Solid wood for furniture

The use of wood as raw material for furniture has been done since long time ago. Now even the manufacturing technology has developed and allowing to make furniture products from various kinds of raw materials. However the wood is still most widely used raw material to make furniture. The wood technology advancement has enabled to do highly efficient of utilization timber. The small pieces of wood that are considered as a waste, now can be utilized to make the woodworking industry is more efficient.  

Solid wood furniture.

Although now the wood products such as veneer, plywood, particles or M.D.F, etc are widely available to make furniture, but the furniture industry still requires solid wood. The furniture products in the form of small bars like the chair, crib, or craft form are still need the solid wood. Furniture components such as frames, drawer fronts, legs are still better made of solid wood. The solid wood is also still be used to make solid wood furniture that has more value.
Solid wood furniture is a furniture product that uses solid wood to make all its components. The solid wood are also used to make the big panel such the top panel or side wall. The laminated wood is used make a wide and long panel instead of the m.d.f. or plywood. The solid wood furniture generally will be more expensive than furniture made from processed wood products such as M.D.F., veneer or particle. Nevertheless there are still many solid wood furniture are made and marketed, because the solid wood furniture has several advantages.
 
The benefits of solid wood furniture.

•  Solid wood furniture can produce a stronger product.

Solid wood however is a stronger material than the wood products. With the proper treatment a laminated wood will produce more durable and stronger product than the engineering wood products. The wood products such as: M.D.F., veneer or particle is still possible to use for indoor furniture, but for outdoor purpose, the solid wood is still the better choice.

•  Solid wood furniture has higher value.

The products are made of solid wood in generally will have a higher value. Solid wood is considered as a natural substrate that is more valuable than the engineered product. The solid wood will also be more valuable after long time stored and used. Someday the old wood product can be sold as an antique stuff. 

Even so the handling of solid wood has to be done properly. Wood is a natural source which has varies character and properties. The properties variation of timber must be anticipated to avoid any problems in the production process.
 
Here are the things that must be considered in dealing with solid wood.

•  Wood will always expand and shrink

Wood is a hygroscopic material that will absorb water. Wood will always correspondent its moisture content with the surrounding humidity. The wood will always shrink and swell follow to the changes of the environment humidity. The number of development and shrinkage of this wood can vary depend on the wood type and also the direct of the wood.

Therefore the construction and design for wood furniture should be made by considering the possibility of the wood movement. A room should be provided at every joint to anticipate the possibility of the wood swelling and shrinkage.

• Use laminated wood for wide and long panel.

The swelling and shrinkage of the wood will be greater with the higher length or wide of wood board. The higher width and length panel will have a higher risk for curved or cracked since he expands and shrinks more. To anticipate this problem, the wide and long panels should be made of laminated wood. With a proper gluing and laminating process a laminated panel board which is more stable can be produced. The use of laminated board is also able to overcome difficulties to get a plank of wood with a length and width sizes.

•  Wood could have varies properties.

Wood is a product which is obtain from living plant. The properties and character of the wood depends on the condition when the plants are alive. The same type of timber can have different properties if it is sourced from different places.
To produce a uniform product, then the selection and arrangement of wood must be done since the beginning of the production process. A wood selection and arrangement is required from the beginning of the laminating process. Every piece of wood should be checked and observed before they are laminated. The laminated board should be made of the uniform pieces as far as possible. The uniform of color and grain pattern will help to produce a uniform appearance in the final product.

Wood pieces also should be dry before it laminated.  Wet wood pieces will shrinkage when it releases its water, and this could crack or bending problem to the wood panel.  A panel wood that is consist wood pieces with varying moisture content will shrinkage in different size in each parts. This condition is high risk for an uneven surface, cracked and curved. 

•  Bug or mite.

Some woods such as: mango and mahogany wood is liked by termite or bug.  The termite could attack when the product is still in the process, when it finished or long time after the product is stored and used. To anticipate this problem, a proper processing must be done for the timber. Timber out from the saw mill should be soaked in an anti-insect solution before goes to the kiln dry oven.

