Newsletter
August 2 2003

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Handicapped
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August 2, 2003

I'm up to my ears again. I've bought a new domain. The web site url is http://www.teak-info.com. If you go there right now you'll just see a message that it's on it's way. Hopefully it'll be up and running by next newsletter time.

The site will be about all things teak. There will be information about how teak grows, how to refinish it (there's a trick for a glossy finish), how to take care of it and teak care products and teak furniture too.

Teak is interesting wood and can hold it's own outside because of it's natural oils.

I'm pounding callouses on the ends of my fingers trying to get the web site going as quickly as possible, because there are so many requests for teak information.

Thanks

Thanks to those who contributed information about their projects.

Don't be shy. Any and all are welcome to contribute information about projects you're working on or unusual experiences you've had that have accomplished your refinishing or woodworking goal.

Handy refinishing tools

Burlap, plain old gunny sack is real handy to have when you're stripping spindles. After you've gotten as much guck off with a brush that you can, apply some more stripper and let it work, then with a handful of burlap work the burlap around, back and forth. Change the working surface of the burlap frequently to prevent too much buildup. The coarseness of the burlap will grab a lot of extra stuff that softer materials will miss, but it's soft enough that it won't damage the wood.

Burlap is available by the yard at most places that sell fabric and it's generally very reasonably priced.

If you do have a bunch of gunny sacks out in the barn or somewhere, check them over very closely for print of any sort. Some gunny sacks are collectible.

Someone in a hurry

Here is an email question from a person who must have a lot going in their life making them in kind of a hurry. I'm adding it to the newsletter, because it kind of puts things in a nutshell.

email question . . . . .

Folks, I just want to know how to refinish a wooden table I bought at GoodWill without wading through a bunch of blah-blah-blah.

I assume I need stripper first and then the finish that I'm going to put on it.

JUST GET TO THE POINT (11 exclamation points I had to remove to save kicking off spam filters)

Reply . . . . .

Apply cleaner wipe off.

Apply stripper let work, remove.

After stripper clean wipe and let dry.

Stain wipe excess.

Apply finish

Enjoy.

Handy refinishing tools

Cake baking pans, cookie sheets, small roasting pans, just about anything that you can pick up along that order at a thrift store for a few cents can really be helpful.

Deeper pans are handy to put chair legs and other small things in while you strip them and cookie sheets can save a lot of mess when they're slid under a dresser or other large piece of furniture.

You can reclaim a lot of stripper when you use containers. The stripper that is caught is reusable and lots of times if you run out of stripper and have a very small patch to strip any liquidy, smooshy gluck will work to finish the job.

Make your own filler

email question . . . . .

I really appreciate any help you can give us.

We have an old redwood (we think it's redwood, but it also may be douglas fir) staircase in our 1917 house which we have stripped the white paint from. Actually, it had been stripped of white paint at least one time before, and due to poor stripping technique and general abuse, there are quite a few spots in it that are indentations or areas where two pieces of wood connect that still have white paint in them. We did the best job we could with a variety of stripping products and still couldn't get all these tiny white paint marks off. AFter doing the best we could, we sanded and stained the staircase (in a natural color), but some white spots still remained and are quite noticeable. I would like to use some kind of product - wood-colored paint, perhaps - to touch up these spots so that they are not so noticeable. Alternatively, perhaps we can use some kind of paste (wood glue or putty?) mixed with the sanding dust (which we kept). After doing any repairs that we can, we are planning to finish it with Tung oil. Can you give any advice on how we should proceed? I can send a picture of the staircase if that would help.

Lesley

Reply . . . . .

It's good you saved the sanding dust. You could make a mixture of sanding dust, glue (yellow carpenters glue is best) and the stain that you used. If you just used sanding dust and glue it wouldn't accept stain.

You're just about to the last resort, picking the paint out. You can use an awl, a nut pick or other sharp tool to pick the paint out. Do it very carefully, so that you don't pick wood out too.

When you use your home made filler make several applications and build up to the surrounding level. The filler will be sandable, but not as easy as commercial fillers, so you'll want to do a minimum of sanding.

There is a good polymerized tung oil on our catalog page clear finishes It's called Woodburst Chinawood Deck Oil. Chinawood oil is another name for tung oil. You can read more about plain and polymerized tung oil.

