wisno wood furniture finishing

Country style furniture.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Country furniture in the country theme decoration room

Country style is furniture model that refers to the past when the machines and tools to make furniture are still simple and incomplete. The American country furniture style is referring to the furniture in America and 17th century, when the western peoples came to the new America land and began to open new society in here. The people were starting to build new life and still struggling with the wild nature and old way tradition of native peoples. Furniture was made in a simple manner with the simple tools that were available. The peoples still concerned to the furniture as household products that mainly to fulfill its function and neglected its decorative factor as it is today.
There still many people like the country style furniture today. Country furniture is the element to complete the country decoration that is still liked by many people. The longing of the modern society to the atmosphere of the past which is full with: rural, simplicity and nature could be the main reason why the country style furniture is still exist today.
The country furniture has evolved, and been developed, mixed and modified with various models. There are many model of country style: the English country, French country style furniture as well as the American country furniture. Each style may has its own characteristics, mixed with the model of the furniture at each area. But generally the country style is characterized with the: simple, nature, traditional and old looked. The country design impresses the atmosphere of: freedom, relaxed, rural, openness, natural and the “wildness from the past”.

country French furniture style

The country style furniture that is available at this time of course has more varied in shapes and colors. The woodworking technology now has enabled to build the products that was could not be made in the past. A variety of ornaments such as: carvings, hardware, or even inlay veneer can be added to the modern country furniture. Since most of the modern furniture is made with modern technology that produces the uniform and neat products, then the finishing is the primary tool to create the impression antic, rustic furniture or traditional looked that is required by the country furniture.

Country England furniture style

The finishing for the country style furniture.

The modern country furniture is the product of the modern process which results to the: new, neat, uniform and tidy. While the country furniture should be looked: natural, old, traditional and handmade. To make the country furniture looked, then we need a special finishing technique and may be special tools and materials. We can mimic the old looked and with the distressing either with stain and glaze and the physically technique. The physical distress with many tools such as: rock, file, chisel, nail, or other special tools can be generated to make the old, damaged, and traditionally looked of the country furniture. There many stain and glaze application can be used to make the old and dirty looked of the furniture. There also some special finishing materials are made to form the impression of old looked such as: powder glaze or dusty wax, veiling lacquer, etc.

paint finish for country furniture finishing style

The finishing for country could be more "wild" then the antique finishing for the classic furniture. Many heavy distresses, and stain effect can be made to create the dirty and old, and broken looked furniture. The special effect such as: cow tail, dry brush and smudge effect are also can be applied on to make more dramatic old looked.

American country style furniture

Antique light gold mahogany finish.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

In this article we want to share about the finishing process to make antique light mahogany color finish. It is light mahogany finish with some gold accent at some places as highlight and eye catching. The stuff we finished was a light holder made from mahogany wood that was carved in the form of mixed fruit ornament.

Here are the finishing processes step by step.

the antique light mahogany gold finish

1. Application of stain.

We wanted to make light color, so light stain was used. A light brown dye stain was sprayed evenly to the surface. Then we let for 2 about minutes to the let stain to dry. We do some highlight to the stain with steel wool to enhance the carved form of the ornament.

the stain application

2. Wash coat application.

The wash coat was layered to protect the stain before glaze application. We used vinyl wash coat to coat and seal the stain. The Vinyl wash coat was sprayed to coat the overall surface evenly. We waited to the wash coat layer for about 15 minutes to let it dry. Then we sanded the wash coat layer with scotch brite.

sanding the wash coat with scotch brite

3. Glaze application.

The glaze was applied to fill in and coloring inside the grain, pores, crevices and inside parts of the carving. We used van dyke brown glaze to make the dark effects in the inside parts. Glaze was applied by brushed to the entire surface, then wiped clean with rag. We let the glaze to dry for about 60 minutes. We did some highlight to add the life looked of the carving and ornamental.About how to apply the glaze, you may can go to our previous article: glaze application.

the glaze application

4.1^st Sealer application.

After the glaze dry, then the next process was the sealer application. We used NC sealer to coat the glaze layer. The sealer was sprayed to the overall surface to make wet coat layer. Then we let the sealer layer for about 30 minutes to let it dried. After the sealer layer was dry, then we continued the process by sanding the sealer layer to make a smooth surface.

5. Gold leaf application.

In this finish we added gold accent at some places to highlight the finishing appearance. The gold was not applied to cover the entire surface, but only at some parts as a highlight. Small brush was used to apply the glue for the gold leaf (gold leaf sizing). The glue was applied at some parts as highlight. We waited for about 15 minutes to let the glue dry. Then we attached the gold leaf to the glued parts.
About how to apply the gold leaf you can go to our previous article: gold leaf application.

the gold leaf application

6. 2^nd sealer application.

After the gold leaf was stuck well, then we coated it with the sealer layer to bind and protect the gold leaf. The NC sealer was d sprayed evenly to the entire surface and was let for about 30 minutes to let the sealer layer dry. Then we did sanding to the sealer with scotch brite as what we did for the first sealer to make smooth surface

6. Dry brush glaze.

We applied the second glaze to make more life and antique looked to the finishing. The glaze used was the same glaze with first glaze, and applied in the similar way. Glaze was brushed evenly over the entire surface but then we highlighted to enhance the finishing looked and generated more life impression to the finish.

the antique light gold mahogany finish

7. Top coat application.

Top coat is the last finishing layer. Top coat is function to give protection for the finishing underneath and to build the gloss of the finishing. We used NC top coat with medium gloss (45 sheen) for this finish. 45 sheen NC top coat was sprayed to coat the entire surface. We let the top coat layer to dry for about 45 minutes. And since we still got rough finish surface, then we sanded the top coat layer and apply one layer or top coat as final layer.
The result was an antic mahogany finish, with light color highlighted with some gold color in some parts.

Finishing cost calculation

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

The finishing cost has to be properly calculated in the wood furniture manufacturing. The finishing cost could be significant cost component in the process of manufacturing furniture. If we run a finishing shop, then the calculation of the finishing cost is the key to make profit. For some peoples the calculation and estimation of the finishing cost could be quite difficult. The finishing process has lot of variable that need to be considered. The finishing has a great variation from the simple to the complex. A simple finish might be able to be simply done and only need small finishing material and some time and with simple facility. While the complex finishing could be a complicated process, requiring a long time processing, high skill peoples and even special materials and tools. The difficulty in the finishing cost estimation is added with the fact that the wood is natural material that has very big variation properties. However, the calculation of finishing cost must be done correctly in the furniture manufacturer, furniture shop or finishing shop.
Actually the calculating to the finishing cost is not too difficult for the experienced finishing people. What we need to do is to make record for every finishing job we did. The record should be included the type of and the amount of finishing material used, the processing time and the utility for the finishing process. The records will be very helpful to estimates the similar finishing processes. If we find a finishing process that we've never done then we may have to make calculation to estimate the finishing cost. Basically the finishing cost is a technically matter that can be calculated if we can find the elements. The element of finishing cost are: the finishing materials, finishing utility and labor cost.

Here are the steps that are needed to make the finishing cost estimation.

1 Finishing process.

The calculation of the cost of finishing should be started from the step to find the finishing process. We can start to make a step panel for matching a color panel standard or to develop new color finish. When we make step panel then we can find the finishing materials are needed and the process to be done. When we make a step panel we also need to consider the condition that may influence the finishing process such as: the condition of the unfinished good, the available facility, the shape of the product, the quantity, etc.Find our previous article : Step panel for furniture finishing.

