Oven in the finishing room

Drying room 

Drying room is a room in the finishing room to put the wet coated product by the finishing material to stay until it is dry and ready to go to the next process. The drying room should be made and designed based on the drying time of the finishing materials used. There are 2 factors that influence the drying time: the finishing material itself and the environment condition.

Drying time of each finishing material varies depending on the type of finishing materials used. Nitrocellulose is a finishing material that dry quickly and considered as the easiest material to be handled. The polyurethane especially the exterior polyurethane is a material that requires long time to dry. As a comparison only, for a similar condition the nitrocellulose sealer can be dried for sanding in about 30 minutes, while an polyurethane exterior sealer need  about 6 hours to get dry enough for sanding. 

We can adjust the drying time with the adjustment of the solvent of thinner used. A fast drying solvent such as M.E.K. can be added to the paint mix to shorten the drying time. While the slow dry thinner such as B.A. or Buthyl cellusolve will make the material dry slower. But the adjustment with solvent is limited because the thinner has to be compatible with the finishing material. We also cannot play too much the thinner too much, since it could be lead to the application problem. To fast dry finishing material will result difficulty in application such as uneven coat or rough surface. 

Another factor that influence the drying time is environmental conditions. Temperature and humidity are the main external factors that determine the drying time of a finishing layer. The higher air temperatures will make the solvent evaporate more quickly and easily, and at last will make the drying time becomes shorter. The other environmental factors affect the speed of drying is the humidity. The drying process is the release of solvent into the air, because it is the air condition like the humidity is really correlated with the drying process. The humid air will not accept the solvent evaporation from the finishing surface. The humidity is really affecting the drying process for the water based coating, since the water based is use water as his thinner, the humid air environment will block the evaporation of the water from the coating. That way for the water based coating is take very long time to dry in the humid condition. When the day is hot the water based coating ca easily dry for just half or 1 hour, but in the rainy day it may take a day to get the water based coating finish to dry.


Oven 

In a finishing,  the drying time is factor that determine the speed finishing process. The drying time affect production speed more than the working process time. The processing time can be shortened by add more peoples to do the process. But the drying time is just time for waiting. To increase the speed of finishing process the drying time has to be shortened. The drying time can be set by adjust the finishing material. But it is relatively limited, because the finishing materials is chemical that has their typical physical and chemical properties depending on the type of the material. The other way to shorten the drying time is by adjust the environment condition with an oven. Oven is a facility to heat the room and circulate the air inside the room to make better control to the room humidity and temperature.

• The air temperature. 

The higher air temperature is higher will make the solvent evaporation easier. High air temperatures will also accelerate the chemical reactions that occur during drying finishing layer. In a chemical solution the increasing temperature 10 Celsius would raise the reaction speed to 2X. The increased of the reaction rate in the wet film may not as big as in the solution but nevertheless the high temperature will speed the chemical reactions that also directly shorten the drying time in the finishing process. 

• The air humidity 

The humidity is another environmental factor that determines the speed of evaporation. Dry air will accept the solvent evaporation faster and easier than the saturated air. For the water base finishing material, then the humidity is very affect the speed of drying. The humid air and saturated with water vapor air will not be able to receive more water vapor. Therefore one of the obstacles that must be considered in the application of water based coating is the humidity. In the conditions on environmental air which is very humid or in the rainy day, then the application of water base coating become very difficult and take long time to dry.

• The principle of the oven 

 Oven is an equipment to heat the air and control the air temperature in the finishing room. With the use of the oven then a finishing process could be accelerated and controlled independently with the changes and weather conditions in the finishing room. The basic principle of the oven is to heat the air and do a good circulation to air in the drying room. Heating the air will make the drying process of finishing materials to be faster because it will accelerate the evaporation of solvent in the finishing layer and also the chemical reactions that occur in the finishing layer. The increase in air temperature will also be lower the humidity and it also will make more rapid drying.
In addition to the air heated the oven should also be equipped with good air circulation. The air was saturated with solvent vapor or moisture can not receive the evaporation of solvent anymore, since that an oven also need a fan and system to ensure good air circulation in the drying room. With good circulation, the air is already saturated with water vapor can be removed and replaced with new air that can accept thinner vapor.

