How to Finish End Grain? – Viewer Question
This question comes from Steve who asks:
Hi Marc, I like this site. I have learned a lot from it. I am new to this woodworking thing. My next project is going to be an entertainment center which will basically be two tall cabinets with doors. The doors will be stiles on the sides with a tenonned rail at the top and bottom with a recessed panel that sits in a routed “slot”. My question is what do you do to the ends of the stiles to make them look good? I have built some doors as a test and the end grain just soaks up the stain and doesn’t look good. I have similar doors in my kitchen and they look really nice, but they were done professionally. Any help is appreciated.
And my response:
End grain is one of those things that can really bite you in the butt if you don’t prep your projects properly. Many times, you finish sanding and everything looks and feels great! But then you apply the finish and all of a sudden your project looks like it was made from two different woods! The end grain soaked up so much finish/stain that it now appears to be a much darker color. Since the end grain is on a different face, where shadows can sometimes play tricks on the eye, you can usually get away with this color discrepancy and few people will ever notice. But there are some areas where this end grain issue is much more obvious and you absolutely must take precautions.
It really all comes down to sanding prep. End grain will always soak up more finish than face grain, and the result will be a darker color. But if you sand it to a higher grit, it tends to burnish the surface and limits the absorption of finish. The result is a lighter color that more closely matches the face grain. So if you plan on sanding the project to 180 grit, I would sand the end grain to 320. That will greatly improve the results.
But here’s the catch: end grain does not sand as easily or as quickly as face grain. So you might be wondering, how do I know when I have sanded enough?? Well, if you recall in our recent Keepsake Box video, I explained my system for sanding end grain. Here’s an excerpt for your convenience:
How To Finish Without Streaks? – Viewer Question
This Viewer Question is from Matt and its a little different than what we usually do. Instead of a simple question and a simple answer, this is an example of a long exchange that eventually leads to an excellent result and a happy ending. As you’ll see, it never hurts to ask questions!
I’m hoping you can help me with a finishing problem I’m having. I have completed a bubinga veneer coffee table, which I’m sure you are familiar with, as it is a David Marks’ design. In the past, I have always had good success with the General Finishes Arm-R-Seal Satin product on much smaller projects/surfaces. However, the large surface (18″ x 44″) of the table top is giving me fits. I can’t seem to produce a finish with this product that is streak or haze free. My technique thus far included:
1. First coat the surface with Seal-A-Cell followed by a light sanding with 320 grit.
2. I apply the Arm-R-Seal with a foam brush, spreading as thin as possible then wiping with a cotton rag, as lightly as possible. All application and wiping is done with the grain. I’ll work an area approximately equal to 1/4 the table top at a time.
3. Inevitably, as I’m about to move to the next section of the top, the wet edges of the previously wiped area are already setting up, making it difficult to blend the wet section back into the previous section.
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Washing Natural Bristle Brushes – Viewer Question
This Viewer Question comes from Tom who writes:
I just read Bob Flexner’s book :Understanding Wood finishing- the completely revised and updated version. I was hoping you could help…. On page 27 regarding cleaning brushes he states that the last step in cleaning ANY brush is to wash in soap and water. It is my understanding that natural bristle brushes do not hold up to water. So how can I use water to clean it??? Is it that a short exposure time is ok?? Please help.
Many of you know that my preferred way of applying finish is with the wiping method. So my experience with brushes is pretty limited. Now just like last week, I went to the source for a better explanation. Here’s a quick response from Bob Flexner himself:
“All types of bristles can be washed in water. Natural bristles don’t hold their spring for very long in water, so they don’t work well with water-based products. But there’s no problem washing these brushes, and you really have to if you’re going to store the brush because it’s the only way to get all the residue finish out of the brush. Thinners only thin the residue. They don’t remove it.” —Bob Flexner
You can support Bob and The Wood Whisperer at the same time by ordering Bob’s book using the link to the left.
Antique Mahogany Finish – Viewer Question
This Viewer Question come from Rob. He writes:
Hey Marc, thought I’d take advantage of my Guild membership “red phone” for the first time. I’m building a wine cabinet out of Honduran mahogany, and would like the finish to mimic the antique mahogany pieces in the same room. I am testing out a bunch of different finishing layers right now, and was wondering if you have any special recipe you’ve used. I have a whole assortment of water-based dyes, stains, shellac, oil, pore filler, and even asphaltum at my disposal for this experiment, so give me your best shot. Thanks in advance.
Hey Rob. Oddly enough, every time I have tried a finish that’s in the ballpark of that sort of “classic mahogany” look, I have tried something different. And each time the results were acceptable. So I don’t really have a favorite. But some of the techniques I used involved toners and lacquers, and it doesn’t sound like you have those on hand so I will skip them for now.
I would start the process with a dye or stain that gets your color at least 90% there. A good mahogany gel stain would be my choice (like General Finishes). Test on scraps until you determine which product gives you the best color. As an alternative, you can play with different dye ratios and make your own water-based dye stain. Once you apply your color, seal it in with some dewaxed shellac. That will lock the color in and protect the color from the next step, which is pore-filling. I would use an oil-based pore filler that has some color added to it. Something in the dark dark brown/red arena. Use Transtint or even a mix of UTC pigments (if you have them on hand), to achieve the dark intense color you need. Its also a good idea to let a small sample of the pore filler dry so you can see what color it takes on. In general, I like to match the wood color and possibly go slightly darker. I don’t like bringing too much attention to the pores.
When you apply the pore-filler, do like you normally would for any other piece. Apply it across the grain and wipe off the excess, let it set for a couple minutes, then buff it out using burlap if you can find it. Get as much of the excess up as possible. Then let it sit over night. Come back with a very light 320 sanding to clean up any remaining filler that might still be on the surface (but be careful not to cut through the shellac).
Now you can seal in the filler using another good coat of shellac. By this time, the color should be pretty much where you want it to be. You can always add some dye to your shellac sealer coat to tone the color one way or the other.
At this point, some people will even take things a step further an use a mahogany glaze to further deepen to intensity of the color. But if you got the right amount of color in step 1, this won’t be necessary. So just throw down several coats of your favorite finish and you should be good to go. I suppose you could also skip the pore-filling step but then I would recommend going with a matte finish. Maybe its just me but I hate the way a gloss finish looks on un-filled open pore wood. Good luck!
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