Finishing Frustrations

by Andrew Davis

There is no argument for many woodworkers, their woodworking Achilles' heel is finishing.  I always thought this last stage was ill named because you have to ask yourself, how many times does it take to restart "finishing" and fix problems before you are satisfied?  Only the last attempt should be called Finishing, i.e., when you are FINISHED!

When something goes wrong with finishing, the result can be a double whammy.  Not only is the piece visually unappealing, sometimes it ruins the piece after laboring ever so carefully during it's construction.  It seems that within the skill set of woodworking, such as cutting, drilling, carving, hand planing, dry assembly, gluing, measuring, and so on, finishing is one that is the black sheep in that family.  So relax and enjoy some laughs while commiserating with Andrew in his latest article Finishing Frustrations.