• Oil on the wood.

Some special wood such as: teak wood, rosewood, pine will release oil from its grains, pores or knots. The wood oils are actually serves to prevent the arrival of insects and to make the wood become more durable. But sometime the oil comes out from the wood could interfere the appearance to the finishing color. Therefore the finishing color selection on some wood should always consider the existence of the oil inside. 

  

Stippling in the wood furniture finishing.

Stipple finish for antique white finish

Stippling or sponging is one of the decorative finishing techniques that could produce a finishing with special appearance. Stippling technique is more done for finishing the walls. The stippling technique to the wall which is a large and flat surface will create more attractive appearance instead of a flat color. But since the growth of the finishing style, this technique is also often found in the furniture finishing. Stippling of course is not suitable for the furniture products are made from the nice looked solid wood or veneer. Stippling technique is more suitable to be applied to products made from wood which is flat, and cheap. Furniture products made from wood product such as M.D.F. or particle board is the best choice substrate for this finish.  With the right application and color selection, the stippling technique will create nice and attractive appearance. The appearance and color of the final finishing will be entirely determined by the  stain and the base coat colors and the application techniques.

Stippling with glaze.

There are some finishing materials can be applied with this technique such as: latex paint, powder pigment or oil stain, but the most suitable material used for furniture finishing is glaze. Glaze which is designed to be applied over the clear coating is very flexible and easy to be handled with this technique. Glaze which is made from oil solvent will not dissolve each other with the clear coating and can be added and subtracted easily to form the pattern and color 
desired.

Here is the stippling technique with glaze on wood finishing.

• Application base coat.

Base coat is used to form the base color. The base color from the base coat will be mixed with the colors of glaze. An appropriate color combination of the glaze and base coat is needed to produce an attractive finishing appearance. The base coat color is of course should be different with the color of the glaze to make a contrast looked. But the difference of the both color should not be too contrast.  Too contrasting colors will make more difficult in controlling the color and appearance resulted.

Apply 2 or 3 layer base coat to cover the basic color of the substrate. Wait until the base coat is completely dry and then sand the base coat to get a smooth surface. 

• Application of sealer

A sealer or wash coat application is needed to protect the base coat. Apply 1 layer wet coat of sealer and wait it until dry to prepare the surface for the stippling.  

• Application of glaze.

There is some method of stippling and several tools such as cloth, sponge, foam, brush can be used to do the glaze application. Each of them will produce the different effects that each has its own uniqueness. You may need to try every method of stippling and compare each other.

The pattern of the shape of the resulting stipple is the main factor in determining the finishing appearance. If the finishing effect and the technique are already decided then the stippling process must be done consistently. A good control and check is needed to ensure the colors, patterns and shapes can be consistently created. The advantage of the glaze is its flexibility; it can easily be added and reduced easily if necessary. Too much glaze can easily wipe off with rag or steel wool without damage the underneath coat.
But however the glaze application should not be too thick. Too thick glaze is highly risk of cracking.

•  Application sealer.

After get the color and effect of finishing is obtained then the next process is sealer application. The sealer is to protect the patterns and colors that have been formed. Make sure that the glaze is completely dry before do sealer application. Wait the sealer to dry and do sanding to the sealer.

• Application 2^nd glaze.

To produce the desired color and appearance is sometime we need to do the stippling 2 times or even more. The second stippling can be done with the same or different color glaze and technique. The two times stippling with the same technique and glaze color is better option to make easier in controlling the process. While the stippling with different technique or color will create more life finishing appearance with more color combination, but it will make the finishing process become more complicated. It needs a fairly clear step panel to control the finishing process.

• Applications of top coat.

After the color and appearance is accordance with the desired results, then the next process is the application of top coat. Choose the top coat with the desired sheen to coat and protect the finish. Top coat with low or semi gloss finish is mostly used for this finish. Two times application top coat usually is needed to produce a smooth surface finish with uniform gloss. 

