Scotch brite for wood finishing.

Scotch brite is one of the materials that is lot used in the process of wood finishing. Scotch brite is an abrasive material that is used to do sanding or polishing in the finishing process. Scotch brite is made from synthetic material that is covered with mineral abrasives. Scotch brite is available in many types and grade that indicates the coarse of the material. The fine type of scotch brite is also used in the domestic life to wash the household for wash the cookware and table ware such as: dish, cup, pan, etc. The scotch brite for this purpose is the fine scotch brite and available in the supermarket or grocery store The scotch brite for wood finishing is available in the industrial tool store and also available in some grades. The scotch brite is also lot of used at the automotive or metallurgic industry, and available in some grades and types. While in the wood finishing, the scotch brite is used to do the sanding and polishing in the finishing process.

the heavy duty scotch brite

scotch brite to sand the complicated form

To do the sanding, the coarse scotch brite is used. It is the proper abrasives to sand the sealer or top coat at the non flat surfaces. The sandpaper is the good material for sanding, but it is difficult to be applied at the furniture part that has 3 dimensional forms such as: legs, turning, edges, the carving and the other complicated form part.  The sanding with the sandpaper has high risk for the over sanding. The sand paper is too aggressive and not flexible enough to follow the complicated form. It will tend to cut trough the coating layer at the protruding parts, especially at the first sealer layer or the wash coat layer when the coating film is still thin. To sand the complicated form, then we need the scotch brite. The scotch brite is the flexible abrasive material that is quite flexible to follow the complicated form and reach the inside part with less risk of over sanding. The scotch brite is even less aggressive compared with the steel wool. The scotch brite is also won’t be fall out to form dust as the steel wool does. Since that the scotch brite is the better choice material to do sanding at the complicated form. 

 

the fine scotch brite

  the fine scotch brite is used to polishing the compound 

The fine scotch brite is used to polishing at the rubbing process. When we do rubbing, the last step is polishing with the compound or pumice powder. The scotch brite can be attached at the rubbing machine to apply the compound or pumice stone powder at the polishing process. The uses of the rubbing machine will give the consistence result. It is specially needed when the high gloss finish is wanted. 
To find more about the rubbing process, you can go for our previous post Rubbing and polishing. 

How to design the furniture.

The modern furniture product is a result of long series of processes. It is like a building, the furniture product is started from an idea. The idea then goes to the designer and start to be realized. Designer is a person who does have expertise in capturing an idea and express it to be tangible form. How to get the ideas and how to cultivate the ideas is the expertise of the designer. This idea could come from anywhere, from models that already exist, from the fashion trends, books, magazines, nature, etc. But, to make the idea become real product, then the designer has to translate the idea to the manufacturing process. The first step is to make the drawing for the idea.  The drawing then has to go to the furniture manufacturer to be used as a guide to make the real product.

The woodworking technology today has been developed and so advanced to accommodate the furniture manufacturer industry.  Various machinery, facility and raw materials are available to support the furniture manufacturer. This condition gives the big freedom to the designer to design the furniture. Almost all models and types of furniture products can be produced with the technology available today. The developing of information technology also help the designer a lot by providing abundant information about the furniture style, sources, substrates, and other information needed. It means that the designer today has a very big chance to explore and maximize his creativity. 

 The rattan seat bench

However, of course, the designer cannot inconsequential when designing a product. There are many things need to be considered to make the product that is success in the market. Here are some things that should be considered in the designing of furniture product.

• The aesthetic value of the furniture.

The success of the product depends on the market acceptance. The furniture product should have aesthetic value to many people or the society. Now, when the furniture is like a commodity product, then the esthetic value is very important factor. The esthetic value is the “differing factor” that drives peoples to choose the product. The "esthetic value" could be varying from one people to the other, from one society to the other, from one place to the other. There are many factors that influence the esthetic value of the society. The region, social culture, gender, age, economic level is some of the influence factors for the esthetic value.

Since that when the designer design the furniture, then he needs to determine the segment market of the product. By knowing the market, then he can explore the esthetic value according to the target market. By this way the he can design the proper product.

• The production process to make the product.