2. Calculation of finishing material.

When the finishing process is set up, then we will be able to calculate the finishing material needed for each processes. The calculation is usually based for each square meter of finish surface area. To help calculate the material needed, we can use the spreading rate of finishing material table below.

the spreading rates of finish material in application

3. The calculation of the utility material.

In addition to the finishing materials, we also need to account the utility of materials needed. Do calculation for the utility and supporting material such as: washing thinner, sandpaper, cloth, rag, electricity, etc.

3. The calculation of labor costs.

Some finishing may can be done with a quick and easy process, but there are many complicated finishing process that take long time work. Therefore, we need to calculate the labor cost separately. The calculation of labor cost is calculated by estimate the working hour needed to do the process. Consider the complexity of the finishing process and the form and shape of the goods.

With the proper calculation then we can estimate the cost of finishing to a particular color finish. The calculations of point 1 and 2 are usually based for every square meter of finish surface. If we do calculation for project with many product, then we can multiply the cost per square meter with the surface finish area of the goods.
If we make calculation to propose a finishing project, then we need to add the profit factor and unexpected costs to the finishing cost proposed.

Press machine for woodworking industry.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Gluing process is very important in the woodworking industry. Almost all timber must through the gluing process in the woodworking industry to be used for various purposes. The timber logs are cut and cut dried to form board panel in certain thickness, wide and length when it used in the woodworking industry. The dry wood panel boards then are cut and glued together before to supply the machining process to make components for furniture or other products. The process of attachment of the wood pieces is always done by using glue. The pressing machine is needed to press and hold the wood pieces to keep them stayed until the glue is dry and a strong bond is formed.

The press machine is tasked to keep the wood remain close together during the hardening process of the glue. There are many types of press machines are used to help gluing wood. According to the process of the glue drying, then there are two types of the press machine; the hot press and cold press machine.

manual cold press for rotary clamping

Cold press machine.

Cold press machine is a machine press that is not equipped with a heater. The machine can only put pressure on the pieces of wood to keep them close together at the drying of the wood glue. There are some type of cold press machine according to the pressure is generated, hydraulic press, manual press or vacuum press.

Manual press is a machine that uses manually job to do the setting of the pressure to the wood pieces. There are 2 metal plates with holes to place some screws. The wood pieces are covered with glue, then arranged and clamped with the metal plate. The plats then are tightened and closed together by tightened the screws. Once the glue is dry and strong bond is established, then the plat are unscrew and taken off. It is the most simple laminating machine yet effective enough to help the process of gluing wood pieces. The pressing is determined by the screw tightening that is done manually. Therefore, the result is strongly influenced by the performance of people who do it.
The hydraulic press is more modern machine for laminated wood. As well as manual press, this tool has two plates to press the wood pieces attached, but the machine use hydraulic tools to suppress the iron plates. The hydraulic tool is more stable and reliable to make the pressure with more consistent work. The machines are available in various sizes and models. To make the big size panel board, then the machine with a large plate is needed, while the small size machine can be used to manufacture of laminated boards with a small size.
Vacuum press machine press work by using vacuum force to pull the pieces of wood that are being attached. Vacuum press however is not as strong as the hydraulic press or even manual press. These machines are specially used to attach the veneer on the small panels on uneven surfaces, when the hot press or cold press cannot be used.

hydraulic press

Hot press machine.

It is quite sophisticated machine press. This machine is equipped with a hydraulic press and the heater to heat the glue in the gluing process. This heat will speed up the drying process so that the gluing time can be accelerated. The gluing process that need about 30 minutes by using cold press can be done in about 5 minutes with the hot press machine.
The machine uses a hot plate to heat and press the wood pieces that are being attached. The metal plate temperature can be set according to the temperature needed by the gluing process. This machine is available in various sizes to do variety of wood gluing process. But the most widely used is for attaching wood veneer in the manufacture of plywood or wood veneered panels. The veneer sheets are coated with glue and attached with his core (mdf, particle board, laminated wood or other veneer sheet) put in a mat and then pressed and heated by a plate on top to obtain a strong bond. Hot press is the most effective tool for making panel boards with big size; long, large and wide panel. But since it use flat and rigid metal plate, then the tool has limitation to do the gluing process to make flat panel board.

The bubble problem in the veneer

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Bubble veneer, lifting veneer, or loose veneer is the problem that is often encountered in the veneering process. It is caused by the wood veneer that does not stick properly to its core. The Bubble veneer can appear very much and become big problem to the veneer surface. The veneer bubble will be more visible if the wood veneer is finished. The bubble part will be cut off when it is sanded and seem as white wood. The bubble is more obvious when the veneer is laid at the flat and big panel especially when the high gloss finish is generated. But even for the low sheen finished, the bubble is still be problem,

Although the bubble is caused by improper gluing process, but the bubble problem is often found in the finishing process. The bubble veneer is appearing when the veneer surface has been coated with finishing materials. Sometimes bubble may be visible on the stain application, but often the bubble appears at the sealer application. And in this state the process of repairing will always damage the existing finishing layer. The action to fix the bubble must be followed by the process of washing off the finishing layer and the re finishing process. It can be considered as wasting of finishing material and time. Then it will be much better if we can do the right veneering process to minimize the bubble problem.

Here are some tips to avoid the bubble veneer.

Use good quality glue.

Glue is a substance that attaches the veneer to its core; the quality of bonding is determined by the quality of glue. Choose the good quality and proper glue to attache the veneer to the cores. We may do some testing to find the glue with the best results. Do a proper mixing and stirring to mix glue according to the instructions of that is recommended by the supplier. Check the condition of glue physically; make sure he's still in good condition. The glue to the veneering usually is a two components type which must be mixed in the proper mixed before it used.

The proper application.

There are many types of glue that may require different application. The veneering process is usually done by hot press machine, since that the glue used must be type that can be dry quickly with the heating process. Make sure we are fulfill the condition needed such as: temperature of the press, the drying time, the pressure, the thickness of the glue layer, etc..
Prepare the surface properly; blow and clean the veneer and core form any dirt. The solid particles, chemicals or oils will interfere with attachment of the glue.

The moisture content of veneer and the core

Most of the wood adhesive are water based. The water in the glue will wet the surface of the core and veneer, before it evaporates to leave a dry and strong bonding. The veneer sheet is usually has dry when we purchased, if we use mdf, particle or plywood then they are also marketed in the dry condition. But the weather in the time of veneering process may raise the moisture content. Then make sure we to always check the moisture content of the cores and the veneer when we do veneering. If we use the laminated board as the core, then a proper sanding is also needed to make sure that the core surface is even.

Recognize the type of wood veneer used.