 Search Amazon.com for stippling brush

Crater in the wood finishing

crater in the wood finishing

Crater problem.

Crater or fish eye is a serious finishing problem and quite difficult to be handled. Crater is the existence of holes like caldera arising in the finishing layer. This problem has a very distinctive appearance with the visible presence of a finish layer that does not blend with the surface of the substrate. The finishing that is got crater is need to be striped off and refinish with the right way.
Crater was due to the contamination of finishing materials in the application. The contaminants are chemicals that do not compatible with the finishing material, usually oil or silicone. This contamination can occur during finishing materials are stored, mixed, and used. The contamination can also happen in the application when the contaminants are mixed with air compressed in the piping, or be attached to the wood surface, or it could be in the air in the finishing room. 

How to solve the crater problem.

Crater actually is can be easily solved by preventing the contamination in the finishing process. The most difficult part in overcome this problem is to know  the source of the contamination and when the contamination is happen. There are many possibilities that could cause the contamination and sometimes need lot of time for observation to solve this problem.

 
Here are the things that can be done to solve the crater in a finishing process:

•  Clean the finishing room.

The air from the environment is one thing that should be highly suspected as the source of the contamination problem. Silicon could be floating around in the air and then fell and mixed with finishing material or attached to the surface during the process of finishing. Therefore, if crater problem is occurred, first time we need to do is to clean the room and  its environment air. Close the finishing room so it is isolated from the outside environment air that may caused the contamination.

• Clean the surface to be finished.

Contamination can also occur on the surface of wood or substrate since of various reasons. Therefore, before the finishing process is done, check carefully to the unfinished surface. Wipe the surface with a cloth soaked in thinner before the application of finishing materials.

• Clean the compress air line.

The contaminants could also arise from the compressed air line. The compressor could leak making the lubricating oil mixed with the compressed air. Lubricants for compressor sometimes are incompatible with the finishing material and ultimately causing crater problem. Periodically checking to the condition of the compressor, air filter and dryer is important to make sure that they are in good condition every time.

• Clean the equipments used.

The equipments to finishing materials application may be the source of crater problem. Inappropriate treatment to the spraying equipment such as a lack of cleanliness or lubrication with the oil that not compatible with finishing material materials could cause crater. Make sure to do a good maintenance and cleaning to the equipment. Use the oil that is compatible with finishing material to lubricate the equipment. 

• Check the finishing materials used

Finishing material can be contaminated when it is stored, mixed or handled.  Since that make sure that the finishing material used is clean and does not contain the chemicals bullies. Check the physical appearance of the mixture before finishing material is applied. If there is a distinctive appearance then it is should not be used.

•   Clean the operator

Sometimes these contaminants carried by the operator. Therefore, make sure every person who does the finishing process is clean. Blow the body and clothing with air gun, wash the hands using clean thinner before start finishing activates.

•   Add anti crater additive

Anti crater additive is a substance added in the finishing materials to reduce the incidence of crater. This material actually have been added when the finishing materials is made. If there is crater problem happened, then small amount of anti crater additive could be added to the finishing material. The addition of this additive is just a temporary solution until the real causes of crater can be found and resolved. When the cause of crater problem have been found and can be overcome the addition of anti crater should be discontinued. 

Crater problem is rather difficult to be solved. There are many possibility factors could cause this problem. Sometimes we need a long time observation to find the cause of this problem.  Every possible factor should be observed and checked one by one until we can find the cause and appropriate treatment can be done.
Some crater problem are even gone themselves before we know the real cause.

PT PK Mulyo furniture factory in Salatiga Central Java

PT PK Mulyo.