The attractive product is not enough. He also should also be sell able with an economical price. To get reasonable price, then it must be able to be manufactured in a reasonable cost. The production cost will depend on the facility and system where the manufacturing process will be held. The process in a small workshop that serves to make custom product will be different with big furniture factory that make big volume products in the mass production system. 
Therefore when the designer design the furniture, then he also should consider the kind of furniture manufacturer who will build the product. If he works for a furniture factory, then he needs to do discussion with the production manager to find out the best suitable product according to the facility and system in the factory. If the designer works to the furniture buyer or he is a freelancer, then he need to have knowledge about the process of manufacturing furniture.  

• The function of the product.

The furniture product is household product. No matter how good is the furniture, he still has to fulfill its function. The people buy furniture product because he want to use it, not just only to enjoy the beauty. Therefore the furniture has to fulfill the function value; the furniture has to be usable to the user. Including the function value is also the safety; furniture should be proper designed to be save enough to be used by its user.

The function factor also depends to the person who is going to use the furniture. For example the furniture that is dedicated to the baby or children should have extra safety in construction and models. And the function value of the product could be very significant until it can restrict to make the other value.

Antique brown rattan finish.

Most of rattan products are marketed in the finished. The rattan is special substrates that have provided value as its uniqueness, but the proper finishing will give added value by enhancing its special form. The finishing for rattan is actually very similar to the finishing for the wood. The materials that are used are the same. But since rattan does not have grain and pores as the wood, then the rattan finish is more emphasis to enhance the unique form and shape of the rattan product.

In this article we want to share the finishing process rattan wicker with light brown color and dark brown glaze. The rattan base color is light brown with the dark brown color glaze is used to fill and coloring the inside of the rattan wicker to generate the attractive and life finish. Rattan skin is used, so the special sealer is used as the first layer to get the better adhesion of the finish. While the NC finish system is used, the NC clear coating, stain and glaze are used for the overall finish. 

antique brown rattan finish step panel

Here are the finishing processes step by step.

•   Washing the rattan and application of first sealer.

The first process is to take care the rattan skin. The rattan need to be washed and cleaned from the waxes that may still attached at the surfaces. We used a scotch brite that was wet by acetone to rub and clean the rattan. We rubbed to the overall rattan to make sure the rattan was cleaned. Then we blow with the air gun to clean the dust and dry the acetone.

Then after the rattan was clean, we sprayed cane sealer to the rattan surface. The cane sealer is the special sealer to take care the rattan skin. We sprayed the cane sealer wet coat to the overall surface, and let it dray for about 30 minutes.

•   Stain application

Stain is used to coloring the rattan. We sprayed a light brown stain to make light brown color rattan finish. The stain was applied by wet coat spray to the rattan surface. We let the stain dry for about 5 minutes.

•  Application of second sealer.

The second sealer is applied to protect the stain color and also to form and build the finish film. For the second sealer we used a NC sealer, since the overall finish system is NC finish. NC sealer was sprayed to the overall surface. We let the sealer for about 30 minute to dry.

•  Glaze application.

The glaze was applied to fill the inside webbing and form the brown color for the rattan. Dark brown glaze (Van Dyke Brown glaze) was brushed to fill and coloring inside the webbing. The glaze was also layered evenly on the surface to form the finish color. We did some highlight to the glaze layer to make more life looked finish. We waited for 1 hour to let the glaze dry.

• Application of  the first top coat.

The next step is the top coat application. We don’t need to sand the clear coating at the rattan finish, so we can use the top coat instead of sealer. The top coat also will give better adhesion then the sealer. The top coat was sprayed wet coat to layer and protect the glaze layer. We let the top coat layer for about 30 minutes to dry.

•  Smudge pad and dry brush glaze.

The next process is the antiquing process. We used dark brown pad stain to pad the top coat layer. A dampened cloth with the pad stain was padded at the top coat layer to make the antique impression. We added some dry brush to burnish the corner and make more antique looked.  

• Application of the second top coat.

The next process is the second top coat application. It is the last coat layer to protect the finish color and to form the gloss of the finish. A medium gloss NC top coat was sprayed to the finish. And the result was the antique brown rattan finish. 

Tips to buy furniture online.