Selection oven. 

The design of oven is depend on the type of material that is applied in the finishing process. The air temperature is highly dependent on the type of finishing material is applied. Usually the air temperature in the furniture finishing ranges from 35 to 45 degrees Celsius. Temperature that is too high will cause problems in the finishing layer such as: bubble, pinhole or even a crack at finishing layer. For the water based coating the humidity is other important factor instead of air temperature. The drying room for water base coating should be set with the air humidity is maintained between 50 % to 60%.

• Oven with electric lamps 

It is the simple equipment and very easy to be made. This equipment is made by placing some lamp to heat the air and put a fan to flow the air in the drying room. The air temperature settings regulated by adjusting the number of lights which is on. If the temperature is too hot, we can turn off some lamp to low down the air temperature. This oven is relatively expensive in operating costs since heating with electric lights have very low energy efficiency. In order to maximize the heat generated the infrared lamp is better used. The infra red lamp will convert the electric energy into heat better than other types of lamps.

• Oven with the heater equipment.

This oven is recommended for finishing room with a large scale. Heating air is done by the heater then the hot air is then channeled circulated into the room to keep the room temperature. Heater can be used various kinds, depending on air temperature and the desired capacity of the oven. The air heater that mostly use is water steam or gas that flowed in a coil. The hot air around the coil is bowed and flowing to the drying room.  This type of oven is suitable for a big finishing room with a large scale production, with a higher flexibility for setting of the room temperature as needed.

Drying time for wood finishing

Drying time

Finishing process is the process of apply the coating material to a surface. Finishing materials when it is applied in a surface is wet and soft, and then by the time the layer is increasingly dry and become hard to make a film coat to protect the underneath surface.  Finishing material is a chemical that requires a certain time and certain conditions to be dry and become hard. The drying process of finishing this happens in several ways depending on the type of finishing material used. And because of this reason the drying time vary depending on the type of finishing materials used.

The drying time is the time required for a finishing material to be dried and become hard. In the process of drying the finishing there is at least 3 state of the drying: touch dry, dry for sanding and dry for packing.

• Touch dry 

Touch dry is a condition when a finishing layer is dry enough so it can be touched without any problem. The touch dry film coating is dust free condition, but it is still weak film layer. It is very easy to damaged by little stress or scratched. From the wet coat until the touch dry state, the finishing surface cannot be touched and get dust. Any dust or dirt falls to the surface will stick to the surface and create the dirt and rough on the finishing surface. During his touch drying time, the finishing surface should be placed in clean and dust free room to prevent the problem from the dust. In the sealer application the dust or dirt is not really big problem, since it will be sanded and coated with another coating. The dirt or rough surface will be clean up with the sanding process. But for the top coat as the last layer in the finishing process, the dirt is not allowed. Since that we require a clean room and free of dust as the drying room for the top coat. Some finishing material such as nitrocellulose has short time touch drying time. For this material we don’t need a special drying room. But some material such as polyurethane have long touch drying time, will need a special dust free drying room.

• Dry for sanding 

Every clear coating such as a sealer and top coat always need to be sanded when he followed by another clear coating application. When it is sanded, the film layer must be dry enough so the sanding process can be done easily with good results. The time required of the finishing layer reach the condition when he is able to be sanded without any problem is the drying time for sanding. The sanding drying time determine the speed of the finishing process. In the design of a finishing room, the enough space should be provided to place the products from the wet condition until they reached the condition dry for sanding.

• Dry for packing.

After finishing process is done then usually a product can be delivered to the purchaser or the show room. To deliver to the buyers who are in near place, then the delivery can be done with a vehicle such a car or truck, and we may don’t need to pack the product. But if the product is delivered to a far place then the product requires a good packing to keep the goods secure. Before a product can be packed the finishing layer must be completely dry. The drying for packing is more than just a touch dry, because while a product is packed the goods are covered tightly so does not allow solvent evaporation process occurs anymore. The delivery is also high risk of tortured in handling, so it needs to make sure that the finishing is completely dry before being packed. A finish that has not been dry enough is highly risk to get problems such the paper attached and print to the finishing. 