The veneer is the wood product that has variety properties and character. Some types of wood may require special treatment. For example the rosewood veneer contains some oil that may interfere the gluing process. Clean the oil with acetone to minimize the oil form the rosewood veneer. (rosewood veneer for furniture) Some other veneer such as: burl or crotch is tough and brittle that make the veneering is rather difficult. We may need to use some special chemical to soften the brittle and tough veneer. ( walnut burl veneer)

PVAC glue for wood furniture.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0000

PVAC (poly vinyl acetate) glue is one of the adhesive that is most widely used in the woodworking industry. The glue is made from the polyvinyl acetate, the same material to make plastic. The PVAC glue is safe, non-toxic material, easy to be used with good gluing result. It is water based, that uses water as its main solvent, so he is very safe, non-toxic and very easy to be handled. This glue is the one component, make it is very easy to be handled, storage and used. It is dry with evaporation of his water, and when he is dry he will harden and produce a strong thermosetting bonding. Soon it is dry it won,t be dissolved with water or solvent, then it can be finished without the less risk off the glue dissolving. It is widely used to unify wood pieces in the: laminating process, finger joint and the assembling. With the right process, then it would constitute very strong bond.

Since it is water based then it takes longer time to dry. The drying time is varying depend to the solid content and the type of the glue usually is varying from 30 minutes to 1 hour. During it is drying, the unified wood pieces must be hold and pressed to keep tightened. The pressing apparatus or machine either the automatic or manually is needed in the application.

The PVAC glue can also be used to form the texture effect in the wood finishing. PVAC glue can be used alone or mixed with latex paint and be applied as the texture paint.

the wood pieces are laminated and pressed

Here are some tips to use the PVAC glue

Read and check the technical data and specifications of the glue

There are many suppliers of PVAC glue, each of them may offer their strong advantages and superiority, but each of them also may need special treatment. Therefore, when we are going to use the glue, we must have read the technical data and specifications as well. Follow the instructions of how to use of the product. We need to read the data about the recommended concentration, pressure, and drying time required. Every wood species often has different properties and require a different process. Check the instruction of use according to the wood species if any. We may need to do some trial to get the best result.

Moisture content of wood

PVAC glue uses water as a solvent, and the water will wet the wood surface when it is applied. The water must evaporate and go to make the glue dry and hard. To make the drying of the glue is done faster, then the wood pieces have to be dry. The water in the wood could make the glue to be thinner and may reduce the strength of the bond generated.
Wood also will shrink and swell when its moisture content changes. Since that, the wood pieces that are glued and unified need to have uniform moisture content. Too high variation in the moisture content is risk to create too much wood movement and make the crack or delaminating of the wood.

Clean the glue excess at the surface.

When we applied the glue, there may some glue excess at the wood surface. The glue excess has to be cleaned since it will disturb the finishing material absorption. See our previous article: Glue splotches problem in the furniture. The glue excess will harden and difficult to be cleaned when it is dry. Then we better clean the glue when it is still wet. Use a wet cloth and wipe off the glue excess when it is still wet. Make sure the glue is left only inside the wood and there is no glue splotches at the wood surface.

PVAC glue is not suitable for outdoor use.

Although when he is dry he become thermosetting and hard, but the PVAC glue is not strong enough for exterior uses. It is not recommended to do gluing process for outdoor product.

Louis XV style furniture.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:30:00 +0000

Louis XV cabinet

Louis XV style furniture is the model that refers the France furniture at the 1730-1770 when Louis XV was king of the Kingdom. It is the distinctive style which is the beginning of a typical model of France furniture.The rococo was still appearing, with much modification. The shape was dominated with the curved and rounded; while the straight line was avoided as much as possible. The rococo featured in the ornamental and looked. Ornamentation was carried in the fantastic combination. The surfaces were filled with gilt, carving, painting, ormolu, or parquetry to eliminate the plain surface. Many furniture was finished with the varnish that has been invented and started to be used for finishing the wood.

Louis XV table

The chair could be show the most interesting shapes.Ornamental decorations adorn many parts, with curled endive leaf, shell and twisted scroll. Cabriole legs were used, eliminating the straight forms. The sharp corner was replaced by the curved and waved form.

Louis XV commode

The Louis XV style furniture is the classic style that still popular today. Many Louis style XV with many modification is still available in the furniture market. The style is also still used as the reference by the designer to make furniture.

Louis XV style chair

Louis XV style table

Teak wood (indoor) furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:03:00 +0000

antique teak sink table

Teak wood has been very popular in the woodworking industry since very long time ago. The wood has ideal properties to be used in the woodworking industry; it is durable, easy to be machined and has attractive appearance. The teak wood is widely used for making frame house, decking and furniture. The teak for indoor furniture is quite lot although not as much as outdoor furniture. The high price of the wood teak and indoor furniture specification that does not need the strong wood, makes many options wood can be used for indoor furniture.

rustic teak furniture

The indoor teak furniture is premium product with a high price. However, of course the teak for indoor furniture will be very nice product. The teak wood naturally has a very attractive appearance by its grain and base color. With proper selection of design, model and color then the interesting furniture products will be generated. For indoor uses, the higher flexibility of design and looked can be made. The teak veneer also can be used to indoor teak furniture. With the proper setting and arrangement, it will produce furniture with could be more attractive then the solid wood furniture, and of course the cheaper price.

teak wood console table with natural finish

Tips to buy the teak wood furniture.

Now, we have been very spoiled by the furniture industry. Various types and models are available so we can choose the furniture that best suits to our desire. We also can order the furniture with special models. We can also get the teak furniture easily. Jepara is one of the furniture industry center in Indonesia that providing lot of teak wood furniture. We can come to the furniture stores that provide furniture products with various models that can be directly bought and carried. We can also make order to get special model. If we need large amount furniture product, then we can come to the furniture factories which are willing to work on big amount order.

teak side table with oil finish

Check the moisture content of wood.

All the wood products always need the dry wood, including the teak wood furniture. Many teak woods are from the resident plantations that may be not a well processed and managed. The teak wood furniture could be manufactured by home industry that does not have oven drying facility. Because of that, the moisture content could be the big problem. Make sure that the furniture we bought is made by using the dry wood. If we order large quantities, then we are better to deal with the reputable supplier.

Veneer or solid wood.

There is an option to use the teak veneer instead of solid wood. The solid wood furniture is generally having higher price than the veneer. Veneer also provides flexibility in setting and arrangement so it can produce more attractive appearance. But solid wood products provide benefits as a natural product that has more value. This solid wood furniture could be an investment, because someday it could be antique stuff that has very high value.

The model and finishing

Teak wood furniture can be made in various style and color finishing. But of course the models should be able to explore the natural beauty of teak wood. The furniture with simple models is the best choice because it will enhance the natural beauty of the wood. Furniture that is too complex or busy appearance can be made with other wood.
There are also many choices of colors and finishes can be used for the teak furniture. But of course we need to choose the type of finishing that can enhance the beauty of wood grain and basic color. Teak wood also has a golden brown base color that is very interesting. The natural color finish with clear coating application or oil finish will give the nice and interesting looked. Finishing with transparent color with variety of models and color and also produce furniture with an attractive appearance. For indoor uses, almost all kinds of wood finishing materials can be used. NC, AC, PU or water based can be used with very good performance results. We can also use the traditional finishing materials such as shellac, varnish, wax or oil finish.
Solid colors or a wash color finish that uses thick pigment should be avoided, because of the risk to get problems with the oil inside the wood. The solid colors will also be cover and kill the beauty of wood that should be maximally enhanced as the hallmarks of this wood.

Night stand furniture.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

high gloss night stand

Night stand, nite stand, nakas, side table or bed side table is one of the furniture for bedroom. Night stand is a small table or a small cabinet that is placed beside the bed. In a big room, the 2 night stands can be mounted in the right and the left side of the bed. Night stand is used as place to put the sleeping supports such as: lights, drinks, food, telephones, and vases or other souvenir. Night stand is also featured with drawer or self as a place to store other support bedtime stuff such as: books, radios, tape recorders, etc.

