New finish on sipo door next to 15 year old finish on table
Sanding and finishing go hand in hand. Sanding through the sequence of grits until there are no machine marks and the wood is polished, a.k.a. Sanding The Sequence, is the key to making even average wood look it’s best. And when you apply a penetrating finish like Waterlox, great results are guaranteed. But before the finish goes on, clean the surface really well in order to keep from trapping particles in this crystal clear finish.
A well sanded and finished 2×4 stud looks better to me than a piece of rosewood with planner ripple and sanding swirl marks covered in a polyurethane finish. ~ Allan Little
When I started making this frame and panel solid wood sipo door, I decided it was the perfect project to document my finishing, sanding, glueing and clamping techniques to share.
The finish that I have used almost exclusively for the last twenty plus years is Waterlox Original. In the series of videos below, I will show step by step how to produce a spectacular finish in a very low-tech, low overhead manner. Every aspect of producing this unmatched finish is covered; from sanding, surface preparation, application of the finish, and scratching or etching between multiple coats. 
I also show a very unique way I suspend the door horizontally on an inexpensive shop made rotisserie mechanism that allows all surfaces of the door to be finished without handling.
In the photo at the top of this post you will see why I love the Waterlox finish. The genuine mahogany bedside table was built and finished over fifteen years ago and I haven’t touched the finish since. Since Waterlox reveals the natural color of the wood, the only apparent difference of these finishes is that one is redder than the other. Sipo, also known as African mahogany is naturally browner while genuine mahogany is a warmer, redder color. The mahogany table has darkened substantially over the years, but the finish has held up perfectly.
Hope you find these videos helpful. You can watch the whole series of videos on my YouTube channel. There are a total of 17 for this project.
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Technorati Tags: woodworking, finishing, sanding, educational
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
We love our new door! Thanks Allan!
can you email details on how to make the rotisserie mechanism that allows all sides of the door to be worked on.
Carl, There are 3-4 more videos in this series that still need editing. I will show detailed close ups showing how to make the rotisserie using ordinary items found in most shops. I am occupied with a very complex project now, so will not be able to post these videos until July. Thanks for visiting my site. Allan
Thank you Allen for your tips and your great work,it is so interesting to watch and to learn so much from it
regards john
Thank you for the kind words John. I have many more videos almost ready and many more planned. I learn so much from the incredible array of information online, it is very gratifying when people find value in my posts.
Just to thank You Allan, for your wonderful work and sharing.
Regards from Portugal
Thanks for watching Paulo. Portugal must be a beautiful place. The Atlantic, the grapes, the olive trees and four seasons to enjoy them in. I am jealous
Allen,
I’ve really enjoyed your video series on the Sipo door project and I found it very helpful and informative, particularly the info on Waterlox. But it left me with a fundamental question: why does a professional woodworker like yourself choose to sand your work as opposed to using a smoothing plane and/or card scraper. It is significantly cheaper in the long run, gets you a finished surface much faster (or very close to it), and is much healthier because there’s much less dust in your shop (which creates a better environment for applying your finish for those of us in “garage shops”.) Granted, you can’t or shouldn’t plane or scrape every project, but I wonder what your reasons are for avoiding it altogether. Thanks for doing this site -it and others like it has helped new folks like me get started in the craft.
Thank you for some inspirational information using tung oil.
I plan to make some furniture using eucalyptus gums and have read about the difficulty in gluing. It was recommended to wipe glue areas with a spirit to remove oils.
Now my problem!
Prefinishing is a great idea.
How does prefinishing affect glueing?
Allen,
I have just found your work and videos and I enjoy them very much. I have been using Waterlox for a few years but I am consistently having a problem with foaming. The surface is too rough so I spend too much time sanding it back smooth. After watching your series on finishing the Sipo door I realized that I am not doing something properly.
I use the same method of cleaning after sanding that you do (finishing up with my hand and a vacuum). I use a quality ox hair brush for application but I get a lot of foaming during application. I have tried to increase the amount in the brush, decreasing the amount in the brush, brushing for a longer period of time so the Waterlox can begin to become more viscus. I have used t-shirt wrapped in cheese cloth but the wrinkles in the cheese cloth leave lines in the finish.
I would greatly appreciate some guidance and/or advise on such a basic procedure that I am a bit frustrated with.
John
Hi John I apologize for the lateness of my reply but have been locked out of my site due to password issues as a result of my site getting hacked. I have not seen foaming issues before. I don’t want to offend you, but are you shaking the can? This could produce bubbles. I am assuming you are not so I think the culprit must be your brush or some type of contaminate. I use China bristle brushes but only if the finishing situation calls for the bristles getting into a tight area. Have you tried a disposable foam brush? I am wondering if the type of brush you are using is causing many little bubbles to form as the Waterlox flows through the bristles. Could there be some contaminate left in your brush from another product that could be causing the foaming. Are you cleaning your brush with just pure thinner and a wire brush and not something with a detergent? Any type of cotton like cheesecloth is a lint bomb. Try using panty hose. The nylon is super tough and has no lint. You can put a little clothe inside a panty hose and tie knots in each end to trap lint which works as a great applicator. I personally am a foam brush man myself. I like the way they hold material and allow me to quickly brush out to get uniform coverage. Let me know what you find, I am very curious. I hope I was able to help. Keep in touch. Allan
Hi John Sorry for the lateness of my reply, but my site was hacked and I have been locked out while things were resolved. I prefinish whenever i can because to apply multiple coats to say the inside of a drawer and get the transitions at the corners and bottom right is really tough. But glue needs to bond to bare wood, the finish stops this. So all you have to do is mask the area to be glued with masking tape and finish away. Then when it is time to finish just peal off the tape and apply glue. The other good thing about this is that the glue squeeze from the joint does not want to stick to the finished area so is very easy to peal off after it sets up a bit. Masking tape comes in many widths down to tape for pin stripe masking. I mostly just use the cheap yellow masking tape from the hardware store. Oil finishes can dissolve the adhesives in tape so make sure it is pressed down really well. Oily woods are always tough to glue.Several years ago did a lot of work with teak and used resorcinol glue with success. I hope this helped and write back any time. Allan
Allen,
Thanks. I hope your site has recovered. I would love to hang a few hackers by their toes!
I have been using an expensive brush made out of something’s tail hair and cleaning it in mineral spirits (low odor) which is formulated differently from the mineral spirits on old. Now, I will go a purchase some foam brushed. Previously I have used the foam brushes but they fell apart. My cheapest source may have been too poorly made.
iI have taped my joints before and that is a great way to finish prior to glue up. This project is a table top so that is not an issue and really should be an easy thing to finish. Also, I do use a bail made of t-shirt material for padding and I do get a nicer finish. At the moment, I am in the thickness building stage so I am trying to keep to a brush.
If you care to recommend any particular brand of foam brush to consider or to stay from, all advise is appreciated.
Many thanks, again. Good luck with the site.