No, I didn't miss it. It didn't seem consistent given the words just before
it. You were implying that the discussion over chemistry of finishes and
finish combinations was more important, for those participating in it, than
were the original posters' results. I responded to that implication and not
the smiley. I didn't want the implication to override the sincere concern
of, at least, myself to the original poster.

The testing process that I go through with prepared finishes (sometimes even
on my own to see if those results compare with what I KNOW is in there) is
different depending on the type of finish it is. But, basically, I throw
them in my stills. g No, not grandpappy's old mountain corn-mash still
down in the valley, although the basics are the same, frankly. What I mean
is that I throw a finish into a series of distillation setups that use
simple and fractional distillation methods to extract certain substances out
of the mixture of ingredients. I can get a very basic idea of the substance
by when and how each substance is extracted (by boiling point for instance).
From there, I get to better ideas of each substance by running simple tests
(ph, indicators, drying times, appearance, etc.) myself. Sometimes, I'll
get much much better results by sending the distilled and
refined/concentrated substances from the finish mixture to a chem lab. g
I use the same lab that has been doing the family business water/oil
drilling lab work for years. They do the hard work and detailed tests that
I couldn't even attempt to do here. I send them the substances in question
and maybe some of the possible control substances that I think might be in
that mixture so that I can compare the results. I already have most common
finishing ingredients already analyzed so I don't have to send those in
anymore. I just send in the unknown samples and then compare against the
possible known ingredients.

So, to shorten it down (yes, at the end of course!), I do some simple
highschool (maybe a couple of college organic just to justify those
semesters) chemistry tests here and then I let the chemical experts do their
jobs. Then I compare the results of those analysis' to match up what's in
there. No sniffing. bg

- Andrew



"Tony Manella" ndd1atprolog.net wrote in message
...
Andrew,
I think you missed the smiley face on my previous post. I am curious
though
on how you tested the Formby's to find there was no tung oil in the
product.
Tony Manella
ndd1"at"prolog.net (remove "at")
http://home.ptd.net/~ndd1/
Lehigh Valley Woodturners
http://www.lehighvalleywoodturners.com/

"AHilton" wrote in message
...
The results ARE entirely the point. It's not the immediate results I'm
terribly concerned about nor was commenting on. Like I told the
original
poster, I'm sure he's getting great looking results ... for now. And
I'm
not looking into the future 30 - 50 years from now either! Lacquer and
Polyurethane don't mix. That's just Finishing Basics. The chemistry
detail
is an appeasement for those that can't take advice without some
scientific
justification or a bibliography attached. g

Are you wanting to do the tests yourself?

- Andrew