Indonesia is known as one of the furniture-producing country in the world. Every month thousands container of furniture products from Indonesia are sent abroad to fill the furniture market in worldwide. One of furniture factories in Indonesia is PT Mulyo. PT Mulyo is one of the furniture factories in Indonesia that have long been engaged as a furniture manufacturing company in Indonesia. Started since 1965 as a saw mill company, this plant now is established to be one of the modern furniture manufacturers in Indonesia.

The factory is located in Salatiga, a small but cool and comfortable town in the southern city of Semarang the capital of Central Java. As well as furniture factories in central Java, PT Mulyo focuses to produce furniture products with a high selling value. His products mostly are furniture with a touch of art that have a high value. His skillful and experience peoples make this factory can combine the natural resources that lot available in here with the modern production system to create unique furniture products. As a high end furniture manufacturer he is considered as a quite big company.  Averagely he ships about 65 containers furniture products per month  mostly to US and Europe.

Until now PT PK Mulyo remain consistently committed to keep develops and grows. The production and management systems are always developed following the development of modern industry today.
PT PK Mulyo also has a design team who always do the innovations and releasing new models to follow the tastes of the world furniture market. Yet he also accept orders from buyers who have their own specific design.

 
More information about the factory, products and history can be viewed by go to this link:

www.mulyo.com

Or,  you can visit this factory by go to this address in: 

Margorejo 588A, Gendongan Lor - Salatiga, Central Java 50743 Indonesia
Phone : +62 (298) 323-866, 321-468 - Fax : +62 (298) 323-875

Antique white finish on wood furniture

Antique white is one of finishing color that is most used on the wood furniture products. Antique white is a white color with the impression of antique or old looked. There are many finishing techniques can be used to make antique looked such as: physical distress, sand though or rubbed trough, etc.  The antique effects also can be made with the stain or glaze application such as: spatter, cow tail, dry brush glaze, etc. There are also much  white color can be made , from the yellow white to the black or brown white. The antique white finish could be a white color with a relatively clean appearance with a slightly application of glaze to the antique broken looked with heavy distress and antique glaze effect. 

Now in this article we want to write the finishing process to make an antique white color.  In here we make an antique white finish which is quite clean with just little antique effect and sand trough. 

 the antique white step panel

The finishing step is as follow:

•   Stain application.

A black stain is applied to the wood to provide a basic color on the wood under the white color. The black stain color underneath will create a contrast looked when the white paint is sanded trough. The result is white color with some black color comes trough from the underneath. that give combination of white and some black color creating an attractive  finishing looked.

•  Sealer application.

After stain application, a sealer is needed to be layered on the black stain. The sealer is used to protect the stain and also to make the smooth finishing surface. One or two wet coat of sealer is necessary to layered on the stain.  After the sealer is dry then continue with the sanding operation.  Sand the sealer with 280 or 320 grade sandpaper to make a smooth surface.  

•  Applications white paint.

After a smooth surface is obtained then the next process is the white paint application. The white base coat or white paint is applied on until the white color  fully cover the underneath color. Two or three layer of base coat application usually needed to form the even white color. 

• Sand trough.

After the white base coat is dry, it is needed to be sanded to get a smooth surface. The sanding is done to make a smooth surface and also to make the antique effect from the sand trough the white color. First sanding operation is done to the whole surface of the base coat to make an even and smooth surface.  Then continue the sanding on some parts to display the black color underneath to make the antique effect and contrast looked of the finishing.

The sanding needs to be done appropriately since the finishing looked will highly affected by the sand trough effect. The sanding must be done so it produces a naturally worn rubbed looked that caused by age and usage. The sanding trough on some edges randomly and well balance will create a naturally antique looked white finish.  

• Sealer application.

After the sanding process is completed is done and a smooth surface and good sand trough is obtained then the next process is sealer application.  One wet coat of sealer is needed to protect the stain underneath. The sealer is also need to resolve the underneath coat to eliminate the scratches and sanding mark from the previous sanding operation. The sanding mark of scratches mark should be eliminated since it will seem obviously in the glaze application.

• Glaze application.