Buying furniture online could be preferred and more fun by some people . With the information technology has allowed everyone to browse and find the furniture product he need  from any places, any time, unlimited. With the online market, every people has the opportunity to buy the products he want with the best price, without any problem about the distance and time.

Nevertheless the online purchasing furniture online also has some disadvantages compared with the purchasing in the real store.. Purchasing products online have high risk for fraud and dispute. The better communication and prudential action is important to be held in online transaction.

These are some tips for buying furniture online.

•  Make sure that the website we dealing is true.

Security in the online transactions starts from the website that we deal with. Make sure that the website that we use to transact is the real website of the furniture seller company. Protect your computer with antivirus and anti spam when you browse the website. The unsecure website not even is risk of fraud, but also risk of spam and virus that may contaminate our computer. 

Check the website address carefully; make sure he is registered in the country authority where the website is addressed. Check the owner of the address; make sure the person in the address is real.

• Make sure that the companies that we are dealing is the right company.

When we decide to buy furniture then we certainly have to make sure that we are dealing with a furniture company. It is better to deal with small company who really does “furniture business” than dealing with a big company that just a “broker”. Make contact with the person in the company , and do good communication to make sure that he really know about the product he sell.

• Check the term of service.

In every transaction there is always a possibility of errors, moreover in the online purchases. There is always a possibility getting problem with bad product, wrong product or other disputes since the lack of information. Make sure that we deal with companies that provide a guarantee of good handling of any disputes. Read carefully the terms of service as well as guarantee that he offers. Do confirmations to the seller, make sure you are clear about the terms inside, and be careful to the bias sentenced that may cheat.

•  Check the delivery.

Delivery of goods is very important in the online furniture buying. Furniture is breakable item. It is heavy and need properly.handling. Find out shipping agent used, and make sure that he could handle with the furniture shipment. Also don’t forget to check the delivery time and cost.

• Make sure that we buy the correct item.

Buying furniture online means that we rely our decision on visual observations and a written description of the product.  Although many company are give guarantee to the returning shipment, but it will take lot of effort and time to do that. It is better if we can get the right product at the first shipment. Read and check carefully the specification of the furniture product such as: the substrate, the construction, the finishing type, the size, etc. There may be some things we need to know more details about the product that we need to find out. Then do a deep communication about the detail of the product specification.
The products that are display in the website are images that are taken from photography. The appearance of the product is greatly influenced by the environment and lighting while the portrait was made and the quality and setting of the computer. It is possible to see the difference between the displayed looked in the computer with the real product. Therefore, find many more information about the product far as possible. We can get a color swatch to ensure we get the right color.

Rattan to make furniture

Rattan is the forest products that can be used to make furniture, handicraft and any other household product. Rattan is tree with long rod which is strong, flexible, and unique. Rattan rods can then be cut, slashed, and woven to make many pattern. While the rattan rod can be bended, curved to make frame in any form. The rattan tree is a vine plant that lives by climbing the big trees in the forest. The rattan plantation is good way to preserve the forest, because by taking the cane only and leaving the big trees mean the maintaining to the forest. The rattan that is harvested from the forest must pass a series of processes to become the finished products that can be used for human life. Here are the process of the rattan to become the furniture.

rattan table

The processing to produce semi-finished rattan.

 
This process starts from the harvesting of rattan from the forest. Rattan is cut cleaned from its leaf to make a long wet rod. The rattan need to be dried before can be used to supply the rattan industries. There are several ways to cultivate the rattan.  The first is by frying the rattan in the special mixed oil. The frying can make the dry rattan quickly to prevent fungal and insect attacks. Frying the rattan also helps to make more even color and cleaning the wax coating that sticks at rattan skin.  After being fried the rattan rod need to be washed and cleaned from its oil and sap. Then it is needed to be dried to a until reach a standard moisture content (about 10%).
Freshly cut rattan also can immediately be immersed in a insect repellent solution and then dried. The drying with the oven is recommended, since the drying can be faster and better controlled. The naturally drying will require longer time and have high risk for fungal attack.

Cutting and slicing the rattan.
 
The dry rattan then is sent to furniture, handicraft factory to be processed to make many products. Rattan can be cut to make rod in the required size, peeled or sliced ​​to produce woven in any pattern. The rattan rod is used as framework or leg, while the woven are used as panel, wall or accent a wall for the furniture.