Rope or tie downs can save your bacon

We have a friend that used to own a janitorial service. One time he brought in an antique Duncan Phyfe sideboard that had a totally crunched top and front. He had loaded it into the back of his pick-up and knew that it was too heavy to come out so he didn't tie it down. As he was coming down a hill into town there was a big gust of wind and he looked in the rear view mirror just in time to see the sideboard go up in the air and come down on it's top and then roll down the hill.

The next piece of furniture that he brought in for repairs after the same type of incident, he said, "Some people live and learn, I just live." His daughter bought him a big coil of rope for his next birthday.

The moral of this story is that after you find that treasure and you're taking it home, if it's on the back of a truck be sure to tie it down, no matter how heavy it is the right type of air current can scoop it up like it's a feather and plunk it on it's top on the pavement.

We've worked on pianos that have tumbled out of trucks and have heard many stories of disaster about pianos that were totally destroyed when lost from the back of trucks.

Upright pianos are very top heavy and have no balance whatsoever, other than 'out of'. All of the weight is in the back of the piano, so if it's possible put the back of the piano against the back of the truck cab and tie it tightly with good heavy rope.

Handy refinishing tools

Sanding cord is best described as string with grit on it. Sanding cord can save hours of frustration when you're working with spindles. A few swipes around in the tight areas of turnings will remove even the most stubborn paint or heavy build up of finish.

More deck refinishing info

A reader, Joyce, sent the following information which might be interesting to some who are contemplating redoing a deck and are leery of using a power washer.

I read the bad (paint) refinishing deck experience. I feel your frustration I did that several years ago. I had much success this year refinishing a sad/bad cedar deck. Cleaned and stripped it with the Behr products for mold mildew and dirt. I used a sprayer to apply product and a hard bristle push broom to scrub it. It may require two cleanings if it's very dirty. I then stained it with natural cedar color, Behr product as well. They have several colors to choose from or you may customize. That was applied with a wonderful working deck sponge,recommeded by a Home Depot reprsentative. It's a small sponge that fits on a long painting pole.Better for the back. Good luck. Love your news letters. They are very informative, as I'm a do it if you can person who can use the help.

More on the particle board repair

This is how a final repair was made in damaged particle board that was covered a newsletter or two ago. Since the plug cutter referred to isn't common to lots of toolboxes, as an alternate you could use a slice of wooden broomstick, closet rod or any other round wood stock and stain it to come as close as possible to the surrounding surface.

Hi Tom, Thought I would get back with you and let you know about my attempts at repairing the particle board that had blown out on me. I tried the epoxy, but the stuff was too runny for a vertical application. My cabinet was still together and I didn't want to take it all apart. I also tried rock hard putty, but it crumbled apart when I re-drilled the hole. What I finally did was bore out the hole to 1/2 inch. I cut a 1/2, cherry wood plug, put some of that Gorilla glue on it and plugged the blown out particle board hole. I then drilled into the cherry wood and set my hinge with wood screws, in the new, cherry hardwood plug. Its not pretty, but its functional. Cheap cabinets.......you definitely get what you pay for when you use particle board for anything. Thanks for your suggestions. I appreciate it.

Just an interesting story

This is related to the Duncan Phyfe sideboard above and took place about 25 years ago.

My mother-in-law was helping me work on the sideboard. We had it laying on it's back and were down on our knees working on it.

Before I finish the story I would like to say that my mother-in-law is a very sweet 78 year old lady who could pass for 60 easily and if I could pick and choose a mother-in-law she would be the one I would choose. Now that she's older and wiser she claims she never made the statement, but that doesn't give any reprieve, I've been getting even every chance I get and I know that it's helping to keep her around and feisty, because she's bound and determined to have the upper hand.

Back to the story. We were working very industriously when all of a sudden she reared up and said, "How am I supposed to soar like an eagle when I'm working with a turkey?" Now that's getting even material.

To add veracity to my story, when she was much younger she and her father-in-law were doing antics that feisty people will do and she wiped a gob of limburger cheese under his nose. She claims that one with pride.

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Until next time,

Tom

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Generally, usually, most of the time

You'll read those words and others like them quite frequently in the information I give. Most procedures are exact maybes. Usually to do the same thing twice will have the same results, but maybe the third time won't, but then again maybe it will.

Always take care to protect your eyes and other parts of you that might get damaged.

Care, caution, knowledge and patience are the watchwords and using them will make it work every time.

Be sure to test an inconspicuous place when using any chemicals on any surface.

Any suggestions offered are given in good faith, but since we have no control over the use of or application of any suggestions, we cannot accept any responsibility for any problems arising from their use.

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