Now the night stand can be designed with wide choice of models and sizes. This time the stuff s for support sleep has a much smaller size and compact. The mobile phones, kindle, mp 3 player, are have small size with fully entertainment functions. Even the food and drink now are available in bottles or small packets that are no longer takes place as before. Thus the night stand can be designed with unique and special model to maximize its aesthetic function.

antique night stand

The models of the night stand are usually according to the model and the shape of the other bed room furniture sets. As indoor furniture that is placed in the room, the night stand can be made with wide range substrates choices. Night stand can be made from: wood, engineered wood, wood products, synthetics or natural materials. The combination solid wood with plywood veneer is most used. In the furniture industry, the night stand product is made as a set together with the other bed room furniture: bed, dresser, armoire, dresser, desk, television, etc.
Wide range of finishing materials can be used to finish the night stand. NC finish can be used with a variety of finishing effects can be generated. Other finishing materials such as water base, PU, AC or traditional finishing materials such as: varnish, shellac or wax oil finish materials can also be used. It is placed inside the room then it is quite safe and does not need special finish material. This product is also relatively less to get physical abuses, so more colors and appearance can be used.

simple nite stand

Tips to buy the night stand.

1. Choose the size according to the room

Night stand is thing that will fill the room and took place in the room. Then he should be able to enter the room while providing comfortable situation in our room. In a big bedroom, a “big” night stand may can be placed, in the hotel room then 2 or even more night stand can be filled in. But for a small room, we should choose a small night stand. Make sure that the existence of nite stand in the room does not make the atmosphere of the room to be “too full” and uncomfortable.

2. Consider the usefulness of the nite stand.

The night stand is furniture that bought to be used, then we must still consider the usefulness of night stand. Estimate the goods that will we put and placed on and then choose the model and the form that best suits. The furniture industry today has been providing a wide range of models and shapes night stand that we can choose according to our need. There are also many woodworking shops that are available to make a night stand with model and special sizes to suit our needs.

3. Choose the appropriate model.

Nite stand is usually sold as a part of bed room furniture such as: bed, dresser, armoire, dresser or desk. Therefore the model and finishing night stand usually according to the model of the other furniture bed. But we can also buy a night stand itself apart from other products. However when we decide to buy the night stand, then we still have choose the model and appearance to suit our tastes. Choose a night stand with the shape and appearance that matches to the theme and decoration of the room. As a small items stuff, then the night stand can also be made special with a unique and special model as eye catching room.

hand painted night stand

How to care the night stand.

Same with the other goods, the nite stand also need well treatment to be last longer. Night stand is an indoor product that can be simply maintained. It is also relatively less got physical abuse, so it should be stay longer and used in long time. What we need to do is just clean the night stand every day from the dust. Some time we can use the cleaning liquid or wax to clean the finish. Do not forget to sweep and clean the pit under the night stand because it often collect lot of dust and dirt that can be unhealthy.

The Jepara furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:06:00 +0000

Jepara is a small town located in the north of Central Java, Indonesia, about 100 km from Semarang. The city is well known as source for wood and furniture product in Indonesia. There are many furniture manufacturer and wood crafter are available in here. The Jepara people are naturally born as carpenter or wood craftsmen. They are inherited the ability to carve and craft the wood from they ancestors, since many generation. Combine with the timber resources that is abundantly available has built the Jepara area to be the wooden furniture sources.

teak wood furniture

The furniture products from Jepara are made from home industry that relies to the expertise and skill of the maker. The furniture has more value because it is crafted and made with touch of handwork. There is no furniture company in here which is based to the modern process with high woodworking technology. The Jepara wood carving art is considered as one the best wood art in the world. Few years ago, the Jepara furniture could be known with less good quality. But few decade ago, they have weakness in the wood processing. The problem of imperfect wood such as wet wood, the insect problems and the consistency is the common problem few decades ago. But now the problems have been less found. The perpetrators of furniture industry in Jepara have learned to improve the quality of their production processes. Many foreigner from various countries who doing business in here has also make the local people to do better management process in doing their business. Mostly the Jepara business players now are available to produce the good quality furniture products according to the demand of the furniture business.

bed with leather accent

The perpetrators of the furniture industry in Jepara also learned a lot about wood finishing. With their experience and association with the furniture business from various countries, they has enhanced their capabilities in the finishing process. Last time the Jepara wood may be identical with traditional finishing with shellac, varnish or melamine finish with thick layer film, but now they have ability to accept the orders in various style furniture finishing. The nice classic finish with NC or water based system, hand painted or antique finishing can be made with perfect result.
The Jepara furniture player also improve their ability to make furniture by using the engineered wood product such as: plywood, or veneer, m,d,f., although solid wood is still the mainstay. Some furniture factories also import some species of wood beside use the native wood. The other substrates such rattan natural or synthetics and metal are also available in here. The furniture business in Jepara is also ready to do the order with special models, with small or big volume.

If you are business people who want to look for furniture products with special form, then you can come to Jepara. There are many furniture factories are ready to make the furniture products you need. There are wide range of furniture product are available in here: the wood high complicated carved furniture, the simple and minimalist furniture, the garden furniture with many models and item, and even rattan furniture can be sourced from here.

antique latex paint finish

Nevertheless we must be careful in doing business with the Jepara industry. We should be able to understand the character of the furniture industry here. Here are some tips for doing business with the Jepara furniture industry.

rattan dinning set

1. Do a good communication

The Jepara furniture business have a high capability in making furniture. They are very expert to make furniture, but of course they do not know what kind of products we want. Therefore we should be able to explain clearly what kind of product we need. Provide them with an explanation about the product we want, what materials to be used, size, price, number of orders and the other detail required. Some images will be helpful if any. The Jepara peoples are available to deal with either sketch drawing or picture image. The clarity of the product information is very important to find the good product.

antique mahogany finish

2. Find a suitable partner.

There are many furniture manufacturers in Jepara. There are many “big factories” that are ready to serve order with large quantity product orders. And more home industries are ready to produce the products with small amount with better price. There are also many furniture products with different items and models are available ready to be paid and brought.

Therefore, it is to get the maximum benefit, we need to find a suitable partner. If you want a product in large numbers and continuously then you should come to the big furniture factory that can serve you with furniture products with big amount. But if you want the products with specific model and small amount then you can come directly to the craftsmen to get better price. If you want the “cheap products” then you can come to the furniture market. There are lots of furniture products, with variety of shapes and models that can select and be purchased with “cheap price”.

Spatter effect in the wood furniture finishing.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:30:00 +0000

spatter to make antique finishing

Spatter effect in the finishing is already very well known and widely used. The spatter finishing effect is used to make antique effect or to make special looked finish. The spatter effect in the antique finishing is used to mimic the dirt splattered from the insect, stain, or other small impurities. It is usually made with dark brown or black color stain to make more antique looked to the finishing. The spatter also can be used to produce a special effect finish. The spatter on the paint finish, with many different color stain can make a special finish looked that bring to the dynamic and life looked.

How to make the spatter effect.

