Wood trade secrets.

Worth1 · June 2, 2009

I’m going to delve into the little mentioned world of wood and how they did it years ago.
Not known by many folks these days we are subjected to sub standard wood finishes that are easy to manufacture and therefore cheaper to sell on the market.
We go into the store and see those high gloss pieces of furniture and say to our selves, “how lovely”.
We take it home it gets a scratch and it is never the same again, try as we will we can never seem to get it back to what it looked like in the store.
What they really don’t tell you is the fact that this finish is really inferior to the age old practice of finishing wood the right way.
We have become accustomed to it so we quite expectedly think it is the way it should look.

I have to go put up some stuff in the garden so I will cut this short and let you guys in one of the things some of us do to make wood look real classy.
It is called whiskering and mudding.

First whiskering,
This requires a hard wood so don’t try it with pine or some other real soft wood.
You ever get the wood sanded down to a real shiny finish and even after you buff it with 0000 steel wool you put the finish of your choice on it and it comes out horrible or at lest not as good as you want.
Well here is the trick, whisker it.
Get it all nice and smooth with steel wool making sure you have sanded out any cross grain scratches look with a magnifying glass if you must and do it in good light not in the house.
Make it shine and then wipe it down with water and let it dry.
The water will raise the grain and cause little whiskers.
Cut these whiskers off with 0000 steel wool and water it again. Keep doing this until no whiskers come back.

Now you are ready for mudding.

Mudding is done to fill in all of the pores of the wood that you see with good light.
A tight grained wood will have smaller pores such as a good walnut cut from a stump or crotch of the tree and red oak is very porous.
First mix some linseed or Tung oil and a wee bit of turpentine 1 to 4 heavy on the oil, you don’t have to be exact on this just experiment.
Put a dollop of Japan drier in it maybe about 1/8 cups to a quart of the above mix.
Now wipe the oil on the wood liberally and sand with 200-400 grit wet dry sand paper.
Do this until you have what we call a thick sawdust slurry (mud) all over the wood and let it dry completely this may take a few days depending on the humidity.
Now steel wool it off you will see the pores are beginning to fill, repeat this step until the pores are completely gone.
Now you are ready to apply the pure oil in thin coats letting them dry after each coat.
If it gets gummy no worries just use 0000 to wool it off and put another coat on it.
When you are done you will have the must beautiful wood you have ever seen and it is easy to maintain as you just periodically put on another coat of oil.
It doesn’t flake, peel, chip or anything, even if it rings from a wet glass you just let it dry and wipe with a little oil.
Tiny scratches are easily repaired with a little 0000 steel wool and oil.
If you want what is a very high class finish on your wood this is the way to do it if not break out the clear coat or epoxy and go at it. Just be prepared to cry when it gets damaged.

Small dent removal,

Some times we may get a small dent in wood and this is usually seen when we have a pice of furniture we are refinishing.
Don’t try to sand out the dent if the wood is bare just put water on the dent and let it soak in, do this until it is really soaked good and wet.
Next get a wet rag and a hot iron and place it over the dent, heat it up until the water that has soaked up in the wood starts to steam or get very hot and it will push the dent back out.
You may have to do this a few times and it my not get it completely out but it will be a lot better than it was.
Here are a few pictures of a gun stock I did a few years ago from a piece of extra fancy grade black walnut.
I paid $250 for a chunk of walnut and my wife liked to died when she saw it.

"You paid that much for that!!!!!!!"
Then she saw what it became and things were mucn better.

Pardon the pun but it is a little battle worn.

Attachment 8739

Attachment 8740

Attachment 8741

Attachment 8742

Attachment 8743

More later.

Worth

June 2, 2009	#1
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Wood trade secrets. I’m going to delve into the little mentioned world of wood and how they did it years ago. Not known by many folks these days we are subjected to sub standard wood finishes that are easy to manufacture and therefore cheaper to sell on the market. We go into the store and see those high gloss pieces of furniture and say to our selves, “how lovely”. We take it home it gets a scratch and it is never the same again, try as we will we can never seem to get it back to what it looked like in the store. What they really don’t tell you is the fact that this finish is really inferior to the age old practice of finishing wood the right way. We have become accustomed to it so we quite expectedly think it is the way it should look. I have to go put up some stuff in the garden so I will cut this short and let you guys in one of the things some of us do to make wood look real classy. It is called whiskering and mudding. First whiskering, This requires a hard wood so don’t try it with pine or some other real soft wood. You ever get the wood sanded down to a real shiny finish and even after you buff it with 0000 steel wool you put the finish of your choice on it and it comes out horrible or at lest not as good as you want. Well here is the trick, whisker it. Get it all nice and smooth with steel wool making sure you have sanded out any cross grain scratches look with a magnifying glass if you must and do it in good light not in the house. Make it shine and then wipe it down with water and let it dry. The water will raise the grain and cause little whiskers. Cut these whiskers off with 0000 steel wool and water it again. Keep doing this until no whiskers come back. Now you are ready for mudding. Mudding is done to fill in all of the pores of the wood that you see with good light. A tight grained wood will have smaller pores such as a good walnut cut from a stump or crotch of the tree and red oak is very porous. First mix some linseed or Tung oil and a wee bit of turpentine 1 to 4 heavy on the oil, you don’t have to be exact on this just experiment. Put a dollop of Japan drier in it maybe about 1/8 cups to a quart of the above mix. Now wipe the oil on the wood liberally and sand with 200-400 grit wet dry sand paper. Do this until you have what we call a thick sawdust slurry (mud) all over the wood and let it dry completely this may take a few days depending on the humidity. Now steel wool it off you will see the pores are beginning to fill, repeat this step until the pores are completely gone. Now you are ready to apply the pure oil in thin coats letting them dry after each coat. If it gets gummy no worries just use 0000 to wool it off and put another coat on it. When you are done you will have the must beautiful wood you have ever seen and it is easy to maintain as you just periodically put on another coat of oil. It doesn’t flake, peel, chip or anything, even if it rings from a wet glass you just let it dry and wipe with a little oil. Tiny scratches are easily repaired with a little 0000 steel wool and oil. If you want what is a very high class finish on your wood this is the way to do it if not break out the clear coat or epoxy and go at it. Just be prepared to cry when it gets damaged. Small dent removal, Some times we may get a small dent in wood and this is usually seen when we have a pice of furniture we are refinishing. Don’t try to sand out the dent if the wood is bare just put water on the dent and let it soak in, do this until it is really soaked good and wet. Next get a wet rag and a hot iron and place it over the dent, heat it up until the water that has soaked up in the wood starts to steam or get very hot and it will push the dent back out. You may have to do this a few times and it my not get it completely out but it will be a lot better than it was. Here are a few pictures of a gun stock I did a few years ago from a piece of extra fancy grade black walnut. I paid $250 for a chunk of walnut and my wife liked to died when she saw it. "You paid that much for that!!!!!!!" Then she saw what it became and things were mucn better. Pardon the pun but it is a little battle worn. Attachment 8739 Attachment 8740 Attachment 8741 Attachment 8742 Attachment 8743 More later. Worth Last edited by Worth1; November 17, 2012 at 05:44 PM.