Woodworking is the art and craft of using wood to make furniture or art. Woodworking applies to a wide range of professions, such as carpentry, cabinet making, joinery, or anything that involves working with wood. It will involve the use of many tools to mark, measure, and fashion the wood, as well as techniques for refinishing the woodwork.
Refinishing aims to bring out the beauty in the wood – that is, through a variety of techniques that will involve shaping, scratching, and wearing the wood away, refinishing will show off the wood’s natural grain and lineaments. Refinishing, therefore, also has the potential to damage wood, and it would pay to take note of the following tips before you start with your refinishing job.
- Refinishing will involve scratching the wood with either the use of chemical agents, or brute force on your part. Whichever technique you choose to refinish your woodwork, remember that the best methods are those which are gentle on the wood and on your fingers.
- Before settling for a refinishing technique, test it first on a piece of scrap wood. This way, you won't do any irreversible damage to your woodwork.
- Chemical strippers are actually safer than manual stripping. This is because some chemical strippers can soften old wood coatings, and at the same time keep dangerous lead-based paint dust out of the air in which you work.
- If you choose chemical stripping for your refinishing, try the citrus-based types. They will work more slowly than methylene chloride types, but they keep longer without drying out. Their smell is also easier on the lungs.
- Use a carbide-tipped, two handled paint scraper to remove any messes from your refinishing. The carbide-tipped blade stays sharp for much longer, and is inexpensive to replace.
- Use steel wool when all is said and done. After you’ve applied chemicals and scraped the wood surface (all of this done gently, of course), start work with the steel wool. The steel wool will remove any particles or adhesives without damaging your woodwork. Just be sure to keep steel wool in metal cans, and away from open flames.
Whether you choose to daub your woodwork with chemicals and refinish it with molecules, or spend the day flexing those muscles and wearing the wood away with all your strength, be sure to refinish gently. Woodworking takes a lot of skill and craftsmanship, and a wonderful piece of woodwork should be refinished without damaging the art that took hours to fashion and carve.
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