After the sealer is dry then the next process is the glaze application. Glaze can be applied by brush, or wiping to produce the antique looked and also to form the finishing color. The thickness of the glaze will form the color while the antique effect is depending on the technique application of the glaze. Since that the glaze application need to be applied consistently. In this finish the glaze is spray and followed by wipe clean and leave the glaze only in the inside carves and crevices. By this method an antique white finishing  with relative clean looked is obtained.

• Top coat application.

The last process is top coat application. The top coat is applied to protect the color underneath, to make the sheen and to produce the smooth surfaces. The top coat application should be done after the glaze is already dry. The application clear coat on the wet glaze is highly risk to get finishing problem such as crack, adhesion problem and even color problem.

Since it is a white finish, a yellowing film is not allowed. A non yellowing top coat with low sheen is the most suitable for this coat. One layer of top coat is enough if it already  produce a smooth and even surface. But if the surface is still rough, then another layer of top coat is needed. 

antique white finish

Polyester coating for wood furniture finishing.

A high gloss finish with polyester coating

Polyester coating.

Polyester resin is a polymer made from the reaction of polybasic acids and polyhydric alcohol. The polyester coating is the coating that use polyester resin as it main ingredient. Polyester coating can produce a thick film which has high resistant to the scratches, chemical and outside weather. Since that, these paints is widely used for finishing on products that require maximum protection. The polyester paint much used to finish the outdoor products such as fencing or garden furniture. For indoor purposes, polyester is widely used for finish to the products that need maximum protection such as: office cabinets, desks or chairs made from metal. Polyester is also widely used as a finishing material on ceramic such as cups, plates, bowls, etc.

Polyester for wood finishing.
 
Most of the polyester paint is used to do the finishing process on the products that more prioritize to the protection than the decorative value. This coating is rarely used to finish the wood furniture products. The difficulty in its application, and its relatively less clear appearance makes this coating is not too popular to be used in wood furniture finishing. The wood furniture usually need finishing that emphasizes to enhance the beauty looked of the wood.
Nevertheless there are some models of wood finishing that is more easily achieved by using the polyester coating. A finishing with clean looked; close pores and thick film layer would be easier to be achieved with the polyester coating. The polyester coating will produce a thick and thermoseting film layer which is strong, high resistant to chemicals, scratches and heat. The hardness and durability of this coating is even greater than the PU coating. Yet since its difficulty in handling and application, a wood finishing with polyester coating as a full system is quite rare. The combination of polyester with NC or PU is more widely used in the wood furniture finishing. 

The polyester sealer followed with the PU or NC top coat is more often used to make a fully close pores finish with thick film. This system may help to overcome some quality problems from the wood substrate. Some imperfectness in the unfinished wood that could be a problem to make a flat and smooth surface in small level can be solved with this coating. This coating can produce finish with thick layer that can hide the small dents, and the uneven surface caused by the wood pores and grains structure. This finish is more secure than the other type of clear coating. On a nitrocellulose type finish, finishing with film thickness more than 5 mills is high risk to get crack. But with polyester coating, a film thickness about 10 miles is still considered safe.

In practice, this paint is rather difficult to be handled and applied. This paint consists of 3 components: thinner, coating materials and the activator or hardener. These three components should be mixed with the right composition when it applied. The mixing should be done carefully. The paint and activator should not be mixed directly  in the thick condition because the risk of an explosion that could endanger the people nearby. The safe way to mix this materials is  by divide the thinner into 2 parts, 1 parts is mixed with the paint, while 1 other part is mixed with the activator and then those two parts are mixed together to make a ready to spray material. 
The three components of polyester coating that have been mixed should be applied soon because it has a short pot life. In the mass production, which do finishing process to big volume product, the coating is applied with special spraying equipment. The spraying machine is equipped with a special pump to flow the three materials separately to the spray gun. The three of finishing materials: paint, thinners and activator are flowed and mixed in the right composition to the gun which it will be atomized and directed to the desired surface. With this equipment, the coating application can be done quickly and easily without the risk of a waste material since it short pot life.
For use in small scale, the cup gun can be used with the proper schedule. The proper amount of mixing is needed to reduce the risk of the material wastes.