Spatter is made with stain application. The stain is applied in special way to make splash color on the surface. Spatter is usually applied on the sealer or top coat, when thick finish layer is already built. Spatter can be applied either at the transparent color or solid color finish. Spatter must be quite a contrast with the finishing color to get visible effects.
The spatter can be made with some different way, the principle is the stain must be splashed or sprinkle to the surface. It can be made with the brush or spray gun.

brush to make spatter

1. Spatter with the brush.

Brush is simple tool and can be used to make spatter effect quite well. Dip the brush tip into a stain, and then move (shake) the brush to make the stain is splashed on the desired surface. It is very simple and easy to be done. But we cannot control the spatter effect resulted. The spatter effect obtained is usually random and not uniform in the form and size. However it is suitable to make antique effect in the antique finishing.

2. Spatter with gravity cup gun.

The gravity cup gun can produce spatter with better controlled. To make splash effect, we need to adjust the spray gun setting to splash the stain. The air pressure valve and volume of material release valve should be set at the minimum open to let, so the stain is not well atomized. The material will out form the gun in the splash but with more uniform size. We can take off the air cap of the spray gun to help splash the stain.
With the cup gun, we will be able to produce a more controlled spatter effect. By setting the cup gun, then we can produce a more uniform spatter effect. The uses of spray gun also help to direct the splash stain to the desired area. The spray gun is more flexible and controlled to produce the spatter effect in the special finish. We can make the spatter effects with many different sizes with many color stain consistently.

gravity cup gun to make spatter

3. Spatter with texture spray gun or pressure port spray gun.

The use of brush or gravity gun to produce the spatter effect is limited to apply the stain with low viscosity. To produce a spatter effect with a viscous material then we need a tool that could spark a viscous material, i.e. pressure gun ports. Pressure port has the air pressure inside the tank that is facilitate to catapult material with high viscosity. The pressure port can be used to make effects spatter with viscous material. It can be used to spatter the base coat, paint or texture paint. Various texture effects with base coat or paint can be made. The pressure port can make splashed with the texture as well as the stain effect.

spatter to make special finish

The stain to make spatter effect.

Almost all kind of stains can be used to make the spatter effect. The pad stain is my favorite since it can be applied easy either by brush or spray gun. Pad stain on the sealer or top coat can be wiped off easily if it is considered too much. The glaze is also quite good to make spatter effect. It is easy to be applied by brush or spray gun. It also can be cleaned or wiped off if necessary, but it takes rather long time to dry. Too wet glaze is risk to sag. If we use the base coat or paint, then we need the pressure port or texture spray gun.

Spatter is usually applied on the sealer or top coat layer, before the last top coat as a final layer. If we use the pad stain or the glaze stain to make spatter, then we absolutely need to layer it with the top coat. The spatter with paint, base coat or the thinner stain is also high recommended to be layered with the top coat. The base coat or paint may be able to attach on the finish surface quite well, but the top coat is still needed to make the even gloss instead off to give more protection.

Tips to buy Ethan Allen furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Ethan Allen Furniture company.

Ethan Allen is one of the famous furniture companies in America. He has 300 stores, 295 design centers, 29 retail services and furniture manufacturer in North America and Canada. It is one of the largest furniture companies in the United States. He has facilities to makes customized furniture in US domestically. The upholstered for sofas and chairs are available in custom made in a selected fabric.

As a furniture seller company Ethan Allen is not just selling products. He is success to sell concept, design, idea and experience. He provides free consultation to help his customers to find the best custom product. His concept is more to the interior design company instead of furniture selling. His designers are ready help to the customer to find the decoration theme according to the customer side. He provides a complete range of household product to fill and decorate the house. He sells furniture product in all kind, home accessories, curtains, fabric, wallpaper, rug and carpet, even mattress and pillow.
The Ethan Allen furniture is well known as the product with high quality and could be considered as expensive. Now with the development business there are lot products are sourced from other countries such as : China, Philippines and Indonesia but they are all made with high control to the process and quality. The furniture are kept at the simple models but elegance. As the high end product they are made with very detail, precise, neat and smooth.

the picture is from: wikipedia

Tips to buy furniture from Ethan Allen

Instead of his good service and product quality, the Ethan Allen product is considered expensive. So we have to get the maximum benefit when we buy products from Ethan Allen. Here are some tips that we need to consider when we want to buy furniture from Ethan Allen.

1. Do the good consultation and communication.

Ethan Allen provides free design consultation service. Do a good consultation and communication with the design center about the decoration theme, and the product we need. If we want to decorate a home, make sure we explain about the theme and atmosphere we want. Also give information about the supporting elements that already exist in the room such as: the model of building, room size, wall finish, etc. The successful in communication is the key to find the best product.

2. Checks to the products purchased.

The Ethan Allen products are known as its high quality. But as consumers we still has obligation to review and check for every product we buy. Make sure we get the right product in the good condition. We already spend money, then we should we give some time to do checking and reviewing the product we buy.

3. Find the nearest store.

Although we may can get online to find information and there is the online consultation is available. But the real face to face meeting is still better choice especially when we buy for large purchases or the first time we do transaction. We may need to meet the sales or the designer to get the right product. Ethan Allen has a lot of store network, spread across U.S. states. There are many stores and design center that we can use. Choose the store the nearest store with our place to get the maximum service.

4. Note the terms of service

Although Ethan Allen is reputable company, but we totally cannot relay to him. See the term of service he offers such as: terms of payment, complaint procedures, cancellation procedure, etc. It is very important to avoid to get the dispute later on.

How to spray top coat.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Top coat is the top layer of a finishing. As the top layer, he functions to produce a smooth and even surface. The spray application is the best way to layer the top coat. Other application method such as: brushing, rolling or padding can be used, but the result will not as best as spray application. The spray application is doing 2 operations in the same time: the material atomizing and the layering to the surface with fully control. With the proper technique we can get the perfect finish layer.

But to be producing a smooth layer of top coat, the spray application must be done properly. The top coat is applied at the last process, so a perfect coating is needed. The imperfectness at the top coat application will result on a bad quality finish. To fix it, we have to re sand the top coat layer and apply another layer of top coat with good technique.

spray the top coat

Here are some tips to spray top coat in the finishing process

1. Good preparation for the underneath finishing layer.

The top coat is the top layer at the finishing; it is usually applied after few layers of finishing material are coated to the wood. Some layer of sealer or paint is usually used as the previous layer to build the film layer underneath. To produce a smooth finish and even top coat, we need to well prepare the film finish underneath. The good sanding is very important thing to prepare the film. For finishing with a low gloss and open-pore or antique looked, some imperfections may still be acceptable, because it will be hided with the finishing looked. But for finishing with clean looked, high gloss and close pores, then the perfect preparation is required.
Make sure the whole surface is sanded well. And no orange peel or rough surface at the layer. If we used the non reaction coating such as : NC, lacquer, varnish or shellac then we can use # 320 or # 360 grade sandpaper as the last sanding. The non reaction dry film will be melted and resolved with the top coat application. But if the thermosetting dry coating such as: PU, AC or water based coating is used, the better sanding is needed. The sanding mark at the film could be visible in the final finishing looked. We need to sand with # 400 grade or finer to make sure there is no big sanding mark at the finishing layer. Some time we need to do wet sanding to get the smooth and even layer. You can see our previous article: how to sand sealer and top coat and wet sanding for the wood finishing

2. Good preparation for the finishing material.

Top coat is a finishing material which has several functions at once; form a smooth surface, build the sheen and provide enough protection to its underneath finish. To get all its function is fulfilled then we need to prepare well the top coat. Check the type of the top coat; make sure it is compatible with the underneath layer. Check the sheen of the top coat and the condition of the top coat.