The outer shell is usually separated and has higher value because he is stronger, flexible and has the clear and bright appearance.The rattan rod with the skin is also have higher price then the rattan peel. The rattan peel have rough surface because of its fibers and have rather dull appearance.
In the furniture factories the rattan sticks can be cut and shaped with the any size and certain forms to make components. Rattan can be heated with the steam and bended or curved to make any form. The rattan sticks then are assembled with rattan wicker and other components to make furniture. Rattan can be combined with wood or metal to make furniture.

 steamer to process the rattan

Sanding process to the rattan.

 
The unfinished rattan need to be cleaned from its dirt. The peeled rattan will contain many fibres at its surface. The fibers can be cut by sanding process or burning. The controlled fire can be directed to the rattan to burn the rattan fibers. The sanding is required clean the fibers that still left at the rattan surface. The sanding is also needed to the rattan skin to clean the residue of the rattan wax that may still attached at the surface.

burning the rattan to clean up the fibers

Finishing to the rattan.

 
The finishing for rattan principally is the same as finishing to the wood. The materials used are the same materials that are used for finishing the wood products. But finishing for the rattan products should be more accentuate to the unique shape of the rattan, either its bended rod or its woven pattern.
We need to difference the rattan into two parts, the skin part and the peeled part. The rattan skin is very dense material, it have very little absorption to the finishing materials. Rattan skin is also containing of   wax that can interfere the adhesion of finishing materials to the rattan surface. Some finishing materials suppliers provide a special material to handle the rattan skin. The finish layer for the rattan skin cannot be too thick since it higher the risk of adhesion problem

While the peeled rattan is tend to have a rough surface. It has lot of fibers that will raise and stiff when it is layered with finishing material. It is also has high absorption to the finishing material. The more coating layer and more sanding process are needed to make the smooth finish surface.

Queen Anne style Furniture.

 Queen Anne style chair

Queen Anne style furniture is the model that refers to the furniture that was popular in England in the early of 18th century. Queen Anne ruled the Great Britain from 1702 to 714. The "Queen Anne style" describes decorative styles from the middle of 1720s to around 1760. In that era The Britain was experiencing with economic growth. There many middle class people were growing and emerging as new economic powers.

In accordance with the conditions of society and culture, the Queen Anne style furniture figures the comfort and beauty while still describing its elegance. Queen Anne style is small, graceful, feminism and beautiful. It has small size, simple and dominated with curve line form. The substrates were the native England wood such as walnut, maple or cherry.

 Queen Anne arm chair

Queen Anne chair is known as its round and wide seat, may be to accommodate the large skirts that most used by the women at that time. The simple seatback is used, with vase or violin ornament. The legs are cabriole, with ball or claw bottom part. Generally the Queen Anne style is the continuation of the previous models, with more impressive the femininity and simplicity.

Queen Anne table

Queen Anne drawer chest

Other furniture such as sofas, beds, cabinets and tables certainly does have a same pattern. The curves line, simple with shells or leaves decoration. The cabriole or claw ball are used for the legs

Queen Anne mirror

Queen Anne bed

The Queen Anne style furniture is still encountered today, with various modifications. This model is used as inspiration by the many furniture designers. It’s simple and small size form, actually is still according with the conditions today, when many people is prefer the practicality and simplicity. Now the mahogany may be the most used as the substrates, although many other wood are also can be used.

H.P.L. for furniture.

H.P.L. or high pressure laminated (resin) is an engineering product that is widely used to make flat panel in the furniture manufacturer industry. H.P.L. is a sheet of decorative melamine resin. It is made of melamine paper that laminated with phenol paper with high pressure and high temperature to form a strong and flexible thin sheet with decorative looked at the front side. The pressure required is about 70-90 kg/cm2 with temperature is around 150 C and pressing time is about 1 hour. The melamine paper used is a decorative paper impregnated with melamine resin as the face of the H.P.L., while at the back layer is the phenolic resin sheet. The amount of the phenolic resin layer will determine the thickness of the H.P.L.; usually three or two layer is used. Once the pressing is completed, a certain thickness of layer sheet with decorative appearance at front side and the gluing side at the other side is ready to be used as a front layer of a board panel. H.P.L. sheets are available in various patterns and colors and gloss. Some sheets with texture are also available. The decorative appearance of the H.P.L. is formed by decorative paper used and the plate used. The decorative paper will form the finish pattern, while the plate will form the gloss and texture of the H.P.L. face.