This coating is also requires a relatively long drying time, a dust-free room is necessary to place the wet coat product. 

Resins for Surface Coatings, Volume 2, Alkyds & Polyesters 

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Inorganic pigment stain

Inorganic pigment.

Inorganic pigmented stain is a stain that uses a mixture of inorganic pigments to form its color. Inorganic pigments are made from mineral that are grounded to a certain subtlety. Minerals that have a certain delicacy is then mixed with a resin as a binder and then dissolved in a solvent to be used as stain. Some inorganic pigments are widely used in wood finishing industry are: titanium white, carbon black, chromate yellow, red oxide, burnt siena, raw umber, van dyke brown, etc.
The inorganic pigments have different properties; overall he has higher cover ability, less bright and less transparent than the dye pigment  (the stain for wood finishing) The particles of the inorganic pigment are relatively large size so it can not form a solution as the dye stain but merely a suspension. The pigment will settle after it is left for awhile. A consistent agitation is required at its application to produce a stable coloration.
Compared with aniline dyes or inorganic pigments are relative more stable and have better durability against the UV light make it more resistant for outdoor finish applications.
There are many stain colors available for this type of stain, but as well as organic pigments we can also make our own stain color by mixing from the primary colors. How to color mixing is done by using the principle of the color triangle. But when we mix the color we need to sure that we never mix the inorganic pigment with the organic pigment and vice versa. The mixing of  different type of pigment will result unstable color stain.

There are several type of the inorganic stain that mainly are determined by the binder used.

• Pigmented wood stain (inorganic pigmented wood stain)

This stain is a wood stain that uses the colorant from the inorganic pigment. This stain is made from a mixture of inorganic pigment, some binder and solvent. This stain is usually applied directly on wood surfaces. This stain produces a duller, less transparent and less bright than the aniline dye stain. Therefore, this stain more suited to do the finishing with more soft and less bright color. Stain for even the color such as: sap stains and equalizer stains should be made of inorganic pigment. The inorganic pigment which has a more cover ability is more suitable to cover the uneven color in the wood substrate and bring it to more even color result.
There are many names used for this stain but the stain can be distinguished from the dye stain from its dull, less bright appearance.  This stain also will have sediment after it is left in place for some time.
Application by spray is the most widely used for this stain. By spraying the stain can be applied with a thickness can adjusted accordance with the desired color. A slow dry solvent type such as mineral spirits can also be added to the mix this stain so it can be applied by brushing or wiping. But the application by brush or wiping with this stain is difficult to produce dark color. The relative big pigment particles make it can not be absorbed by the wood. The stain will only coat the surface so it will be easily erased at the wiping or brushing operation.

• Glaze.

Glaze is one type of stain that uses inorganic pigments. The inorganic pigments are mixed with some resin binder, some inert and solved in a solvent. Glaze is designed to be applied between the clear coatings. The binder and inert make the glaze is easy to applied in certain thickness on the clear coating. More about glaze can be viewed in our previous article: glaze in furniture finishing

• Base coat, enamel, paint.

It is a stain to make solid color finish. This stain is made from inorganic pigment mixed with a clear coating as binder.  There are many types of this paint depends on the type of binder used. Many color of NC base coat, water based base coat, PU base coat and many other base coats are available now, which all can be selected in accordance with the finishing system used.