• Drying for stain and glaze

When we talk about drying time above, then it is more concerned about the clear coating material. The other finishing materials such as stain, filler and glaze are also a chemical which requires sufficient drying in a finishing process. A layer of clear coating that has not dried relatively easily to be detected, because if we continue following the process of going directly visible problems that arise, such as the finishing damaged.

But for the stain, glaze and filler the layer of material is usually thin layer, since that it very difficult to be seen physically whether the layered material is dry or not. Layer of stain can be touched with no problem even his condition was not completely dry. Meanwhile, as well as other finishing materials, this stain should also be dry enough before followed by further application. Problems will arise if the stain is not dry if or coated with sealer top coat. The solvent in the there will be trapped in the finishing layer, and will cause finishing problems such as adhesion problems, hardness, or other problems such as blushing or clarity on the looked. To minimize the problem with the drying, we must know the type of materials used. The thinner based stain is relatively very quick drying normally solvent based thinner just need a few minute to dry in a room temperature. But for oil stain or glaze which is use oil or mineral spirit as a thinner it take about 1 hour to completely dry. Check and read the specification of the materials and follow the instruction to make a safe finishing process.

Paint testing manual. Physical and chemical examination of paints, varnishes, lacquers, and colors. 13th Edition. Published b ASTM. 1972 Edition 

PT Sinar Gallery, a metal handcraft company in Indonesia

Handcraft product in Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the places in the world handcraft production. Many varieties of handcraft products are made in Indonesia. The production process that does not require high technologies and machinery and big capital is suitable for people in Indonesia. Many of the Indonesian population live in villages, mostly have enough time and place that is wide enough is a very suitable tool for making handicraft. Here the handicraft making is done while doing other jobs such as farming, gardening and other daily activities. The Indonesian peoples gain the skills to make handicraft products from their ancestors. Therefore there are a lot of handicraft centers in Indonesia; the most diverse species depends on the location and its inhabitants.

PT Sinar Gallery

One handicraft producers company in Indonesia is PT Sinar gallery. Companies located in Boyolali, Central Java is one of the producers of the metal handcrafts. Its location on the slopes of Mount Merapi which is a cold place is ideal for manufacturing processes of metal handicraft especially in the form of metal sheet.
At this time the product from PT Sinar gallery sells throughout Indonesia to meet local market needs.
Here are some samples of products that he does. 

Wicker

Mirror frame

Bathtub

Lamp

Relief

Vase

There are options of materials that can be used to make the product: aluminum, brass and copper.
PT Sinar Gallery is also ready to make a special order with the particular model and design to meet his buyer.

If you interested you can visit his show room in this address:

Wonosari, Cepogo, Boyolali,

Jawa Tengah

Phone     : 081325539416

Fax          : 0276 323336
Attention : Mr Joko

You can also contact us for some more information
 

Princeton King Head And Footboard Antique Pewter 

The rule for distress in the wood furniture finish

The distresses in the antique finishing 

The distress technique as well as the overall workmanship of antique finishing process, is a work that requires a touch of art. Meanwhile taste and sense of art from every person is a very subjective and different for each other. In the furniture-making industry, the ultimate goal of making furniture is to produce acceptable and sell able products in the market. Now mostly the furniture products are created by the designer and sell to the market, then the final decision is the market. To meet the market and the designer need hen the finishing man has to learn the taste of the buyer and the designer of the antique furniture he made and also the market of the furniture product.

There are no definite rules about how the distress is done, how much is the distress and types of distress are selected, because it concerns could taste that could be different for each person. One thing that must be understood is that the distress is made in order to imitate the damage of goods due to age or wear and the results of the production process is not perfect. Because it, the damages should be produced as much as possible  to be looked natural, random, disorganized and untidy. For furniture-making process in a lot amount, the distress should be made not in the same places and stress for every product, although the results are required to have the similar impress final finish looked.

The design of the furniture. 
 

