A lot of woodworkers are very tentative about finishing. They’re afraid that they’re going to screw up their project in the finish step. So let me give you some tips that’s going to help you get a better finish on your project. Good finishing in large part starts with good setup, good equipment.

So one thing that I’ve already done here is I’ve laid a piece of rosin paper down there. There are a couple of things for me, one, it of course protects that bench that I’m going to do my finishing on so I don’t get any finish on there. It also helps lay over some of the dust that might be on my bench and kind of mask that so I’m not kicking that dust up into my finish.

The other thing that I want to have is some kind of a turntable setup that my work can go. This is going to do a couple of things for me. One, that’s going to elevate my work off of this rosin paper. If I simply apply a finish with this down on the paper, what’s going to happen is that some finish is going to drip out and basically I’m going to glue this right down to the paper. I don’t want that to happen. So instead, I want to elevate the work. I also want to have access to this piece from every side. If I’ve got it just sitting stationary, I’d have to walk around the bench. Sometimes, you don’t have to set up the room in your shop that allows you to do that. So it’s much easier if I can spin the work rather than spin me.

So here’s how this is going to work for me. I can set this up on this turntable, the turntable like this specifically designed for finishing applications. I’m going to adjust these points so that they’re right under the box, the same thing on this side. It’s nice. I want points under my project that are pointy enough to create a single point of contact but not so pointy that they’re going to leave a dimple in the back of my project. Alright, that’s pretty well set to go. And what’s cool with this is that the finish that I’m spraying on can be sprayed with me just standing in one spot, the shellac is really bringing out the beauty of the cherry. You’re going to see it if it comes around to your side there. The turntable is making it much easier for me to get a nice uniformed coat of finish on this project. That’s a great setup for a small project like this. Let’s have a look at how I would handle this if the project was a little bit bigger and a little bit more awkward to handle.

The next project that I’m working on in my shop is a table. And this is the frame for it, the leg and rail assembly. I’m really anxious to see this one under finish. It’s really going to look cool. This is some old, old, old, reclined pine I used. Now, I’ve got some of the same issues here as I apply finish to this. I want it elevated off the rosin paper. I also want to make sure that I can spray the inside and the outside all in one follow swoops so all the sides are going to be easy to get at. And I want to make sure that I can stand in one spot and bring the project to me instead of trying to bring my finish to the project. So I’m going to come back to the turntable here and position my points so that they receive the projects just right.

Alright, I’m going to go with shellac again. Shellac is a great undercoat, pretty good universal undercoat for just about any top coat you want to put on here. So basically, I’m going to use the shellac as a sanding sealer for this project. So here on my turntable now, I can go ahead and start with the finishing process and we’ll see just how cool this project is going to look. So I can shoot the inside of the legs, the inside of the rail and just keep working my way around. Now, I’m going to give this a spin to check and make sure if I left any naked spots on here. The shellac dries so quickly, one of the things that makes it real convenient for using as an undercoat like this.

That looks. Now, I’ve got another project, a big base cabinet that I’m working on. Let me give you some tips for that kind of finishing as well. Here is something else that I’m working on in my shop, this big cabinet ready to get finished on this thing. I’ve got some of the same issues. I want to make sure that I do a nice job so I’m going to get it up on the turntable so it’s elevated off to work up of the rosin paper and I can easily get to all sides of it. So let me plunk that down, get it centered.

Now with this one, remember I said, part of finishing is the equipment and your setup. So on this one, I want to get a nice brush on varnish vanish on this. I’m using the polyurethane. So make sure that you’re using the right brush. I’ve got a natural bristle brush with what’s called a chisel tip on it. That’s going to do a really nice job on laying the varnish out for me so I get a nice uniform coat all the way down.

When I’m using a brush, it’s nice that I can bring the work to me so I’m not dipping my bush, walking around the project. Now before this side gets dry, let me give you another tip for varnish here. As a last step, think of it almost like a squeegee. You can take just the tip of your brush and I’m going to start in this corner standing almost perpendicular to your work and pull that through the varnish. Now, it’s going to do a really, really nice job on leveling stuff out. It’s also taken off these couple of bubbles that I have going here. That’s going to go a long to get a really nice varnish finish on your project.

So like I said, it’s about setup, it’s about equipment and the easiest way to get a good finish on is to be able to bring your work to you rather than try to bring you to the work and a turntable like this goes a long way toward helping you with it. now, let’s finish this one up.