In the furniture manufacturers industry, H.P.L. is glued at a M.D.F, particle board or laminated wood (bare core) to make the panel board. H.P.L. will produced decorative panel appearance which is high resistant to scratches, heat, solvents and chemicals. H.P.L. is stronger then the decorative paper or wood veneer with 1 components coating. H.P.L. can be purchased in small amounts sheet and available in various motifs and gloss.

H.P.L. can be laminated to its core surface with simple process of gluing. The solvent base adhesive can be used as well as the water based glue. If the solvent base glue is used then, the pressing can be done in the simple way without having to use the big hot press or cold press machine. H.P.L. is available in various thicknesses. The 1 mm thick is the most used, it can be thick enough to overcome the cores with little bit uneven surface as laminated wood or bare core. It also quite flexible to be mounted on slightly curved surface make it flexible enough to be attached after the cabinet or furniture is built.
In the furniture industry manufacturers, the H.P.L. is widely used to manufacture furniture with simple models. H.P.L. can be used in the furniture industry with mass-production manufacturer that uses modern machinery and system. It can be used to make panels and flat furniture with high speed and consistency. 

H.P.L for contemporary furniture

 
The advantages of H.P.L.

• Strong and durable.

H.P.L. sheet is strong, it has high resistant to scratches, heat, water, chemicals, and solvent. It can be used as the face of panels that require high strength. It is an ideal material to be used at the part of furniture that will receive physical activities such as: top panel of dining table, bar table, working desk, counter table, etc.

• Simple and neat and compact

H.P.L. is an engineering product with flat and uniform surface. He doesn’t have varied properties as the wood veneer or laminated wood. This product can used to produce a flat surface much easier then the wood panel. It can be layered on a M.D.F. or particle board or laminated panel to produce a finished appearance with a variety of decorative motifs with a flat surface. H.P.L. can make the flat panel without dealing with the finishing process and troublesome wood properties variation.
H.P.L. can be attached to the surface of the panel with a simple gluing process, so it can be used to manufacture furniture in small quantities. Furniture product with special design can be accommodating by this material. The H.P.L. also is much used to make furniture in combination with other materials such as wood, iron or aluminum.

 H.P.L. for table and partition

The disadvantages of H.P.L.

Although much has advantages but, the H.P.L. also has disadvantages compared with wood. H.P.L. is an engineered product that will not be able to produce a natural appearance as well as wood veneer or solid wood. H.P.L. has a certain age and will damage after he pass his lifetime. Once he is damaged, he can not be recycled as the wood. The H.P.L. furniture will not have the antique value as well as the antique wood furniture. 

Merbau wood

merbau laminated wood

Merbau is a hardwood which is lot uses for many purposes in the woodworking industry. Merbau tree grows in the in the plain land, from the coast to the 50 m (160 ft) altitude land. The tree is found from Tanzania and Madagascar east through India and Queensland, Australia to the Pacific island of Samoa. It inhabits mangrove forests. Merbau timber is Intsia class. It has some species and traded with various names such as: merbau, taritih, merbo, kayu besi, mirabow, iron-wood, etc.
As country with extensive tropical forests, Indonesia is the sources of the merbau wood. The forests in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua are the origin of the merbau wood. The Intsia bijuga and Intsia palembanica are the most widely common species in Indonesia.
Merbau wood is hard and strong. The heartwood has varying color form reddish or yellowish brown to dark brown, while the sapwood has light yellow color.  It has a rough texture with straight direction pattern grain. The wood can be polished without coating to produce a smooth and shiny surface. This wood has low shrinkage; it is easy to be dried with less risk of cracking. The wood is also durable, high resistance to the fungi and wood-attacking insect.
Merbau timber is quite easy to be handled in woodworking. It can be drilled, sawed, planed, sanded and even polished with a satisfying result. It is less good for the turner and nailed. It is easily broken when nailed, and can cause black stains at the nail part, especially when it contaminated with water.