The selection of the distress and how the distress is done primarily based on the design of furniture products. The furniture product which is designed based on the older model era  would be more damaged and require more distress than the furniture model that based on a relatively new era. So when we start to distress we need to see the furniture design and estimate how old the antique furniture should be. And by estimating the age of the furniture then we can select the looked that are considered suitable for the finishing as well as the types and how is the distress should be.

The form factor. 

It is logically inconceivable that the stand out and more exposed part on a furniture product will have more distress impact. A furniture will get more severe damaged in the outer parts than other parts that are in inside and hidden places. Base on that, the distress is done more in the outside parts then in the hidden parts.

The distress on the cabinet

The distress on the chair

The distress on the table

The sanding process in the antique wood furniture.
 

Although antique furniture finishing process requires the distress that is a destruction process which seemed like to make goods become damaged and broken, but the preparation of the unfinished product must be good. The product quality must be kept in accordance with the standard quality of furniture product should be. Sanding should also be done right so that the entire surface is flat and smooth. There should be no glue marks, scratch marks, chatter marks or sanding mark. Need to be understand that the actual piece of antique furniture were created manually, not use machines or sandpaper as now use in modern process. Because of that, there should no machine marks, sandpaper mark, or glue marks which will show the use of modern tools.

The old furniture must have smooth surfaces. It has been touched many peoples and may also has been polished by hand many times. Antique furniture always has a smooth surface and blunt at the edges. To make the antique looked, the furniture product always need sanding at the ends of protruding sharp edges such as: the outside corners, the edges of the table top or wall, the edges of the carving, etc. Sanding is also required on the parts that have been physically distressed to remove the coarse and rough surface caused by the distress. Sometimes it is also required a sanding to make certain look and form such waving shape, ware look, etc.

A collector's identification and value guide for popular antique fishing lures of the 1930's and 1940's

Collector's Guide To Antique Fishing Lure Colors

Distress in antique wood furniture finishing

Physical distress or distress is a finishing technique in the antique finishing, it is done to mimic the antique old looked and ware furniture.  The distress is important step i the antique finishing to make more dramatic and natural antique looked.

Most of furniture products now are made in the industrial production processes using the modern machines and system. Therefore, the resulting products are tidy, same size, and uniform shape with flat and smooth surface. While the antique furniture is more hand made; It is made manually, with simple woodworking tool. The furniture also must be looked that it has been very long in use or stored so that already dirty, broke in some part, ware and damaged.

Therefore, to produce an antique appearance we need a finishing technique called distress or physical distress. Distress or physical distress is a technique to make the damages on the furniture product to imitate the appearance of old furniture product. The distress is to create the damages due to age and usage, and to copy the appearance of the imperfects product since of the manually process production in the past. This distress is usually done in the beginning of the process of finishing, before the application of stain and other finishing material. Then by the application finishing materials such as stain and glaze it will produce furniture with a desired appearance as already damaged, soiled, stained, dirty old look furniture.

The tools for distress 

Distresses can be done with many tools to produce the defects appearance at the new furniture  product. There are many tools can be used to do the distress such as: nails, chisels, stone, cheap, chain, etc. There could be some special tools is made to do distress. The tool used is depend on the damaged looked that want to be made.
Below are some tools that mostly used in making antique looked furniture.

• Nail

The nail is usually used to make small holes on the surface of furniture or groove shape on the surface of the wood. With the glaze application the holes will imitate wormholes, the appearance of wood that was eaten termites, bugs or warm. The size and amount of holes depends on the desired appearance. Usually the holes and the groove are made in certain places such as at the ends of the panel or in the corners of the foot, the places where a favored place for the bugs to eat and stay.

Nail

The wormhole distress by nail

• File and grind 

File and grind are the tools to create the curved form in furniture-making process in earlier times. At that time file and grind is used to make a specific form of the arch form and then the result surface is then polished with stone to smooth the surface. At that time the machines for furniture production such as sanding machines, sandpaper, are not yet available. Now we use the file and grind to copy the looked of manually process in making furniture It could also be applied to the surface to produce the impression of damaged items such as impact marks and scratches.

 File and grind

• Keys, bolts and chains, rocks, hammer. 

