" " wisno wood furniture finishing: January 2011
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Monday, January 31, 2011

PT Dunia Furniture, a recycled teak furniture manufacturer

 Yogyakarta city is one of famous city in Indonesia. The city is one of the tourist destination in the world. In this area there are many interesting places to be visited. The society here still keep the strong Javanese culture and tradition based on the Yogyakarta Kingdom. The development of tourism industry here has encouraged the other related industries to grow. The other industries that also available in this area is the handicraft and furniture industries are growing mutually supportive with the existing tourism industry.The furniture industries in this area mostly are build in small sizes with more emphasis on the uniqueness of the product. The people creativity to use the available natural sources has make the furniture here keep exist.
 
One of the furniture factories in this area is PT Dunia Furniture (furniture world). The furniture factory has been standing since 1991 is a furniture factory which focus for making furniture from recycled teak. There are many design and model are available. In addition he also ready to make custom product with the special design. He also available to supply handicraft product from the surrounding area. Many handicraft made of many raw materials such as: ceramic, leather, wood, etc. are abundantly available here.
 
If you interesting to do business with PT Dunia Furniture, you can contact him in his address: 
Dunia Furniture
Jl. Bantul Km. 5,5,
Bantul, Yogyakarta 55181,
Indonesia
Phone & Fax: +62-274 418544

Or you can visit his website in : 


 Batik: Javanese and Sumatran Batiks from Courts and Palaces, Rudolf G. Smend Collection (RUDOLF G SMEND COLLECTION)

Friday, January 28, 2011

American pecan and hickory

Hickory tree is the genus Carya. The species of Carya that named as Hickory are: Pignut Hickory, Pignut, Sweet Pignut, Coast Pignut Hickory, Smoothbark Hickory, Swamp Hickory, and Broom Hickory. They are mostly grow in North America. The hickory wood is  very hard, stiff, dense and very shock resistant.  

 hickory wood

While pecan is Carya illinoensis. The pecan wood is not as hard as hickory wood, but have less variation of wood properties. Pecan wood has a more uniform base color and grain pattern. Pecan trees are found in the south area of America.
Pecan and Hickory are considered as one type wood in the America woodworking industry. The Hickory and pecan wood sometimes is mixed and sold as the name of Pecan or Hickory wood. 

pecan wood

The properties of hickory and pecan wood.
 
The properties of the wood may vary depend on how it grew, but generally it is a dense, hard, strong, and stiff wood.  The Hickory wood generally have a density and higher strength compared with the pecans. This timber has high of varied base color from the white to the brown in its sapwood. While the heartwood may vary from light brown to the red and dark color. This wood has a straight grain figure with a rough texture, with little pores, small and shallow.
The pecan or hickory wood is relatively hard to be handled in the woodworking industry. It is hard and easily broken, it should be bored before any installation of  nail or screw. The wood is high risk to the insect attacked, it is need to be treated with  anti-insect chemical in its process. This wood has large volume  of shrinkage, the drying process should be done slowly to avoid the crack.

Here are the properties of hickory and pecan wood


Specific gravity (12% m.c.)                     : 0.75 (hickory),
0.66 (pecan)  
Average weight (12% m.c.)                     : 833 kg/m3 (hickory), 737 kg.m3 (pecan)
Modulus of elasticity                                : 15.583 MPa (hickory), 11.928 MPa (pecan)
Hardness                                                  : 8095 (pecans). 

Average volumetric shrinkage (green to 12%): 14.3% (hickory) 
( the data are taken from: American Hardwood Export Council)
 
The uses of pecan and hickory wood.

 
This wood is widely used in a variety of purposes in the woodworking industry. His toughness gives lot of advantages in the woodworking industry, especially to make the wood stuff that need the maximum strength and stiffness. It is widely used to make staircase, parquet for flooring, tool handles, stick, furniture, etc. The hickory or pecan is considered safe for food, so it is also widely used to food place and kitchen furniture. The use of pecan wood to make furniture has been done for many years although not as much as other popular wood like oak or maple. Some well-known furniture companies have used this wood as a brand name and company. There are some pecan wood are also cut and sliced to be sold as veneer and plywood.

Finishing for the hickory and pecan.