The wood properties can be seen in the table below: 
 
Species                                                                           I bijuga            I palembanica
Specific gravity                                                            0.63 to 1.04       0.52 to 0.97
Radial shrinkage (from the wet wood to 10% MC)     3.3%                0.6%
Tangential shrinkage                                                       0.6%                0.7%
Modulus of elasticity:                                                1070 kg / cm2     1126 kg/cm2

Hardness                                                                      800 kg/cm2         525 kg / cm 2

Chemical compositions:
 
- Cellulose 46. 9%
- Lignin 22.6%
- Pentose 17.1%
- Ash 0.9%
- Silica 0.2%

Hand scrapped merbau wood flooring

 
The uses of merbau wood

The merbau wood is widely used in the woodworking industry for various purposes. It is durable, strong and hard wood, it is lot of used for decking, fence, flooring and house frame. The wood is also used to make furniture, door, window and any other wood product 

Finishing for merbau wood.

 
Merbau wood has a reddish brown color that is unique and attractive. This wood has a rough grain texture with big pores and nice grain pattern. The finishing with transparent color is the most widely used. Its natural reddish brown base color has already produced nice appearance wood color. Lot of merbau wood products is even marketed in the unfinished conditions. With the proper method of polishing, the wood is able to produce a beautiful, smooth and shiny surface. The light color finish is quite difficult to be generated by this wood, since it may be contrary to its dark red-brown base color. Many types finishing can be applied to the wood according to the uses of the wood products.

The merbau timber contains a red sap that often appears and interfere the products. When the wood is wetted, the sap will come out stain the product and its environment. This sap will come out when the wood is wet or hit by water. To overcome this problem the wood should be dried until it reaches the proper moisture content and then it is maintained to be dry. The application of coating material is also helpful to keep the wood from the water. Use the proper finishing in accordance with the functions of the wood product. The outdoor finish such as: spar varnish or outdoor PU are most used for decking, fences. The UV coating is the most appropriate for merbau flooring parquet. While the interior finish such as NC, water based, AC or PU can be used for the interior wood product. 

Oil in the pine wood

Pine wood is one of the commercially wood. Pine tree is much planted to green the mountain and the wood are used for industrial purposes. The pulp, chemicals or woodworking are the industries that use the pine timber. In the woodworking industry pine wood is used to make many wood product. It is used as material for making furniture, house frames, doors, windows and flooring parquet. The pine wood has many species, about 125 species are known. The character of the pine wood may vary depend on the species and the place he growth. But generally it is soft wood, with a light yellow base color, and inexpensive. The wood has a strong character of grain but with less pores and grain texture that make the wood is liked in the wood furniture manufacturer. With the proper finishing it can produce wood product with beautiful and attractive appearance.
But the pine wood need to be handled properly. The wood has oil that could lead to problem if it is not well handled.  The pine oil is actually resin that is useful in the chemical industry, but it may interfere the utilization of the wood in the  woodworking. The  pine oil may be interfere the color at the finish wood. In the waxed finish, the oil from pine wood could make the wax become difficult to dry. The oil will mix with the wax and stay as a sticky wax. For wood finish with thick pigment, such as the solid color finish or wash finish, the oil will come out as an yellow stain that ruin the finishing looked. Since that the oil in a pine wood should be anticipated to make a good products in the woodworking industry.

 the oil in the pine wood

How to overcome the oil problem from the pine wood.

• Choose the proper finishing.

The pine oil will come out through the wood knot only and casually it wont  be problem for gluing and construction process.  The oil is also not going to bother the wood is the wood is finished in the transparent color. The oil will blend and camouflage with the wood color and does not seem in the finishing appearance. Pine oil is yellow in color and will be clearly visible on finishing with solid colors, or wash color when the thick pigment are used.  Since that, we better use the transparent color for the pine wood products. The natural color finish, or the brown wood finish is good choices since it will enhance its beautiful and unique grain and also minimize the oil problem.

 the pine oil bleed in the white finish

• Selection and treatment of the wood.