These tools are used to produce the damage damages arising from the clashes at a furniture product when used. There area many damaged look can be made by using that tool. We can also make the special chain, to produce the effect we need.

The chain of keys, bolt, nut

Hammer, rock

The distressed finish

• Chisel and scrapper 

Chisel is a tool to create a carving or  specific form in furniture products, while the scrapper is a tool used to flatten the surface in the past. In the process of antique finishing, these tools are used to replicate the performance results from manufacturing processes in earlier times. In distress, the chisel is used to make the scratches, holes or deep cracks. While the scrapper is used to produce a uneven surface to imitate the result of manually processed looked in the furniture making.

The chisel and scrapper

The result of distress by chisel and scrapper

Gloss and sheen in the wood furniture finish

Gloss or sheen is an important look in the furniture finish. Gloss or sheen of the finishing is the measurement of light reflected by the finishing surface. A surface is said to have the high gloss when it reflects most of the light it receives. While a surface has the low gloss surface when it absorbs most of the light is received and reflects only small portion. Gloss is very high influential at the finishing performance. A finishing with the same color will have a different impression if it has a different gloss.

The measurement of gloss

The gloss of a surface is measured by using a tool called sheen meter or gloss meter. Gloss is usually expressed with value ranging from 0 sheen to 90 sheen. Sheen 90 is the highest gloss when the surface is reflecting the almost all the light that is received. Sheen 0 means is the lowest gloss when the surface absorbs all the light that is received. .

There are also a many peoples that called gloss in different way. The gloss is mentioned in high gloss, semi-gloss, semi-doff and doff. High gloss is the highest gloss and doff refers to a low gloss. The semi doff some time is called as satin finish, while doff is called as eggshell.

How is gloss created 

The gloss actually happens is the result of plainness a surface, a flat surface reflects the light will be more in the regular direction and it create a high gloss surface. The opposite of the uneven surface, the light are reflected in irregular, so that they are spread and produce a low gloss surface. In wood finishing, gloss of finishing is formed by the finishing film layer. The thicker a layer of clear coating on the wood, the wood surface will be more flat and even, the resulting gloss will be higher. For traditional finishing materials such as shellac and varnish, the more applications these materials, then the resulting gloss becomes higher. But for modern finishing materials such as clear coating, the gloss can be adjusted by setting the top coat used. The clear coating applications will directly increase the gloss, to control the gloss in top coat is often added to a substance to adjust and reduce the gloss of the formed film layer.

Materials used are low down gloss is called flattening paste or matting agents. The most commonly used as flattening paste is a kind of dust that are usually made from silica or quart that is pulverized to small sizes. This material reduces the gloss by partially absorbing and scattering the light. Scattering light means absorb the light and it will make the gloss is low. The more the flattening paste is in the top coat, the low gloss of the surface will be.

Gloss finish on the wood finishing can also be formed by polishing and rubbing. Rubbing is a process done to the finishing layer. The rubbing process include the sanding, and polishing to the surface. The rubbing process would make the surface more even, so the rubbing process will produce high gloss, especially if followed by polishing. The rubbing process also can use to lower the sheen but it will leave the sand mark. A lightly rub with steel on the surface will create sand mark and it will make the sheen on the finish is low. But when the sand mark is more regular and the finish is going to be flat, the gloss is become higher. The lowest gloss produced by the rubbing process is usually at level 60 sheen, by leaving the lines of sand mark or steel wool mark. 

The diffused light in the uneven surface make low gloss

 The regular reflecting in the even surface make high gloss

The flattening powder lower the gloss by scattering the light

Gloss on wood furniture finish
 

The selection gloss on furniture finish should fit well with the model form and model of the furniture products and the finishing style. Antic and classic furniture usually suitable with semi gloss or semi doff finish. A very low gloss is usually used for special finish with many antique finishing effects such as crackle, rub off, smudge effect, spotting, etc.

High gloss is usually used for products with simple form, mostly use for modern and minimalist furniture model. The furniture products with lot of flat panel form can use a high gloss for a luxurious impression.

