy Keepsake Box This little beauty features quarter-sawn oak veneered sides and a veneered face made up of madrone burl with a surround of inlay and oak. This project is a great introduction into basic box making and veneering in addition to making a pleasing gift for a loved one. Used with permission from WOOD Magazine ®