The oil will come trough at the knot parts.  It  won, t come out from the other part of the wood, therefore actually we can solve the oil problem by disposing the knots part. It may costly, but it may work for some condition.
The oil come out together with the releasing of water vapor form the wood. The wet wood has higher risk to get the oil problem. For a wide and big surface, then the use of wood veneer is better option. Veneer is cheaper and can be easier selected before it is laminated to the core. Veneer is also a thin layer which has a less oil then the thick solid wood. Veneer is also marketed in dry conditions, make it has less risk to the oil problem.

• Use the oil block.

Pine wood has been used since long time ago, since that peoples has recognized about his oil problem. The finishing industry manufacturer has created special material that can be used to overcome the oil problem. It is a kind of sealer that can be applied on the wood knot to block and stop the oil to comes out. There are may some different names for this material, such as pine knot sealer, oil pine stop, oil pine sealer, etc. We can get the oil block from the paint store by explain that we dealing with pine wood. It can be applied by brushed or dripped at the knot parts, and most of them work well to solve the oil problem.
The oil block will affect the stain abortion, since that it should be used only for solid color or wash finish. We don,t need the oil block for the transparent finish color. The oil block even can ruin the transparent finish since it will interfere the stain absorption by the wood.

Apply the oil block sealer by brush or spray at the wood knot, and let it dry. It usually need about few minutes to dry, then sand the sealer before start the finishing process.

Decorative paper to make furniture.

The development in the  woodworking industry has brought many easiness in furniture manufacturer. There are new techniques, materials and equipments have been discovered to make the process of making furniture can be held easier, faster and cheaper. Decorative paper is one of the materials developed by the woodworking industry to answer the need to make furniture in the inexpensive, fast and simple way. Decorative paper is a sheet of paper that is printed and finished decoratively to make special finish looked. In the furniture manufacturer industries, the decorative paper is widely used to make panels and flat form stuff. The decorative paper panels are used to make furniture with simple, straight models. It is very suitable to make the office furniture or the cabinet that are simple, flat form, knocked down and produced with fully machinery system. There are variety of decorative patterns can be made from paint finish with many colors to the wood finish color or the special finish color such as bronze, silver, millennium, etc.
Decorative paper is available in rolls of paper with various decorative patterns and models. There are are many available in the wood looked finish motif to make furniture. The staining to make the motif is done by printing machine with special ink. The printing process is very similar to the principle of printing to create a newspaper or magazine. But of course it is done with different model and motif patterns. After the printing process and the motif is form, the next process is layering the paper with clear coating as a protective layer. The clear coat is the top coat to form film layer, built the film and form the gloss. All processes from the printing and coating are done by roller machine roller that run continuously, fully controlled and consistently

The coating used  is a special finishing material. The decorative paper is usually used as the last layer on the furniture product without any more finishing process. The finishing layer used must be quite strong, has high resistant to solvents, chemicals, heat and scratches. With the  good gluing, a panel surface should be as strong the finished wood product. The chemical reaction dry coating are used for the coating.  The most coating used are the PU, AC or UV coatings.
In the furniture industry, the decorative paper is then attached on the surface of m.d.f. or particle board to form panels that are used to make furniture. As material to make furniture, the decorative paper has several advantages and could be good choice to make furniture.

 decorative paper in the oak wood motif

the decorative paper with silver finish

The advantages of the decorative paper.

• Stable

Decorative paper is an engineered product which is made at the manufacturer industry. When the product is marketed then it already has passed a certain specification. The process in the industry is a fully controlled process then he can be guaranteed to have the same  properties according with the standard specifications. The decorative paper will have the same and stable properties and character that will make the process for the furniture making can be done easier.

In the furniture factories the decorative paper is attached at the m.d.f. or particle board that are also engineered wood products. Thus, this product will be more stable and controllable. The production process can be controlled and calculated easier then the wood or wood veneers that may have varied properties.

• Neat and compact

Decorative paper has a uniform thickness from one end to the other. It can can be attached using press machine with neat result. It is just a thin sheet that is very flexible, there is no variation of  thickness. Decorative paper is very suitable to make furniture with flat models, simple which requires precise form and size. Decorative paper is an ideal feed for mass production and machinery based process.