 
In general, this timber has
varied base color that should be anticipated in the finishing process. The pecan wood usually has  more uniform color and lighter than the hickory. The color variation of hickory wood is quite high from the light brown to dark brown. One species of this wood even has a blackish brown color.
The uses of equalizer stain and the sap stain is highly recommended to make the even color in the finish color. Since it is high dense and hardwood, it is can be stained quite easy. Many stain can be applied with small risk of blotchy color.This wood is also easy to be sanding to produce a flat and smooth surface
Various colors and finishing styles can be applied to this wood to produce an attractive appearance. Finishing with natural color is mostly used for this wood. His natural brown color is much liked in the furniture industry. Pecan color even is known and often used as color reference in the furniture industry. Finishing with other transparent color such as dark brown or black color is also nice.
This wood has small and shallow grain texture and pores, so it can be finished in the close finished quite easy. It also can be distressed to make antique finish as well. 

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Glue splotches problem in the furniture

Glue problem is a classic problem in the furniture manufacturer. This problem is often encountered in the manufacture of furniture. Glue that is left on the wood surface will make spot mark or splotchy. This glue mark may not so obviously look in the unfinished, but they will be clearly visible after it is finished. The glue splotches will ruin the appearance of finishing, since that it has to be cleaned as far as possible. The glue that is used for assembling has to be strong enough to make an unseparated bond between each component in the furniture product. The glue cannot be resolved after it dry. Since that the glue is difficult to be cleaned with thinner; the method to cleaning the glue is by sanding the wood
Cleaning the glue splotches is usually done by sanding before the finishing process begins. Scrapper or knife can be used to scrap the thick glue splotches, before it sanded to clean the glue mark. The fact the glue mark is rather difficult to be viewed in the unfinished wood. Mostly the glue spot is found after the wood is stained. We can apply a thin stain to help find the glue splotches in the sanding process. This method is also help to find the other imperfectness in unfinished wood such as: the sanding mark, small dents, uneven surfaces, etc.
Some furniture manufacturers even chose to clean the furniture glue mark after the first stain application. The unfinished  product after being sanded are taken to the finishing room for first stain application, then after that the furniture are reviewed and rechecked to find the unfinished problems such as: glue marks, scratches, dent, etc. The problem then are revised and touched up, and then the products are sent to the next finishing process.   Some factories choose this system since it makes the process production quickly run.
The sanding to remove glue stain is tough process. The form factor of the furniture make the sanding is difficult to be done perfectly. Therefore the best way to clean the glue is to wipe it or resolve the glue while it is still wet. It has to be done in the assembling process. After the component are mounted and assembled, then the glue excess has to be cleaned. The wet glue is can be easily cleaned by thinner or water, but when the glue is dry the cleaning is become difficult.

 Fixing the glue problem in the stain process

Here are the things that need to be done to minimize the glue problem.
  • Make sure the component are precise before assembled.
The components of furniture should have the right size and shape before being assembled in the assembling process. The right size and shape will make the assembling process can be done faster and it will greatly speed up the process making furniture..

  •  Provide room to accommodate the glue excess in the assembling process.
When we cut the dowel or mortise, trim edges slightly to make it is shorter than the room where the dowel is inserted. This room is useful to place for excess glue when the components are assembled.

  • Use the proper glue with the right mixing ratio.
There are several types of glue can be used for gluing wood. Choose the most suitable glue which is especially designed for assembling purposes. And if we have to mix the glue ourselves, then we need to follow the appropriate mixing ratio.  

  •  Provide water or paint thinner and a rag during the process of assembling.
When the assembling process is done, there always glue excess that need to be cleaned up. The cleaning of the glue will be easier when the glue is still wet or semi wet. Prepare a cloth and thinner or water so every glue excess can be wiped and cleaned soon after the component are assembled when the glue is still wet. The cloth should be provided in sufficient quantities, so it was dirty cloth can be directly replaced with a clean cloth. When the cloth get dirty, then it has to be replaced with the new one, since the dirty cloth even at risk to create worst mark on the wood surface

  • Work carefully and discipline.
This assembling process as well as other production processes, requires discipline work to get the maximum results. Therefore, when a process system has been made then the process must be followed with discipline. With the right process since the beginning then we can minimize the revision and touch up work and the production process can run quickly and efficiently. 

