Hi Galoots,

	I would say 'fellow galoots' but I don't think I'm there yet.  I
stumbled across while searching for woodworking tools about two months
ago.  I lurked for a day in the archives and then lost the thread when
my blasted machine crashed.  In between then and now I bought a 'new'
old house which has had my undivided attention.  The previous owner was
a legend in the neighborhood(for example - at the age of 78 this man
hand dug his full(and I mean 24 X 40) basement a full 18 inches, poured
a concrete floor and finished it.  A lot of things he did well, some not
so well.  Over the last five weeks, I have thrown a ten foot header in a
bearing wall,  dropped a subfloor 3/4", installed white oak(no nail gun)
over said subfloor, put in a couple of interior oak french doors, installed
a lot of drywall and painted the entire interior.  All this was done in
evenings and weekends.  People are starting to joke that his spirit has
invaded my body.  Sorry about the bandwidth, but both my gloat and question
come from this house.

	My name is Jack Spiller but my friends all call me Jake, so please
do.  I am married to SWMBO-2, Kathy, a wonderful woman with no patience
("When is the drywall going up?").  She is however, quite tolerant which is
much more important.  I have two SWMBOIT's(SWMBO In Training) from my first
marriage.  They are Chritine(16) and Theresa(18).  Both are smart, atheletic,
pretty, very personable, and pad-locked in their rooms(only kidding on this
last one).  I don't have dog yet, but I'm getting one real soon.  By the way,
are dogs allowed on the porch?  Every porch should have a dog.  I work on
Wall Street where I build financial models, for you computer/math types, two
factor multi-path simulations.  I actually all that advanced math I took on
a daily basis.  Anyway, I am well compensated for what I do,  but also have
to deal with a lot of stress(get it wrong in the fourth decimal and it could
mean millions).

	I do own some tailed apprentices, but I use them mainly when I'm doing 
renovations(God bless the man who invented the SawZall).  I definitely prefer
the quiet of hand tools.  I'll admit that I use a t*bl* s*w, but pretty much
exclusively to cut panels down to size.  I've done a few simple projects,
a book case,  a desk, a workbench(M&T for the bench, dowels for the others).
The workbench is douglas fir with a ten-inch vise.  It's a nice table but
I want to do it in hardwood, which bring me to ...

	My three gloats.  When I moved to this the previous owners didn't
quite finish cleaning up and they left a few things.  The first thing they
left was a table top in the garage.  It's solid maple.  It's 3-1/2 inches
thick, actual not nominal.  Oh yeah, it's EIGHT FEET in diameter and I can't
find ONE knot in it.  While cleaning the garage attic I found a 12 inch
ratcheting brace and a 5-C.  This plane was most definitely used by a 
Galoot from a bygone age.  The sole was almost perfectly flat.  Only took
five minutes to get it there, the blade took even less time to get scary.
The rear handle has a chip out of it, but it is rosewood.

	Finally to my question, this is directed out to all galoots and
wanna-bees, the SWMBO's already know the answer.  A man is standing alone
in the woods and he expresses  an opinion.  If there are NO woman there to
hear him, is he still wrong?  Now for my real question, I want to finish
my two interior french doors.  I plan to use a half pound shellac for the
first coat, one pound for coat #2.  Subsequent coats will be a varish,
boiled liseed oil, and turpentine.  Will this be strong in the long term
or should I go with a poly.

	Well, I think I'll climb up on the porch now.  Thatis if the SWMBO's
don't bury me under it.

			Jake Spiller
			spiller@b...
			212-272-7796

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Jake Spiller wrote:

>       ................Now for my real question, I want to finish
> my two interior french doors.  I plan to use a half pound shellac for the
> first coat, one pound for coat #2.  Subsequent coats will be a varish,
> boiled liseed oil, and turpentine.  Will this be strong in the long term
> or should I go with a poly.

I don't recall anyone addressing this yet. Though I don't consider
myself an expert on finishes (especially for architectural woodwork),
I'll venture into this in the hopes that others will bring their
expertise to bear.  Of course, no one else will have an opinion.  ;-)

As to protection, it's my impression that a fair amount of woodwork in
the victorian era was finished with shellac.  While this may not be as
durable as varnish, it has often held up fairly well. Might not be the
best bet  if these doors see a lot of traffic/usage.

I must admit, though, that I'm a little puzzled why you are wanting to
follow the wash coats of shellac with the varnish/oil/turpentine
mixture.  I've used that mixture, but have always handled it essentially
as an "oil finish."  By that I mean, it is brushed or wiped on bare
wood, allowed to sit/soak-in for a bit then all excess is vigorously
rubbed off. This process is repeated.  This results in a finish which
appears much like an oil finish, but has a tiny bit of varnish build-up
to give a little added protection (A little additional protection can be
gained by using spar varnish in the mixture).

If you are after an oil finish look, then I would think you would want
to go straight to the mixture and skip the wash coats of shellac. 
Another alternative is to use a wiping varnish, which gives similar
results.  One product I've used in this fashion is "Waterlox" (tm). I
can't say with certainty, but think this approach should give adequate
protection in most interior applications.  

The down side is that it may need replenishing from time to time.  The
up side is that this can be done without having to strip and refinish.

If you are after more protection and like the looks of a built finish,
then I would recommend simply following the wash coats of shellac with a
good quality varnish. 

Now, does anyone else have an opinion?  8-) 

Don McConnell
Knox County, Ohio

Bruce wrote:

>I need some help for the chemists here, but linseed oil, boiled or not,
> with heavy metal dryers added (highly toxic, by the way) or not, will
>never
> really dry. It creates, I believe, a non-polymerizing film

Boiled linseed oil will polymerize but it takes several days at best. The 
dryers don't actually dry anything but are present to hasten the 
polymerization process which would otherwise take place in a geologic 
time frame.The resulting film is softer than resin based varnishes to be 
sure. Hand rubbing will speed the polymerization process, apparently 
through the heat of friction, and appears to me to be the 'secret' in 
using this finish. Hand rubbing a pair of french doors would not appear 
to be a practical endeavor.

>If you are planning to use a varnish, can I suggest that you use
> water-based polyurethane. It is very easy to apply, kind to brushes (goes
> on excellently with sponge applicator) and the environment, offers great
> protection against abrasion and chemicals, doesn't yellow the way the old
> polyurethane's did, creates a better bond to wood than traditional
> polyurethane, and can be manipulated to look like a shellac finish with a
> little practice.

Water based poly can also make a great, non-yellowing coating for 
abrasion resistance over latex paint. One caveat concerning water based 
polys is that the abrasion and chemical resistance can vary wildly from 
brand to brand. FWW did a comparison of several brands a couple of years 
ago (FWW #115, p. 48) and found that a couple of brands (formulated for 
spraying) offered no more protection than an acrylic floor polish.
****************************
Tom Price 
Just say there were some interesting letters in subsequent issues, etc.

> finish to remove or to repair. In my shop it is the finish of choice for
> almost everything except dining table surfaces.
> 
> Bruce
> 

What do you use on dining table tops?

GAS

The Tennessee Apprentice Galoot.

"No signature worth typing...yet"

E-mail greggs@b...