You know, I've used the same dresser pretty much all my life. My parents
bought it for me when I was very young and it was built in the late 1960's.
It's nothing fancy, just a manufactured colonial style dresser that's held
up well over the years. The thing I've never understood is why there are
all those dark speckles in the light finish.
I've been reading Jeff Jewitt's book on finishing and just read the part
on "fly specking". It's a method used to fake damage in a finish. Ahhh,
that's what it's called.
After contemplating this for a few minutes, I finally put two and two
together. Those dark specks look just like the ones the flies leave on the
windows in my shop! I know, most of you are probably thinking "well duh!"
but here's the situation. Are those specks crap or puke? I'm no insect
specialist, but I've always understood that flies often puke when they land.
They also have to crap *somewhere*.
Did the manufacturer of my dresser try to imitate fly puke or crap in
the finish???? This sounds asinine! Does anyone have any insight as to the
real nature of "fly specking"? --dave