Monday, January 24, 2011

The risk of wet wood

Wood is indeed a unique and interesting material. Wood is a natural raw material with properties that are ideal to make various household product. Wood is obtained from trees that are natural and friendly for human health and environment. But the fact, to handle the wood is also not so easy. To produce good wood products from wood, the wood are need to be processed properly.One of the most important thing is the moisture content of the wood. The wood are need to be dried until meet a certain standard before go to the woodworking process.
The ideal wood moisture content of wood is the moisture content in balance with air humidity at the place where wood products will be used. For example if we want to make furniture products that are going to be used in New York, then we should see the average humidity data in New York; it is averagely 56% to 72% (data is taken from City rating .com). From these data then we go to find data of the wood moisture content in accordance with the air humidity (see chart wood moisture content vs. air humidity). From this chart we find the ideal moisture content of wood is about 10% to 14%. So the standard moisture content of the wood that is used to make the furniture should be in range in between the 10% to 14%. 
 
The drying process of the wood may be considered as a difficult and costly  process but it is a  very critical thing in the woodworking industry. The wet wood is high risk to emerge many problem that may become very expensive to be fixed if it happened. 

Here are the problems that can occur due to the use of wet wood.
  •  Wood is cracked, warped, bent or other construction problems.
Wet wood will always release its water to balance its moisture content with the air humidity in the environment. When the timbers release the water, he will shrink and the depreciation of the wood is not balance in every side. The shrinkage is varying according to the grain direction and the density of the wood. If a product has been built, this phenomenon will create a serious problem since it will lead to construction problems like crack, warped, bent, changes shape, etc. 


the wood cracked caused from the wood movement
  • The fungi problem on wood.
The wet wood also has a high risk to get the problem with fungi. The wet wood could be an ideal medium for the growth of fungi. There are many fungi spore floating in the air, if it finds the suitable media he will grow in there. The fungi in the wood could be emerging in many models, depend on the species the wood and fungus.  The fungi may show as a dark or blue stain that will ruin the wood color or it can be appear as fungal plan grow in the wood.  Some fungi can even penetrate the layer of finishing and still appear even if the timber has been finished. 


 the fungi in the wood
  • The finishing problem.
The water in the wet timber will still try to exit from the wood. If we do finishing on the wet wood, the water vapor could be trapped in the finishing layer. The water in the finishing layer will make disrupt the appearance of the finishing. The water vapor could make a cloudy looked and reduce the clarity the finishing.  When the furniture is placed in the cold place, the water in the finishing layer could freeze and make a heavy cloudy looked in the finishing.
The water vapors in the finishing layer will also affect the strength of finishing because since it make the imperfect bonding in the finishing layer.
For finishing process that uses water-based finishing material, the problems caused by wet wood are more. The water in the wood will release and affect the water releasing from the finishing materials. It makes the drying process become longer and difficult and finally will make some more finishing problem.  

The problem caused by the wet wood is only can be solved by drying the wood until it meet the standard moisture content.  If the furniture is already built and finished it means that we have to wash the finish, let dry, fix the construction problem and refinish. It will be a high cost process, since the lost of materials, time and energy. Since that the uses or wet wood should be avoided in the furniture making. It is much better to wait until the wood is dry an stable when we start using it in the production process.

 

Friday, January 21, 2011

How to make NGR stain

The N.G.R stain (non grain raising stain).

The N.G.R. stain (non grain raising stain) is already widely known and used in wood finishing industry. This stain is easy to be used and handled with satisfactory results in the wood finishing industry. The N.G.R. stain is also relatively easy to be mixed and self-made by the finishing peoples. The N.G.R. stain is made from organic pigment that is very easily to be dissolved and mixed perfectly without any binder as the inorganic pigment stain. The N.G.R. stain is actually quite easy to be bought and obtained from the suppliers of finishing material.  Many finishing material provide the N.G..R stains with quite complete color catalog. If we purchase the N.G.R. stain in a large and continuous quantity, some suppliers are willing to mixing the stain with the special color according the color finish we need.
However, many finishing peoples often choose to mix and make the stain themselves. We, as finishing peoples of course cannot mixing the stain as in the finishing materials manufacturer which has more sophisticated equipment, but as the user we can mix the stain according to our need. We can make the stain in proper amount and do some adjustment according to the application condition.  
 