The 2009-2014 World Outlook for Mixing Pigments, Solvents, and Binders into Paints, Stains, Varnishes, Lacquers, Enamels, Shellacs, and Water-Repellant ... Frit, and Other Allied Paint Products

Aniline, dye, organic pigmented stain in the wood finishing

Aniline, dye, organic pigment

Aniline stain or dye stain is one type of stain is widely used in the finishing process for wood furniture. Aniline or dye is one type of organic pigments that is most used in the wood finishing industry. This stain can be recognized by its strong, bright, and transparent appearance. In addition, this stain also will not settle if it is solved in the appropriate solvent. The particles of dye stain are very small sized make this material can be perfect dissolved in the solution.
The aniline stain are preferred because it can make a bright, transparent and strong coloration. You can view it in the properties of pigment stain. Now the finishing material manufacturer is currently providing this stain type in many colors. We as finishing people can easily choose the most suitable stain as needed. If we purchase this material in large quantities many finishing industry players are willing to mix the stain within the color we need.
But we need to know that the aniline has low resistance to the UV rays. This aniline stain is not recommended for staining to the outdoor finish.  The colors produced will quickly fade when used in the outdoor products. For the outdoor finish, the inorganic pigmented stain or special organic pigment are recommended.
Although this stain has been available in a variety of colors but sometimes the finishing people prefer to mix this stain himself. A dye with the primary colors can be diluted and mixed to form the desired stain color. (We can use the principle of triangle color theory to do the mixing color). The aniline pigment is available in 2 forms: the aniline powder and high-concentrate liquid aniline. The powder should be dissolved first in an alcohol liquid before being mixed to make the desired color. While the liquid form dye can be directly mixed to produce the desired color. The mixture can be diluted again with various solvents to be arranged so it can be applied in accordance with needs.

  
Water based stain
 
A dye mixture can be thinned with water to make water based stain, of course we need some additive material to add the solubility. Water based stain can be applied directly on the wood with very attractive staining results. The resulting color is a bright, transparent, and enhances the beauty of the grain pattern of the wood. The stain that consist small particles of pigment can penetrate in and wood and color to the pores and grain. This stain can be applied by spray brushed or wiped with good results.

Non-grain raising stain (NGR stain)

The problem with this stain is the water in the mixture will raise the wood fibers and produce a rough surface. The uses of this stain will require an extra sanding and clear coating application to produce a smooth surface. To reduce the raising wood fibers, the finishing material industry make a stain that is known as a non-grain raising stain. Stain is made from aniline pigment diluted in alcohol and some toluene. This stain can reduce wood fibers rises when it applied. It will produce a smooth surface finish quickly. But since it dries quickly, this stain cannot be applied by wiping or brushing.  The spray application by spray is the recommended way of application for this stain.

 
Pad stain, shading stain
 
Pad stain is a dye stain is primarily used to color on the clear coating. This stain is widely used for adding color to produce balanced and equal color to a furniture product in the final finishing. The additions color by this stain (shading) is usually done on a sealer or top coat before the final top coat. The bright and less cover character of this aniline stain will reduce the risk of  "too close stain"  which will and reduce the beauty of wood grain character appearance.
Pad stain is can be applied by padding. The padding technique can be used to adding the color or to produce special effects finishing required.

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The properties of common solvents.

Solvents for the finishing material.

Almost all finishing materials need a thinner. Thinner is made from mixture of solvent that is mainly used to reduce the viscosity of the material. How a mixture of thinner is made depends on the type of finishing materials to be thinned. A particular finishing material usually requires a particular solvent or solvent mixture to be dissolved properly. Moreover, usually a finishing material is designed to have a certain character which can also be obtained by the using of a specific of thinner mix as well. Therefore, it is actually advisable to use one set of a finishing material with its thinner. When we buy finishing materials we should buy its thinner which is properly designed to match with the finishing materials.
However sometimes we as a finishing people must also do our own solvent mixing to get the effects as we want. Mixing solvent also sometimes have to do to solve the problems in a finishing process. Most of coating problems such as: pinhole, bubble, orange peel, rough surfaces, etc. can be solved with the thinner adjustment. The problems on the stain and its applications such as: blotchy, stain dry too fast or too slow also much can be solved by arrangement to the thinner used.
Since that we should have some basic knowledge about the properties of the solvents. The knowledge about the properties of solvents is can be used as a guide to set a thinner mixture to obtain the character of mixture as we want.