In the wood finish the measurement of gloss often give vary result from one point the other. This is a very natural thing, because wood surfaces have the variable porosity, hardness, and grain pattern which makes the absorption varies from one part to another. For a thick film finish, we can expect gloss surface is more uniform, but for a thin film layer the absorption factor of wood will make the gloss measured is varied. Usually the gloss measurement with gloss meter is in range.

Furniture with high gloss finish

Furniture with low gloss finish

Wood filler in wood finishing

Wood filler  

Filler is a finishing material that is used to fill the pores and grain. This filler is very useful to produce a closed pores finish in the wood or veneer with has big and deep pores. Oak, mende, teak and mahogany are some of the woods that often need filler to produce closed pores finish. The filler application is seems adding the process which takes time, energy and materials. But in the end, this filler application will speed up the process with reducing the number of sealer applications in the finishing process. The uses of the proper filler can reduce up to half of the sealer application to make closed pores finish to the wood with has big pores. While each application of sealer always requires good sanding and long drying time. The right filler applications will also reduce the occurrence of pinhole and bubble in the finishing. Therefore the use of filler to fill the pores and grain is highly recommended instead of application sealer or lacquer to excessive to close the pores and grain. 

The types of filler
 

Wood filler is made from a mixture of: bulking agent, resin, solvent and pigments for coloring if necessary. Bulking agents is a material that has very small shrinkage when it applied in the finishing process. Bulking agent is the material that serves to fill in the grains and pores. Bulking agents that are most widely used is ground silica which is pulverized to a certain size. The size of bulking agent will affect to the filler quality, the finer bulking agent the resulting filler will more be able to enter and fill in the holes and pores.

Bulking agents are then mixed with a resin that has function as a binder that will bind the bulking agent. The type of resin is used that determines the type of filler. The resins are widely used are: oil, varnish, urethane or acrylic. If necessary into the mixture can be added pigment to give color to the filler. Pigment is used is the type of inorganic pigments, the most widely used is the brown or black color, although filler can be made in any color. The mixture bulking agent, resin and pigment then needs a proper solvent to make it in the in liquid or paste form to be ease applied with. The solvent used depends with the kind of resin that is used depend on the filler type.

There is lot of filler types available today, such as: acrylic filler, oil filler, water based filler, PU filler, UV filler, etc. Selection filler in the finishing process should follow to the type of clear coating that will be used for the finishing processes. For example if the finishing processes use PU clear coating, so you should choose a type of filler that suitable with PU clear coating. PU filler will be safer to be applied under PU system, although most of filler are designed to work with any kind of clear coating without any problems. 

Application of filler 

Filler is a very thick material and needed lot of energy and effort in its cleaning and applications. Filler also usually requires a long time for drying. Since that the filler application is quite hard process. The filler application has to done in the proper way, since the inappropriate filler application will create more problems in the finishing.

According to the application means there are 2 types of filler, the filler that is applied directly to the raw wood and the filler that is applied over the sealer or wash coat. Filler that is applied directly on raw wood requires a good sanding before continued with the next finishing process. Sanding is required to remove the excess filler in the surface, to produce a clean surface. While the filler that applied over the wash coat, his application is like a glaze. Filler is poured over the surface and wiped clean, and then the excess is cleaned with steel wool. Need to make sure that the sealer underneath the filler is thin layer, 1 layer of wash coat is enough. A thick sealer will cover and closed the pores and grain and avoid the filler to fill in the pores, make the filler application is not effective.  

Whatever filler type we use, filler always need good cleaning and proper drying before followed by the next process. Filler must be only left in the pores or grain. Filler that is smeared on the surface will create the bad appearance at finishing result and also highly risk to cause finishing problems. The filler also must be ensured has thoroughly dry before continuing with the next finishing process. The filler that has not dry is highly risk to cause finishing problems such as: the emergence of a white color in the pores and grains, adhesion problem, and also bubble or pinhole in the finishing.

Filler also need to be ensuring that he fill the pores perfectly, the miss of the filler application will increase the risk of pinhole and bubble in the finishing layer. For woods that have big and deep pores, sometimes we need the do filler applications.2 times to ensure the perfect filling.