Here is the process of making the N.G.R. stain.
  •  The materials required.
The main materials that are needed to make this stain are: organic pigment as the color-forming and alcohol as the thinner. The common organic pigment used in the wood finishing is the dye; it is available in the powder form or in the concentrated liquid form in many colors. To make the N.G.R. stain in a certain color, we need the organic pigment in the primer color: red, yellow, black and blue. They can be mixed to form the desired N.G.R. stain with any color. The N.G.R. stain can also be made from an existing N.G.R. stain added with the organic pigment and alcohol to meet the color required. The N.G.R. stain is also can be obtained by mix some N.G.R. stain with different color.
Meanwhile the main thinner used to make the N.G.R. stain is alcohol. The mostly used is the denatured alcohol since it quite inexpensive and easy to be obtained.  We may add some solvent to adjust the stain properties. For example, ethyl glycol can be added to the mix to make the stain becomes longer dry so can be more wetting the wood stain.
  • The tools required.
We don’t need the advanced equipment to make this stain. The equipment we need are: bucket pail or drum as a place to mixing the materials, measuring cups or scales as a tool to measure the materials, pour down cards, tiles or wood piece for checking color, and the standard stain color we need .

  •  Mixing the stain.
Fill the bucket with the thinner according to the amount we need. Don’t fill to bucket too full; there will be additional volume along with the addition of pigment stain in the mixture.
Pigment in the liquid form is easier to be mixed than the pigment in powder form, since that solve the pigment powder in the thinner to form a concentrated liquid pigment. Mixed all the powder in the thinner in a certain ratio then placed in a measuring glass. 

Then fill the pigment concentrate on the thinner one by one and little by little to obtain the required stain color. Agitate the mixture when we do mixing. We need to check the color every time we add some more pigment or thinner. To check the color stain we need a standard stain color. Pour down the stain we make and the stain standard side by side on tile, card or a piece of wood and viewed. (See our previous article: How to check the stain color). 
Usually we need several time of pigment and thinner addition to find the right stain color. We can use the color triangle diagram or color wheel diagram as a tool to mixing the color. 
Sometime the dye powder leaves some solid particles or even little slurry in the mix. If it is happened then we need to filter the mixture to obtain a clean and mixed well stain. 
 
Here are the things that need to be considered in making N.G.R. stain.

  •  Make sure the materials are well mixed for each other.
To obtain a good stain we need to ensure that all ingredients are perfectly mixed. Although the organic pigment are mostly compatible each other but the use of materials from the same supplier is more advisable because it will reduce the risk of incompatibility material. Do some mixing trial in small amount to make sure that the material used are compatible.

  •  Always do a test first before doing the mixing in large numbers.
Mixing the stain is sometimes also produce an unexpected result. Since that before making the stain in a large amount, we should do mixing in small amounts and doing the formulation. The formula is a helpful guide to make the stain in large quantities. We also may do some test application on a piece of wood to see the result.

  •  Make recording about what we have done.  
Every time a stain is created and used then there is always a possibility if we need the same stain in the future. For those reasons, we better to always make a record when we finish in making the stain. We also need to keep the sample of the stain as a standard. A recording of the formulation of the mixture and the stain sample are helpful tool to make the same stain in the future.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

How to check the stain color.

Checking the stain color is one very important thing in finishing process. Every stain is needed to be checked before it is applied. The color of the stain is usually checked according to the standard to ensure that it is correct. Checking stain is very important to prevent the risk to get problem caused by the incorrect stain. The fact is the color problem in the finishing process mostly is caused by the stain problem. On a finishing industry with large production scale, the stain is needed to be checked daily in the fist time when the finishing process is started. Every stain should be checked before being taken to the finishing room and be used in the finishing process.
The stain color can be viewed and
checked by compare its color with a standard stain. When we made a step panel for certain finishing color and appearance at  the same time we have to save every stain that we use to do the finishing process. The stains used in making  step panel are used as standard to check the stains that we will be used for the finishing process  in the production line.
In the finishing material manufacturer, the stain is checked by special machine to check color  (colorimeter), but in the finishing industry, the stain is usually checked by manually observation. There some tools to make the stain color observation can be easier done, the pour down card, ceramics and piece of wood or veneer.

