Unlock the Secrets of Wood Finishing: Learn How to Choose and Apply the Perfect Finish

George R Price: A must have when you go to finish a wood working project. Excellent book.

United States on Aug 21, 2023

Georges Neto: Prefect images on the step by step of all processes. Images about application errors and possible solutions are of great help.

United States on Jun 10, 2023

H. Hargrave Hollyhock: Amazingly thorough and complete. All my questions addressed.

United States on May 09, 2023

Martin Andreev: Well written and very useful for every woodworker.

Germany on Nov 20, 2021

Chris: If I had have know this book was by an American I would probably not have bought it. And that would have been a mistake as it is an excellent book. Very technical and instructive. I have given it 4 stars because being American it deals with American brands which are not available in the UK. That aside if you really want to understand wood finishing then I highly recommend this book. I have learned a lot from it and continue to do so.

United Kingdom on Aug 04, 2020

Olivier: C'est un bon livre qui démystifie un peu les produits de finitions en étudiant leur composition. Les composants sont communs à toutes les laques, peintures et vernis, et ne sont pas clairement décrits par les appellations commerciales qui essaient de vous faire croire qu'il s'agit d'un produit miracle. Le problème, c'est que le livre date un peu, que les finitions sont celles commercialisées aux USA et que certains produits, notamment les solvants, ne sont pas disponibles en Europe. Et même quand ils existent, les appellations sont différentes.
Bref, c'est un bon livre, pas facile à lire en anglais mais je ne regrette quand même pas de l'avoir acheté.
Il donne en effet de bonnes indications sur les produits à utiliser pour des cas précis etla meilleure technique pour la mise en oeuvre.

France on Jan 04, 2020

Javaid (jayz_play): This has been written and demonstrated so well that you can become a pro in wood finishing after practicing all the methods and processes as are provided in this book.
I will like to call it the magna carta of wood finishing.

India on Jan 13, 2019

Bill D.: This seems like an excellent book on finishing wood, but being a relative newcomer to this topic, I felt like this book lacked enough detail on precisely when you should use each technique or each combination of techniques that he covers. I also would like to have seen more detailed, step-by-step instructions to guide absolute beginners in making logical finish choices, as well as which finish combinations work best in example situations, and how to apply those finishes best. After reading the book three times, I feel like my understanding of those sorts of details is still lacking. In other words, I don't think I have enough understanding to make the correct choices for each finishing situation. I feel like I would be mostly guessing what I should use. That's why I took one star away.

For example, there is a table outlining the potential benefits of each finish type which seems to show that shellac has excellent attributes in nearly every desirable category except for complete wood protection, It is also non-toxic and has no dangerous fumes. For an indoor object which is mostly decorative and rarely handled, it sounds like shellac would be the best finish for me to use,...

United States on May 14, 2018

Peter L: Incredible book with loads of full colour photographs and detailed illustrations covering many types of wood finishing. Lots of insight into problems you may not even have been aware of, with loads of detailed troubleshooting guides. Probably learned a lot more from this book than I did from my finishing instructor! Finishes are expensive, but thankfully knowledge is relatively cheap. This book will save you time and money.

Canada on Mar 31, 2017

Student_of_Life: I'm new to the trade. This book on wood finishing has taught me a ton of stuff. For example, I now know that a stain does not protect the wood like a finish (like a clear polyurethane) does...stain is different then a finish. I also learned that I will stay away from lacquer because of it's fumes. I've learned what wood conditioning is, and that if you want the ends of the board to come out the same as the face when it comes to staining (the ends of the boards naturally absorbs more stain then the face) to sand the ends.

I have also learned neat stuff like stains have 4 qualities: colorant (pigment or dye), amount of colorant to liquid ratio, binder (oil, varnish, lacquer or water base), and thickness. I have a much better understanding of the different kinds of finishes, that water based doesn't last as long as oil based.

In the book the author states there is different between a varnish and polyurethane and lacquer. From what other people in the trade have been telling me lately varnish is not a really different finish then say polyurethane. Varnish is now used as a general term to mean any kind of finish.

The book has extremely useful charts. My favorite...

United States on Apr 05, 2016