  

Filler is poured and applied by knife

Filler is wipe and clean with a rag.

Applications filler in flat panel 

In the furniture finishing process, the filler application is usually only done for a flat surface, like a table top, side wall or other flat surfaces. To the complex shapes such as carved, bend or post form the filler is not necessary. The close pores looked is made by the sealer application, If there some open pores, it will not be visible in the curved form.
For board production in large-scale and large amount, the filler application is done with a special machine. Board is inserted to a line with a series of roller coater for the application of filler and an oven to speed drying time of filler. Out of these machine series these boards can be directly taken to sanding the rest of the filler in the surface to produce a flat and clean fulfilled board.

 

Pet Studio Sonoma Mahogany Furniture Pet Bedroom Collection 

Wood bleach in the furniture finishing

Wood bleach

Bleaching the wood is a process that sometime cannot be avoided in the finishing process. Some time we meet the condition when the final finishing color required  is lighter than the wood base color. When we deal with the designer, some time they ask something that difficult to be achieved (illogical). Some peoples want to want to get light color finish the dark wood that have good grain. The crotch mahogany, teak, walnut or rosewood are examples of the types of wood that has a strong and good pattern grain with dark base color. To make the light finishing color for those wood we need to light up their wood base color.  In this case we can bleach the wood to whiten the wood base color. The bleaching process to the wood is actually similar to the bleaching process in the other things such as bleaching the clothes or the hair. But  to bleach the wood we need a quite strong chemical the the bleaching for the hair and clothes. 

Materials for bleaching.

The chemical used for bleaching process is known as bleaching agent. The bleaching agents that mostly used in wood industry is the hydrogen peroxide or H2O2. In the store this material is commonly known as the material A. Hydrogen peroxide actually can be used alone to bleach the wood, but usually the result is rather yellow or brown since the acidity of the chemical. If we want a real whiter color, then we require other chemicals for neutralizing the acid of this material. The material used is the alkaline solution. The material that is commonly used is: sodium hydroxide or ammonium hydroxide is also commonly referred as the B material.

Materials A and B will react when they are mixed, then the mixing of those two materials must be done just before the bleaching materials is applied to the wood surfaces. The mixed of A and B material will not effective to bleach anymore after the reaction has finished and stopped. An easier way to do is to apply interchangeably. Material B is applied first to the surface of the wood and then followed later the material A then is applied to the surface of the wood which is still wet with material B. By this way there is a reaction oxidation and neutralization in the same time.
Some peoples use the soda ash powder (calcium bicarbonate) about 5% of mixed directly into the solution of hydrogen peroxide. 
The 2 component bleaching will give whiter color then the hydrogen peroxide alone.

Actually there are also some other materials which also could be used for bleaching such as: oxalic acid and chlorine. Oxalic acid is more widely used to remove the blue stain in wood. Both materials are relatively more secure than with hydrogen peroxide, but the bleaching power is not as strong as the hydrogen peroxide.

Bleaching process.

Bleaching materials can be applied by brush, rag or spray. The reactions in the bleaching process would be better if it is put under heat. The maximum result will be obtained if the wood is put outside in the sunny day. If the results obtained are less white, then the process can be repeated again to obtain the desired results. After bleaching process the wood has to wait until the chemical reaction is completed before go to the next process. We can wash the bleaching chemical to make sure that the surface is clean. The hydrogen peroxide solution should be washed with vinegar, while the oxalic acid is washed with baking soda, and the chlorine is washed with water.

  Crotch mahogany has a strong red color

Bleaching chemical is applied on the crotch mahogany veneer

 The white crotch mahogany after have been bleached

The thing need to be considered in the bleaching process:

•  The process of bleaching must be done carefully, bleaching substances are hazardous chemicals. Bleaching process should be conducted in open space, or in a room that has good air circulation. Bleaching liquid is a toxic material, it will hurt if exposed to the skin or limbs. Its fumes will irritate the respiratory if be inhaled by humans. Always use protective equipment, special clothes and gloves to protect the body and respirator to protect the respiratory organ.