Here are some methods and tools to check the stain

 the white pour down card is used for stain color
  •   Checking stain color by using pour down cards, ceramic or glass.
Pour down card is a card or paper that is made specifically used to view the stain color. Stain is poured on the card, then its color can be viewed. To checking according to the standard, the stain and the stain standard both are poured on the card side by side, and then we can view and compare both color easily. 

 the black pour down card is used to check the white color stain

There are several types pour down card, the white paper is used to view any color stain instead of white color stain. The black paper is used to check and view the white color stain. Pour down this card is very helpful to check the color of the stain. When we mix the stain, every time we add some color or pigment in the mixture we usually need to check the stain color resulted until we get the right color.
Pour down card can only be used once, and it can be kept as a document of stain color. But since that we may need to provide the card in big amount. In a big volume finishing industry, we may need to check the stain color many times every day and it may consume lot amount of pour down card.
The other tool that can be used to check the stain color is ceramic or glass. The ceramic is work as the pour down card. The stain is poured on the ceramic and viewed its color. The black ceramic is used to check the white color stain, while the white ceramic is used to check the stain in other color. Ceramics can used many times since it can be washed and cleaned easily with thinner and can be used again. But ceramics can not be used as a document to record the stain color as the card.  
Glass is almost the same with the ceramic, but  it more clear and no color. It may not work as good as the ceramic.

 checking stain color with wood veneer

  • Checking with a piece of wood or veneer. 
Another tool that can be used to check the color stain is a piece of wood or veneer. Small pieces of wood or veneer can be used as a tool to help see the color stain, such as pour down cards or tiles. The stain is poured down on to the wood surface and viewed the results. To be more visible, then the poured stain can be coated with a clear coating. Sealer or top coat is layered over the stain will make its color more visible and easily viewed.
Pouring he stain in a piece of wood or veneer can be closer to the actual finishing process, but sometimes the veneer or wood condition can influence the results. It make the color may as not as visible as the uses of ceramic or pour down card.
We can also spray the stain on the wood or veneer to check the color. The stain is sprayed on the wood and coated with clear coating then it can be viewed to see its color, but since the variation of spraying result this method cannot be used to compared the color of two stain. No matter how  well we spray, it will be very difficult to do the same operation spray in different time.

Monday, January 17, 2011

How to choose the wood stain

Stain is one of the finishing materials that is very important in the finishing industry. Stain is the finishing material used to form the color, while a finishing process is always associated with the color and coloring process. Therefore, the proper selection of stain and its applications is very important in the finishing industry. 
 At this time actually the finishing industry has provided material to make various types of stains, each of which has unique properties and has complete color catalog. Thus, the finishing peoples just need to choose a certain type of stain and color according to the finishing required. The finishing peoples does not need to make the stain as in the past. However, the finishing players has  to recognize every type of stain and its properties to be able to choose the stain.
 
Here are some aspects need to be consider when we want to meet the best suit stain in a finishing process.
  • The quality and specification of the finishing required.
The finishing quality and requirement should be considered as the first consideration in the stain selection, since it will limit the chemical of the material that can be used. It also according with the purpose of the furniture product. for example the finishing for the outdoor uses, should use the stain that can withstand the u.v. light, the baby finishing for baby furniture should be free toxic and safe for baby health, etc. The stain as the finishing material used is also limited  with the finishing requirement. Theoretically we can make any color of the stain, but we have to make sure that we use the proper chemical.
  • The color and looked of the finishing
The type of stain used and the way application will determine looked of the finishing. Now there are many stain type are available. The stain type is determined by the ingredient in the mixture; the pigment, binder and the solvents. Each type of stain will give a special finishing looked resulted. There are two type of pigment the inorganic and the organic stain that be used in the stain. Generally the organic stain is more clear and bright (see previous article about the stain in the wood finishing). The inorganic pigment stain more suited to a finishing with bright colors, whereas inorganic stain more suited for more close and dull color.
The other ingredient in the stain are the binder and the solvents. They will determine the character of the stain such as the drying time, the application method, the compatibility with the clear coating used, etc. The stain used in a finishing process also should according with the clear coating used in the finishing process. Some reaction cured clear coating such as P.U., U.V. , A.C., etc. may need some special stain since the chemical reaction in its drying process.
Then the stain selection should be in accordance with the finish looked. There are many stain type that will give different finish effect. Simply the longer time stain to dry, the more stain wet, fill and color the pores and grain. The longer time dry stain will more enhance and show the grain and pores pattern in the wood.  While the fast dry stain is tend to make more flat color finish.
The stain used is also have to follow the color of the finishing. The stain color should be according with the final color needed and the wood base color. To help find the right color of the stain we can use the triangle color diagram or the color wheel diagram.  

