Like many of us, I am not the best woodworker. However, I still
like the idea of making my own furniture. I just do have the
finances to outfit a home workshop like the ones you see on
television. I can, however, apply stains and finishes. Staining
and Finishing only requires some basic tools and experience.
Plus, if I totally mess up a piece of furniture when finishing
it, all I have to do is to remove the finish and start all over
again.
Some of the basic tools you'll need are: sandpaper in various
grits, some good paintbrushes, rags, and a ton of patience. If
you have an electric sander, that speeds up the sanding process
but isn't required. I use a small orbital sander that both
vibrates and swirls for a smooth finish.
In my town, there are a couple of stores that sell furniture for
just these types of projects. They are usually called
"unfinished furniture" or "raw furniture" stores. They typically
have a good selection of furniture in pine, oak, and other
species of wood. You'll usually find a good selection of
furniture ranging from simple bookcases, armoires, coffee
tables, all the way up to complete dining room sets.
With a raw or unfinished piece of furniture, one of the toughest
decisions is how to finish it. Again, you will have several
choices. You could simply paint it a color to match your d?cor.
Or, you could stain and finish it with a clear top-coat. And
with stains, you have a myriad of choices. You could stain it a
natural-looking wood color, or you could stain it a more vibrant
color like red or purple! The main difference between staining
and painting is that paint is opaque and cover the wood surface.
Stains are transparent and let the beauty of the natural grain
show through.
Your top-coat, or clear-coat on top of the stain can be either
flat, semi-gloss, or shiny. The new water-based polyurethane
finishes are easy to apply, quick to dry, and a snap to
clean-up. And there aren't a lot of nasty fumes with them.
Popular options right now are hand-painted finishes. You can
paint your unfinished furniture to look like a charming folk
piece or something from a French country cottage. And if you are
up to the challenge, you can apply a faux finish with paint to
your unfinished furniture to make it look like anything from
stone to steel!
The most important thing to remember when you are finishing your
own furniture, is to have fun, take your time, and don't worry
if it doesn't turn out exactly as planned. Sometimes the best
looking pieces are not the ones you started out trying to
create!
About the author:
Dean Novosat is an avid do-it-yourselfer and remodeler. He has
been refinishing and building furniture for twenty years. He has
several websites including Raw Unfinished
Furniture and
Hand Made Furnishings .
|