•  Make sure that the bleaching process is completely dry before you continue with the next process. The remnants of bleaching material will cause many problems in the finishing process.

• The process of bleaching will make the wood surface becomes rough because of the wooden fibers are rising due to the process of wetting the wood. After the bleaching we should re sand the wood surface. The sanding should be done properly. It has to be sufficient to produce a smooth surface, but not too much since it will eliminate the white surface layer and the dark colored wood will appear again.

•  For laminate wood or veneer, bleaching should be done carefully, because the bleaching chemical is a water solution that will wet the wood, make sure the glue is strong enough. If the glue used is not strong enough it could result of loose veneer or damage the lamination of the wood..

Wood finishing

Wood finishing is finishing for wood or wood product. The term wood finishing is very close to the furniture finishing and we often associate furniture finishing with wood finishing. A very reasonable thought since most of the furniture is made from wood. And usually the finishing process for wood furniture is a very important to produce an attractive furniture. Then the wood finishing is very close and identical with furniture finishing.
Instead of to make furniture, wood is a material that can be used for various purposes like: to make house or building, decking, parquet flooring, wall paneling, ply wood, etc. And mostly the wood product requires finishing process. The finishing for each wood product is different depends on the purpose and the shape of the product. 

 
Finishing for wood flooring parquet. 

Wood as a flooring has been known since long time ago. When humans began to build houses, they use wood as main material, they also used wood to make floor. Now lots of materials are used to make building. To make floor there are many material available such as: marble, cement, ceramics, etc. However, still many people are choosing to use wood floors for his home.
The wood floor is made of solid laminated wood or veneer. The solid wood for flooring is usually special wood which has beautiful appearance such as: teak, ulin , merbau, etc.  This wood flooring wood is use in finish condition or without finishing. Some people love to use special wood in unfinished or just simple finish to build his floor. This floor will make more antique or ancient look for his building.

Instead of solid wood, lots of wood floors also made of veneer. Veneer of wood with beautiful grain such as oak, maple, teak, walnut, rosewood teak is glued on a board of laminated wood  is used to make parquet for flooring. This floor is more impressive modern and suitable for modern look building. The veneer flooring parquet usually requires finishing. The finishing for flooring parquet requires a strong coating, more scratch resistant, resistant to chemicals. Since the floor will hold lots of weight and stuff on it. The finishing material often used for parquet flooring is U.V coating. UV coating is considered as the coating which has high resistance is the most suitable material for finishing the wood floor. To find out about the UV coating can view my articles about UV coating. UV coating which is applied with roller coater is suitable for finishing the wood flooring parquet. The roll marks in the UV coating finish that may not be acceptable in other products is acceptable for flooring. The roll mark could be an advantage since it makes the floor is not too slippery. 

Finishing for ply wood 

Plywood is a board made of several thin layers of wood glued together. Plywood is much produced and used for various purposes, such as: to make wall in a room, to make the wall of building, to make house, or to make side panels and top panel to a furniture products. Ply wood is also a flat product, so the finishing is normally done with automated machines. Roller coater is the equipment mostly uses to finish the plywood. As well as flooring parquet, the roll mark is not an issue with the plywood.

Finishing for wood furniture product 

 Finishing for wood furniture always need a touch of art

Finishing for wood furniture is the most interesting for wood finish. There are o lot of development and variation in techniques of wood furniture finishing. Many finishing material are specially made to furniture finishing. The furniture product is may create the highest added value the wood. In wood furniture, finishing process is a process that is very important to make furniture products which have a high selling value. Furniture products is a fashion product is because it will finish on wood furniture in addition to protecting also serve to give a touch of beauty. Unlike the products of plywood or wood for parquet, wood has many shape and models, so the finishing process can not be done with automatic machines. The process of finishing the wood furniture also needs a touch of art, so some of the wood finishing for furniture are manually.
There are many finishing materials used for wood furniture finishing, ranging from traditional finishing materials such as: oil finish, wax to the modern finishing materials such as many types of coating, stain glaze. There are also available some special materials on the wood furniture finishing to some special effects such as waxing lacquer, veiling lacquer, crackle lacquer, glaze, etc.

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