  •   The finishing facilities and equipment available
The stain selected for a process of finishing must be applicable in the finishing process. Therefore, the selection of stain must conform to the facilities and equipment available. The stain used must be easy to be applied according to the condition where the finishing is done. In some cases we may need to adjust the stain to simply the finishing process.
  • The properties of wood.
Wood is a substrate with wide range characters and properties.  Wood characters can vary depending on the type of wood and the place where he grew up. There are 2 wood characters that need to be considered in the selection of stain, the base color and porosity. The basic color of the wood will mix with the stain color to form the desired final finishing color. Since that the stain used must conform with the basic color of wood to produce the desired final color. (Find it more in our previous article: how to make color in wood finishing)
The other important wood properties is the porosity of wood. Wood with a high porosity will tend to absorb more stain, It will tend to produce dark color than the wood that has low porosity. Some types of wood and even has high tendency to the result in blotchy color, especially when  the long time drying stain is used. So to stain the high porosity wood , the slow dry  stain should be avoided. The fast dry stain or toner (stain with little clear coating in the mixture)
with spray application is better option to reduce the risk of blotchy on the soft wood.
  •  Always do a test with a small application before do application on big product.
Each stain may produce different effects in the different finishing process. Before apply stain in a big volume finishing process, some experiment to apply the stain on small panel  is highly  recommended. Apply the stain in a small panel and evaluate the result before do the staining process for the big volume job. A step panel is very important to be made in the beginning of finishing project.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Crater problem at a furniture factory.

Have you ever faced crater problem? Crater problem is a very complicated; it is caused by the chemical contamination in the finishing, but the biggest difficulty of this issue is to find the source of the contaminant. Here is a story about a crater problem at a furniture factory.
There was a furniture manufacturer in Semarang. He was a furniture factory with a pretty good performance. He produced high-end furniture products to USA market. He shipped averagely 24 containers of furniture products. The factory was quite clean and organized.. The production process was run from sawn timber to the final finishing and rubbing with a good groove process. Two times a day the factory was cleaned, the floor was cleaned up with dust cleaner.  Indeed it was we a quite clean and well perform furniture factory. The finishing process was also run by a sequential process and with a good flow. The finishing process were: stain, wash coat, glaze, 1st  sealer, 2nd glaze, 2nd sealer,1st top coat, pad stain and 2nd top coat. There were 6 spray booths; they were enough to do the finishing process from the stain application to the final top coat.
The factory already run for several years when suddenly one day, there crater problem emerged in the finishing process. There was crater everywhere in every finishing process., wash coat, sealer, top coat and even in the stain. The crater was so bad, appear everywhere, in large amount in the whole finish surface. This became big issues and everybody tried solved this problem. He also asked to his finishing supplier to help overcame the problem. The finishing expert in the factory and the technical ad visor from the finishing company worked together to solve this problem. The finishing expert in the factory was already experienced in finishing for more than 15 years. While the finishing supplier was a big reputable chemical company with more than 30 years experienced as wood finishing supplier.  They worked together to solve this problem.
The first action was the addition of anti crater additive to the every lacquer and sealer used, while they looked for the main causes of the problem. This additive gave a little help, but because the crater was so severe, it was not enough to eliminate crater. Until the second they still worked to find the cause of this issue. But suddenly on the third day the crater was gone. The no crater arisen in the finishing.
On the day of the fourth and fifth and sixth finishing process run normally without any problems. Until then, a week after the first crater appeared, the crater arose again as worst as the first attacked. There were crater everywhere. The second problem was also appeared for 2 days, and then gone. The crater only came every Fridays and Saturdays.
There were many things done to overcome this problem, such as the crater additive, clean the products, clean the room, etc. They also tried to close the finishing room, but it still not completely eliminated the problem.
Until then after about a month struggled, the problem was stop. There no more craters found, even on the Friday or Saturday the day when the problem usually came.  Then until now it's been over 5 years the factory runs his production without any crater.
This case is a very interesting thing. The peoples analyze that the crater might be come from the environment.  There was something in the surrounding that spread chemical contaminant and came in to the finishing room.
Until the problem was gone; the peoples in there still had not found the best solution for that problem. They were still tried to find the best way to solve the problem, and the problem was stopped itself. 
In my opinion, there was hand of God work in this case.  We may claim to be the expert with our experience and knowledge but we should not forget to the God. In every situation we need  to rely all the result to the God. The problems in finishing may can be considered such as the other life problem, it can be solved easily if God please to help us.