The top coat should flow well when it is applied. Stir well the top coat and check the viscosity of the material; make sure he meets the required viscosity for the spray application. The viscosity around 12-13 seconds (with the NK 2 cup) is needed for air spray application. If the material mixture is too thick, then we need to add some thinner. Use the thinner that is recommended by the supplier of the top coat. To spray big case then we may need some retarder to slow down the drying time and let the top coat layer wet longer to make smooth surface.

3. Good preparation for the equipment and room facilities.

The air spray gun is the best equipment for spray top coat. The other type of spray gun such as airless, HVLP or LVLP can be used, but the best result is still the air conventional spray gun. The air spray gun gives the perfect atomization and best control to the top coat layer. Clean the spray gun, make sure it works properly. The good preparation for the finishing room is also needed. Make sure the finishing room is clean and dust free. The existence of dust can be attached to the top coat and result for rough surface finish film.

4. The correct spray technique.

After all preparation is done well, then we need to do the correct technique. Set the spray gun in the right way, the material volume, the air pressure and the spray width to get the perfect atomization (see our previous article: How to use spray gun correctly 1). Then move the spray gun with the right technique (see our previous article: How to move the spray gun). Make sure a wet and even layer coat is obtained. Then place the wet coated product to the clean drying room to let it dry.

Regency Furniture style

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:00:00 +0000

regency style chair

Regency style refers to the model furniture in England in the period of 1810 to 1837. It was the lattes part of the King George III and the early of his son King George IV lead the Britain. In that time, the UK is undergoing major changes in economic and political. But that time is also known as the generation of fine art and great architectural design.

the modern regency arm chair

regency style side chair

The Regency was a period of great refinement and architectural. Regency furniture was featuring the beauty and elegance. The regency chair is looked feminism with roll or spiral form at arm or backseat. The leg could be: sabre form, lion paw or carved fluted. Backrest has varies motif with the influence from the previous models. The use of brass or gild is also found as an ornament at the foot of cabinet or a chair or table Cabinet-cabinet regency also has characteristic of simple but elegant. Lion paw feet with brass or gild ornament are used. The regency table is known with saber legs. Top table with marble or inlay decorated. Round table with quadruple leg base is lot of found. The sabre leg with brass or gilt is the character of the regency table.

regency style sofa

Regency dinning table

The regency style is still favored by many peoples today. The regency style furniture with many variety and modification are still available in the furniture market. Many designer are using the regency furniture for reference and inspiration.

regency style side board

Eco furniture.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Eco furniture is furniture that is environmentally friendly. It is the action from the furniture industry to plays role together with the human community to save the earth. The advanced of technology has made the earth to be “smaller” to accommodate all the activities of the living creature on it. People start to realize that the developing of the technology and culture can impact to the earth damage. The human society start to realize that the technology and culture development must be controlled to preserve the earth.

The environment issue also affect the business sector. More companies start to consider the ecological balance as the important aspect in the business. Many new product made are designed to be more environmentally friendly. This situation is also affect the furniture business. The furniture manufacturer which still use the wood as its main raw material can be pointed as the cause of the environmentally damage. Many furniture manufacturers that are relocated in the developing countries could trigger to the uncontrolled deforestation. While the forest is the very important natural resources to keeps the air balancing in the world. The forest is the "world lung" which absorb CO2 and provide O2 to keel the clean air in the world. Responses to this issue, then many furniture factories are start to make the eco furniture, the furniture product which is environmental friendly.

the cutting trees in the hard wood plantation

To be environmentally friendly, the furniture product must fulfill two aspects: the product itself must be eco friendly, and the process of manufacturing the product also should be eco friendly.

1. The eco friendly manufacturing process.

Until today, the wood is still used as the main raw material to make the furniture. While the wood is sourced from the tress, the organism that absorb CO2 and release O2 in the air during its life time. The existence of the trees is very important to keep the continuity of the living creature in the earth. Therefore the furniture industry must participate in action to maintain the presence of trees and forest.
The eco furniture should be made using raw materials sourced from the sustainable plantations. The eco furniture has to use the certificated woods, which indicate it is legal timber from the sustainable plantation. By this way then the eco furniture is help to reduce the illegal logging, which cause the big destruction to the natural forest.
The eco furniture also is also should be associated with the environmental friendly in the production process. It has to be produced in environmental balancing system. The safe and friendly environment material should be used and the healthy process should be held. The production process to make the product has to be equipped with the waste management to make sure it dose not pollute the environment.

The environmental issues are not only about physically, but also are involved to the social community aspects. The manufacturing process should be in balance with the social and culture at the society where the factory located. The company has to bring benefit to its environment society instead of to make profit.

2. The eco friendly product.

The furniture product also has to be safe and does not emit the pollutant to the environment. People are becoming more aware to the air cleanliness. There are many rules are made to limit gas emissions for the furniture product that allowed to be used. In the furniture product, the emitting gas is correlated with the finishing chemical and the glue that are used to make the furniture. The finishing material and the glue used to make the eco furniture have to be the safe material and do not emit the poisonous gas.

Eco furniture is very good policy to be implemented. The eco furniture can help to bring the life in the harmony among the human with the other living creature and the earth. But it is very difficult to be realized. The biggest challenge is the economical issues, since all the process need cost that could be expensive. It need support and good will from the whole society to realize it. But sure it will be the condition that has to be fulfilled in the future.

Hide glue for wood finishing

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:30:00 +0000

hide glue (the picture is from wikipedia)

Hide glue is glue made from animal. This glue is an adhesive material that has been known and used since long time ago since the prehistoric; probably it is the oldest type of glue. Long time ago, peoples has used the fat, protein from animal to paste the wood or any other stuff. This time the hide glue is still produced with the modern process. The collagen from skin, bones, tendons of cattle or horses is hydrolysis to make the glue particles. The glue is marketed in the small granules form.

The uses of hide glue in the woodworking industry have been much reduced since the invention of the glue from synthetic material. Today, animal glues are still used for making music instrument and restoring objects, paintings, illuminated parchment manuscripts, and other artifacts.

The glue also can be used in the wood finishing. Some peoples use the hide glue to make some finishing effect and some other use it to care the wood veneer.

Here are some uses of the hide glue in the wood finishing.

Glue sizing.

Hide glue can be used to overcome the problem of cracking veneer. Some types of veneer: crotch or burl, have high risk to get crack problem. They tend to have high movement according to the moisture content changes. We can use the hide glue to do glue sizing to avoid the veneer cracking. The glue will cover and close the pores and grains and make the wood moisture content to be more stable. By this way then the crack problem can be minimized.
The application hide glue to glue sizing is done as follow:
The wood veneer should has been attached to its core and has been sanded well. The veneer surface has to be cleaned from the tape marks, glue marks or scratches.
Mix the hide glue with water in the ratio 1:1, then boil the mixture until all the granules melt to form a liquid paste. Then layer the warm glue evenly to the veneer surface evenly. Use putty knife to flatten the glue, avoid too thick glue at the surface. The glue should be left only at the inside pores and grain; the excess of glue at the surfaces must be cleaned.
Let for awhile (about 1 hour) to let the glue layer to become cold and hard. After a layer of glue is hard, then we can sand the veneer surface to make flat and smooth surfaces. Then the veneer is ready for the finishing process. See our previous article: oak burl finish

The glue will fill and close the pores of wood grain and pores to make more stable veneer and then the veneer movement will be minimized. The glue sizing will affect the absorption of stain by the wood veneer. Therefore glue sizing should only be done on the veneers that really need. Usually it is used to care the burl or crotch that has high risk for cracking problem. The regular veneer normally does not need the glue sizing.

crotch mahogany veneer has high risk to get crack

Hide glue to make crackle finish.