• Inexpensive

With the proper setting machines, the decorative paper can produce products with a cheaper at the end cost. Decorative paper can be attached directly on the surface of m.d.f. or particle with appearance and performance like the finish panel. We can make product without have to deal with the finishing process that is complex and costly. With the appropriate process and machinery, the production process can be done faster and cheaper compared with the wood veneer.

decorative finish paper furniture
 

The disadvantages of the decorative paper

Decorative coatings  is different substrate with wood or wood veneer. It will never be able to replace the wooden furniture products. It give the decorative appearance as the wood finished but it is not.  He will still appear as an engineering product without the life and natural looked as the wood.
Decorative paper layer is thin and elastic, he will not be able to handle an uneven surface. This product should be attached at surface with even and smooth. M.D.F. or particle board is the most appropriate media. To make thick panels, then we many need to use a multi-layer of m.d.f, or  particle board. A layer of barecore or laminated wood can be used in the inside part, but the outer side must be the M.D.F. of particle board.
Finishing to the decorative paper is very limited. The application of stain or glaze cannot be done. The finish that can be done is only the coating application to make more film built or to form the gloss. 

How to choose the furniture.

Furniture is one of the human basic needs. Every person need a house as a place to live and every house always need the furniture. According to the culture development, the furniture is become more important. For some peoples the furniture is more than just home furnishings, furniture could be tool to build the aesthetic decoration of houses and buildings, more over  the  furniture can be a status symbol for a particular community.
The furniture industry has been providing furniture products in wide range of product. The furniture are available in various style, shape, form, quality and price. Therefore, we can choose the furniture products easily. There are many model furniture in the market we can select, or we can come to the furniture shop to order the special furniture products to suit our needs.
But most often too much offering sometime even make difficulties to do the decission. So many furniture seller offers their product, each are show their advantages can makes us confused and dizzy. On the other side the furniture is the big things that might be an expensive item and we have to buy it wisely.

There some tips for choosing the right furniture for our home.

• Adjust the size and model according to the room or house

The furniture however is the household for the room or house, therefore it should fill the room properly. The furniture cannot too big or too much until it too crowded or too dense in the room. We also have to consider that the room would be used for many activities, since that we have to provide some more free room instead off to place the furniture.
Instead of the size of the furniture physically that can be measured, the model furniture is also factor that shall affect the charging the room visually. Furniture with complex forms and full engraving will give the impression of great more fill the room visually, while the simple form furniture tend to give more spacious room. Choose the furniture size and model according to the space of ​​the room and make sure it fill in properly physically and visually.

• Consider the furniture substrate

Furniture can be made using various materials, wood, wood products, metals, plastics or other substrates.When we select the furniture, take a moment to consider the substrate of the furniture products. Find the information form the seller and make sure that we know the materials used. Each materials each has its own character and have its advantages and disavantages respectively. The solid wood will lead to the natural impression. But the wood will expand and shrink according to the humidity changes in its environment. Since that the wood furniture has risk to crack, especially in the areas with high humidity changes. But the exotic solid wood furniture could be an investment since it tends to be more expensive in the future.
The engineered wood such as: m.d.f., particle board and veneer may give the appearance as well as solid wood. They are more stable and less sensitive to environmental changes, but this material will have no value in the future as well as the solid wood.
The synthetic materials such as resins, plastics will tend to bring to the modern atmosphere. They are more stable, easy to be handled, neat and compact,  but they dont have any antique value in the future.
The metal furniture could be show the modern impression as well the antique looked, and it can be recycled, but it wont give a high selling value as antique product. 

• Find information about the type of the finishing

When we use the furniture, then we will certainly need to care and maintenance the furniture. Some time we may need to re finish the furniture. Since that we should know the type of finishing that is used by the furniture. By knowing the type of finishing then we will be able to do maintenance in the proper way. The information about the finishing will also be very useful if we need to refinish the furniture later.

• Consider the model and the appearance

The furniture is the stuff that fill in our room, and everyday we will see our furniture. We have to choose the furniture that fit to our taste and can fill our heart, to make our room to be pleasant. There are many model furniture are available, then make sure we got the right model according to our taste.

• The budget for the furniture

The modern life offer many things, and we have to spend our money wisely. There are many option avialable in buying the furniture. When we buy the furniture, start with set up a certain bugdet and then base on that we can do observation and exploring to find the right product. By this way we can avoid to spend to much money for the furniture.