Vol.1 No.13
31 July 2002

Tips from Julian Biggers

1. Wiping rags. Everyone knows about using old T-shirts as rags to wipe off stain. Now consider old cotton pajamas. Cut off the legs and arms, and then cut across slices to desired size. Roll up the legs and arms for storage until you need to cut off a slice.

2. Save your soft bristle toothbrush. (a) Good for cleaning teeth of cutters, burs, and saw blades. (b) Good to buff/polish finish in tight places (It's like a small shoe brush).

3. Easy template for lathe duplication. Thin plastic strips available at hobby shops make a good compromise between cardboard and brass for duplicator templates. Glue pattern to the plastic with rubber cement. Cut out shape with sharp knife and/or jeweler's saw. Finish with files. A pattern is good for 20-30 uses before showing wear.

Glues and Gluing

4. Tinted glue. I use dark tinted glue with dark woods, i.e. mahogany, walnut, cherry. You can see excess glue and scrape/sand it off. None of those blotches or "ghosts" appears after staining because the glue blends with the stain. Purchase from a hobby story (House of Miniatures brand), at your local hardware store, or make your own. Add dark brown acrylic paint to good quality white glue to tint desired. Test on scrap wood.

5. Bottles of super glue say, "Store in cool, dry place." If not used often, keep it in the refrigerator and it will last almost indefinitely.

6. Next time at a hobby store check out the "house brand" of super glue (Cyanoacrylate). It is usually cheaper than name brands. (From the Frugal Woodworker)

7. Carol Hardy, Guild Fellow, says: "I use a combination of glues in very small areas where there is hardly any surface to glue two pieces together. For example: a very small mortise and tenon joint where I apply a light coat of white glue to the tenon and a small drop of super glue into the mortise; clamp immediately. The mix of two glues almost acts like epoxy."

8. Carol Hardy also suggests: insert a 1" piece of super-fine Teflon tubing in the top of the superglue bottle. It allows for a very small dot of glue to be dispensed and the tubing does not clog up. Sometimes a small piece of glue will dry on the very tip, so I cut off just the tip of the tube to re-open it (about 1/32" inch). The tubing can be found at model railroad store and comes in two diameters, and 12” length.

9. Ever have a piece of wood rip out of the tailstock while trying to turn it? After punching the centering hole, coat the end of the wood with super glue. It binds the fibers together and almost prohibits "rip out".

10. Strengthen butt joints. Use point of X-Acto #11 blade (or similar) to punch a few indents at junction of two parts. Glue will enter indents and, when dry, will form "rivets" to strengthen joint. (Bet this combined with #8 above would give a really strong joint.)

Stains, Dyes, and Waxes

11. A potassium dichromate solution will age cherry 10 years in 15 minutes. Dissolve one teaspoon of crystals in one quart of water. The full color change will take several hours actually. Seal the treated wood with a coat of shellac. Try on mahogany for an "old brown" stain. Caution: potassium dichromate ain't good for your health if taken internally or to bathe in.

12. Oil-based stain to order from Therese Bahl, Guild Fellow. To a quarter inch of oil paint squeezed from a tube, add one part cobalt (drying agent) and three parts paint thinner (mineral spirits). Burnt umber gives a warm brown; raw umber has a cooler shade of brown; raw sienna has a reddish hue; yellow ochre with a bit of burnt sienna yields an orange-brown. Try mix and match, other colors.

13. Standard beeswax polish. Mix one part beeswax shaved into thin pieces with three parts turpentine. Melt the wax in a double boiler over electric heat. Remove from heat and add turpentine while stirring. Pour into jar/can and let cool. You can make the recipe without heating by combining ingredients in a jar, stirring, and let dissolve overnight.

Adjust consistency by adding turpentine or beeswax. Add dry artist's pigments to wax, if you want a colored wax.

14. Old paste floor wax. Melting wax as above, and adding turpentine and cobalt can rejuvenate the wax. For colored wax, try adding oil stain while wax is still liquid.

15. Kiwi shoe polish. Shoe polish is high in carnauba (hard) wax. Neutral color for general polishing. Cordovan wax for a nice reddish-brown color.

16. Some sources for finishing products. Liberon/Star Kremer Pigments, Inc. P.O. Box 86, 228 Elizabeth St. Mendocino CA 95460 . New York NY 10012, 800-245-5611 212-219-2394 www.woodfinishsupply.com www.kremer-pigmente.de

-Julian