The properties of solvents.
 
Solvent are chemicals, that each has its specifics chemical and physical properties. The common properties that we need to know are the properties that have a relation with finishing process. Some of them are: solubility, evaporation rate, density, and flash point.
Solubility is the ability of the solvent to dissolve a finishing material. Solubility is a specific characteristic according with the finishing materials to be mixed. For example, butyl acetate, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone are the excellent solvents for nitrocellulose material, while mineral spirit is a good solvent to the oil finish, oil varnish and glaze. A simple test can be conducted to determine the solubility of a material with a solvent. A particular material tested was diluted with various solvents with the same mixing ratio, and then the effect is observed. A mixture that does not well match will be seen in the mixture appearance. If the resulting mixture is not looked well blended then it means that mixture does not dissolve each other. The mixtures that seem to mix well can be more observed by the measurement of viscosity. A solvent that can quickly reduce the viscosity with less solvent uses is the solvent which has high solubility to the finishing material.
The other important solvent property is the evaporation rate. It is the time needed by the solvent to evaporate in the open room. Evaporation rate determine the speed of drying of a mixture when it is applied. A mixture with high evaporation rate solvent will dry faster than the mixture using the low evaporation rate solvent.

Other necessary properties is the flash point. Flash point is a temperature where the material can generated fire if exposed to sparks. It is related to the safety and security of the solvent. We should avoid the spark when the the flash point of the material is under the room temperature.

Below is the table the properties of common solvent used in the finishing industry.

Solvent	Flash point (Deg F)	Evaporation rate
Methyl alcohol	56	1.6
Ethyl alcohol	61	2.0
Isopropyl alcohol	63	2.4
n-Butyl alcohol	97	0.5
Amyl alcohol	102	0.33
Acetone	0	4.5
Methyl ethyl ketone	23	5.7
Methyl isobutyl ketone	60	1.6
Methyl isoamyl ketone	96	0.5
Diacetone alcohol	126	0.12
Ethyl acetate	27	5.0
Isopropyl acetate	44	3.0
Isbutyl acetate	67	1.5
n-Butyl acetate	77	1.0
Cellosolve acetate	121	0.3
Ethylene glycol	241	0.01
Diethylene glycol	290	0.01
Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether	105	0.5
Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether	110	0.3
Tpluene	42	1.8
Xylene	80	0.75
Heptane	22	3
VMP naphta	45	2
Mineral spirit	105	0.12

Note: the evaporation number are compared with the evaporation rate of the n-Butyl acetate

Wood sculpture

Finishing to the wood sculpture.

Did you ever do the finishing process on a sculpture made of wood? To finish wood furniture is our daily activities, but to finish the wood statue is quite special.. It is really an interesting experience. Here is my experience when doing a project finishing to the sculpture.

On one day we got a project to do the finishing process on a sculpture made from wood. It is quite big statue, it about one man size. It height was about 170 cm and 100 kg weighted.

The statue was so heavy; the handling was very difficult since we do not have any equipment to lift and bring this big thing. The difficulty was beginning when we unload it and bring it to the finishing room. But finally with a lot of effort we could bring this good into the finishing room.
Then the finishing process was started. Since it was a statue which depicts a form of a soldier, then of course we had to give different colors to each part according to its form.  After an intense discussions finally we agreed with final and appearance for the sculpture. It is an antique finishing looked wood sculpture soldier.  The shoes were colored green, the shirt is in red, the exposed body such as hands and face were light brown, dark brown for the hair, etc.

There a lot of taping and to cover the necessary part we had to did when we stained. Fortunately its overall looked was an antique and old looked, so the untidiness work were hidden by the antique effects.

After 2 days work, finally we finished this project.

There were the pictures:  

Direct Wood Sculpture: Technique- Innovation - Creativity