On Tuesday, October 28, 2014 11:50:58 AM UTC-5, Sonny wrote:

Finish formulas have changed (15-20 yrs ago?), to accommodate new VOC regs and concerns, yet many of the can's instructions remained the same. Unless you have perfect weather and other conditions, etc., drying and curing times may very well vary, from the ideal, and remedies, for mistakes, can be aggravating, not only for a novice, but for the experienced, as well.


Formulas for most states (of course with the huge exception of CA) didn't change much 20 or so years ago. The labels did. The instructions became 50% warnings about how dangerous the product was.

About 15 years or so ago product ingredients changed all for the best and so did application methods and protocols. Better resins, better synthetic oils, better product/quality control, and better application research started to come to the front of the line. When I took a class at the Sherwin Williams commercial coatings division traveling seminars, it was fascinating. They loaded me up with all kinds of practical and technical information, product manuals, etc. And better still, I got to talk to some of the guys that had actually applied the products.

I realized then how awful finishing is for the home guy. They don't like it (the battle cry of "I am a woodworker, not a painter") still rings in my ears from time to time. So the average woodworker learns exactly enough to get by. And, when they find something they like, THEY NEVER CHANGE.

I am being bit silly here, but it is almost like "Robert, I would paint the house myself, but with my wipe on products it might take me a while, and probably 10,000 cans of finish."

I spotted this trend at least 15 years back, and realized that "finishing" also known as "paintin", "stainin" and "varnishin" is widely viewed as a voodoo art. I rarely meet folks that read the cans, follow the protocols and procedures, and interface with the manufacturer. So finishing becomes almost folkloric, with bits and pieces of "knowledge" passed around on a slow day over coffee, or in an emergency situation like this one. Anything is better than doing the right prep, following the instructions on the can (what... read the instructions?), and the worst bugaboo of all... practicing your technique.

It is much more fun to sit and chat knowingly about a simple finish that is a favorite, and offer suggestions to others that in the end amount to passing verbal gas. Pure conjecture. I have heard more downright bull**** about finishing than just about any other craft. It is a craft unto itself, so how the guy that had literally applied finish to a hand full of pieces that only uses one or two finishes feels capable of dispensing advice, I don't know.

Folks that finish one piece a year (but have been doing one piece a year for 20 years)feel free to opine their expert opinion, because afterall, they have been doing it for 20 years! BTW, this isn't a slap at non professionals, many "professionals" are just as frickin' bad about not following instructions or learning their finishing products.

Anyone can pull off good finishing, just follow the instructions on the can.. That's what stumps me. Today's finishes are so good, so forgiving, and so easy to apply (follow the instructions) I don't really understand fouled finishes on projects made with new materials.

You are a professional finisher when you know your products well enough to know what VOC of solvent to thin with depending on the day's weather, you know which tip you want in your gun because there is a difference in "hanging" a coating and "laying" it out. You are fluent with paints, coatings, clear coats, and their application and methods of application. Better still, you understand prep.

For everyone else, just follow the instructions on the can. No guessing on application techniques from others, no folkloric advice from around the camp fire, no Google experts needed, and no "I know a guy that does this XXXXX this way... I haven't tried it, but he swears by it" thus divesting himself from any responsibility for his answer.

Robert