There are many ways to make crackle finish, one is with the hide glue. Crackle finish with hide glue will produce crackle effect with a large crack and can be set at the desired place.
Here's how to make crackle finish with hide glue.
Mix the hide glue with water and boil until it is melted as in the processing hide glue to glue sizing. Then apply (brush) the hide glue on the wood surface. Apply glue at the parts where the crackle effect is desired, then layer the water based paint to the wood surface. Water based paint application should be done by way of spray and evenly to all surfaces. Let the water based paint dry, together with the cooling of the hide glue, and then the paint on the hide glue will crack.

Then the finishing process can be continued with the application of sealer, glaze or stain to produce a more attractive crackle effect.

Hide glue to make gesso finish.

We can also make the use of hide glue gesso. Mix: 5 parts of hide glue, 5 parts water, 1 part of calcite and 1 part of talc and boil the mixture until it melted and form a liquid paste. Use this liquid as a “gesso” for various purposes. It can be used to form a flat surface and smooth to the base for high gloss paint finish. It can also be applied be used to make texture effect by the technique application. See our previous article: high gloss silver finish

Chair

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:00:00 +0000

folding chair

Chair or seat is furniture that is specifically used for human for sit. Chair have parts that are set up to fulfill its functions, such as: legs, seat and back rest. It is also can be equipped with arms as a place to lay the hands. Chairs are usually used as the completeness table where people usually use it to do various activities. There are many types of chair according to the activities served; dining chairs, office chair, vanity chair, lawn chair, working chair, etc. Each of them have their special form according to their function. Chair also can be classified according to its style. There is classic style or antique style that refers to the chair model in the past, and the modern or contemporary chair that refers to the seats model in the present and future.

The chair can be not just furniture to sit, but also a symbol of status or position. The king chair, minister chair, the governor chair, are designed in special model to be used as a status symbol.

rattan chair

Material for chair.

The advancing technology in the furniture manufacturer has provided variety material to make chair. Now, the chair can be made from many substrates such as: plastic, iron, stainless steel, rattan, resin, etc. But the most widely used is still the wood. The seat and backrest of the chair can be made from various materials such as: synthetics material such as: foam and fabric, or natural substrates as: leather, rattan, wood, bamboo, pandanus, water hyacinth.

teak wood chair

Finishing for the chair.

The chair has unique shape and can be designed to showcase in the best shape in a design collection. The chair has small parts of: arms, legs and backrest that can be made in special form and decorative theme, and then it can be finished to enhance its beauty and unique shape..
The finishing for the chair generally is easier than the finishing for desk or cabinet. It has small surface that makes the application finishing materials can be done easier. Some small damage and imperfectness will not be looked too obvious as the large and wide surfaces at table or cupboard.
But the finishing materials used still have to accord to the function of the chair. The exterior finishing materials such as: PU outdoor or spar varnish is required for outdoor chair. The indoor chair can be finished with the NC, shellac, or furniture varnish. The NC finishing is my favorite since it is relatively easy to be applied and be able to maximally enhance the beauty and unique of the chair.

Unlike tables that are used to put stuff and be stricken lot of activity, the chair relatively get less physical abused. But however, the strong finishing such as PU or AC is still needed for the chair that facing hard activities such as chair for hotel, bar and cafe.

garden chair

Tips in choosing chair.

Chairs are usually purchased together with the table. We usually buy the chairs together with the table in a set. But sometime we also may buy the chair alone to complement the existing furniture. When we decide to buy chairs there are two things we need to consider two major things: the function and the appearance.

classic chair

The function of the chair

We decide to buy seat because we're going to use it, therefore make sure that we choose the product that according to our need. Choose the model, size and specification in accordance with the functionality we want. Choose the size of the chair to conform with the available space. Adjust the high chair according with a high of table and the people who is going to use it.

The appearance and the model of the chair

Choose the chair according to your taste. There are many chair supplier available with many model and style that we can choose. What we need to do is just find the right supplier where we can buy the right product. The chair is also a the part of the decoration tool, then we also need to adjust the form and model of the chair according with the theme and decor of the room and space.

Tips to care the chair.

To make the chair be durable and can be used in a long time, the chair should be maintained properly. The caring to chair is quite simple. What we need to do is to clean the surface and minimize the physical abuses. Clean the finishing in the same way as maintenance and cleaning of the finishing for the other furniture.
The chair is an item that is often be moved, then handle them carefully to minimized the physical abuses. The chair usually is protected with shoes at the bottom leg to reduce friction with the floor. Replace the shoes soon when it is damaged to reduce friction with the floor that could be a hard physical abuses for the chair..

Queen anne chair

The texture paint.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The texture paint is the paint to make the texture finish. The texture paint is initially used for wall painting. With various model, the texture can produce life and attractive finishing looked. It can bring to the more dynamic to the wall than the paint finish that is flat and monotonous. But then with the development of the furniture models and styles, the texture effect is also used for furniture finish. Now, the texture finish for furniture is growing with more and more models and colors are made. There are many techniques and texture effect are created. The finishing material suppliers also have been providing various types of texture paint to be used in the furniture finish.

texture finish for furniture

There are several type of texture paint that can be used in furniture finishing. Here are the texture paints that are most used in the furniture finishing.

Water based emulsion texture paint.

It is the texture paint that is most easily found and could be the most widely used. It is water based paint, latex paint or the wall paint that is designed to make texture effects. Actually almost all of latex paint can be used to make texture. But some paint suppliers provide the special paint for texture finish. It available in many color and some special effects is available. We can make the texture paint ourselves by increasing the viscosity of the regular latex paint. We can add some talc powder into the paint to make a thick and viscous paint that can be function as a texture paint.

In the furniture finishing, the water based texture is mostly used in combination with other wood finishing material such as: stain, glaze and thinner based clear coating to antique finishing.

NC-based texture paint.

It is the development of NC paints that is very popular in wood furniture finishing industry. The NC texture paint is a kind of base coat that is designed for texture application. The white or black is the most available color, although other colors can also be generated. This paint can be applied with a spray gun, since it dry relatively faster than the water based texture.

We can also make the texture paint from the NC base coat if necessary. We can add some talc powder into a base coat paint to make a thick paint that can be applied as a texture paint.

Tips in the application of texture paint..

Use the type of texture paint that is compatible with the whole finishing system.

Texture paint will form a thick finish in the finishing layer. The thick texture should be compatible to the overall finishing layer. The incompatible finish can lead to the finishing problem such as: adhesion problem or cracking finish problem. We also need to make sure that we are using the proper type of paint in accordance with type of coatings used in the finishing system.
The water based paint texture is the good choice because he can be used in combination with various types of clear coating. The NC, PU or Acid curing, or even the varnish or shellac can be used together with the water based texture paint. It can also be used in combination with other wood finish material such as: glaze, powder glaze, stain or base coat.
While the NC texture paint is rather limited, although it is quite ease in application. He should be used in the finishing process that is suitable with the NC paint. The finishing with the lacquer coating, NC coating, varnish or shellac can use the NC base texture paint.

Choose paint and the application method according to the effect needed.

Although we can make the texture paint, but in my opinion it still be easier to buy the texture paint from the paint store. There are varieties of texture paint we can choose according to our need. Some special paints to make special texture are also lot available such as: sand texture, or hammer shield (which is quite difficult to be made). What we need to do is to find the right material according to the effect we want.
The effect of texture is also determined by the application method. There are many techniques to apply the paint this with variety of tools to make many different effect. The paint can be applied by: brush, roller, sponge, scotch brite, felt, knife, etc. and each of them will give different texture effect. The NC texture paint, the sand texture and hammer shield texture are should be applied by spray. The spraying equipment which can apply the thick material is needed, since he deal with the viscous material.

Take the time for the drying.

The texture paint is a thick paint; he takes a relatively long time for the drying. Make sure we provide enough time for the drying process. The texture will be down little bit when it is fully dry and the different texture pattern with the wet paint may be resulted. So make sure the texture paint layer has been completely dry to get the proper effect. For the water based texture, normally we need to wait for about 1 day to let it dry completely, while the NC texture paints need about 3 or 4 hours to dry. The paint that is not dry will also lead to many problems in the finishing such as :adhesion, bubble and color problem

The trembesi wood for furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:30:00 +0000

trembesi wood panel

Trembesi tree (Albizia saman) is much cultivated throughout the tropical area. It is grows best in the lowlands from sea level to 500 m (1000 ft) with rainfall 600–3000 mm (24–120 in). The tree can fast grow and become big timber in the proper climate. It usually reaches 15–25 m height with a wide canopy leaf and big diameter log. In Indonesia the tree is lot planted at the road as shade tree for reforestation. The saman tree is chosen to green the land since it fast growing and good absorber for the C02 from the air. In Indonesia the action of planting the trembesi tree is encourage in many areas. The wood is lot available in Indonesia by many names such as: tamarind, munggur, ki hujan, trembesi, meh, etc.
Since its availability, some furniture manufacturers use the trembesi wood to make furniture. It is quite cheap and easy to be handled in the woodworking industry. It can be used to make indoor furniture in the combination with veneer or other wood species. The wood has strong grain character with shallow pores and grain texture, with the proper finishing it can produce an attractive appearance. This wood has a medium hardness make it relatively easily to be machined, drilled or sanded in the woodworking process. Some furniture manufacturers are also use the wood for outdoor furniture with a quite good result.

But, the wood is always unique, each type of wood has special character that different with the other. The trembesi as a product from tree also has special character that need to be well anticipated to get them maximum benefit.

trembesi solid wood and mindi veneer to make furniture

There are some things need to be considered in the process of tamarind wood.

The insect attacked.

The tamarind wood has a risk to get insect attacked. Although the risk of insect is not as high as the mahogany or mango wood, but since it needs to be chemically treated to prevent the insect attacked. The wet wood plank should be soaked in the anti insect chemical before dried in the kiln dry oven. (see our previous articles : the insect attached problem at the wood).

The volume shrinkage.

The trembesi wood has high volume shrinkage from the wet to the dry wood. It has high risk for rupture and curved. Therefore he must be dried properly; the drying process cannot be too fast since the risk of damaged and broken wood. After the wood is dry, then it need to be layered with the proper finishing layer to minimize the risk of wood movement. The finishing layer will coat the wood and make it stable and minimize the wood movement.

trembesi finish panel

The finishing for trembesi.

The trembesi wood contains some oils inside. The oil is not as much as teak wood oil, but it could interfere the finishing looked resulted. To minimize the oil problem, then we need to dry the wood at the standard m.c. should be and choose the proper finishing color. The antique brown transparent finishing color is the best choice for this wood. The wood has nice grain pattern that can be maximized with the transparent color. It has the white color base at the sap wood and brown to the dark brown at the heart wood. The finishing with dark brown color is the most easiest to be achieved. If the light color finish is needed, then we may need to bleach the dark wood.

The finishing with solid color is also can be generated, but we must be aware with the oil inside the wood. We need to apply the oil block (insulator) at the first step to prevent the oil comes true and ruin the finish looked.

Outdoor furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Outdoor furniture is the furniture that is used to fill the outdoor rooms. As the indoor room, the outdoor space such as: garden, patio, park, beach, or gazebo also need furniture. The outdoor furniture usually are used for place for relax while enjoy the natural atmosphere at the outside room. Furniture for outdoor uses requires different specifications than the furniture for indoor uses. The outdoor furniture should be durable enough to withstand the outdoor weather such as: rain, wind, night cold and sunlight. The outdoor furniture should be made from strong substrates and be finished with special material.

outdoor chair with outdoor finish

The outdoor furniture is usually made from solid wood from hardwood such as: teak, acacia, merbau, oak, pecan, etc. The other substrates for outdoor furniture are: synthetic rattan, aluminum, stainless steel or iron with a special finishing. Hardware used should also be made of material that has high resistant to the outdoor weather such as: brass, copper, aluminum or stainless steel.
The special finishing material is required for the outdoor furniture, although there are much outdoor furniture are used in the unfinished conditions. The exterior finish material that is specially design to withstand the outdoor weather is needed if we want to finish the outdoor furniture. Some of the exterior finishing materials are: spar varnish, outdoor oil, outdoor polyester, outdoor polyurethane, outdoor water based or outdoor latex paint. We can determine the outdoor finish material by read the specification and the technical data sheet of the finishing material. The exterior finishing materials usually have higher prices and have less color choices then the indoor finishing material.
The models of outdoor furniture are usually simpler and less varied than the indoor furniture. The limited choice of the substrates and finishing has make the model is less varied. The special model with special veneer pattern at m.d.f. or particle board that many used for indoor furniture cannot be used because it is not strong enough for outdoor uses. The model with complex and heavy carving also is not too suitable with the natural environment in outdoor rooms.

outdoor furniture made of synthetic rattan

How to care the outdoor furniture.

The outdoor furniture has less lifetime than the indoor furniture. The sunlight, rain and wind will make outdoor furniture to be quickly worn out, discoloration and making the wood, iron or other substrates become quickly obsolete. However, if we can do proper maintenance then we can make the furniture will be last longer.

Here are some tips for caring the outdoor furniture.

Avoid furniture the direct sunlight at the hot day.

The sunlight is the factor that damages the furniture quickly. The ultra violet rays from the sunlight will make the colors fade and the wood, metal or plastic quickly decayed. It may impossible to avoid the sunlight from the furniture, but at least we should try to minimize the hot sunlight directly go to the furniture. Place the furniture under the tent, umbrella, roof or the trees. The shade places are also more pleasant as a place for relax and rest than the open sky room with hot and direct sunlight.

Coat the furniture with proper finishing material.

The proper finishing layer will protect the substrate from the sun, water and wind to make furniture more durable. As long as the finishing layer is still well attached to the surface it still relies to give enough protection to the underneath substrates. But after a certain period of time, the finishing layer could become worn, faded and damaged. And when it comes, we should re finish the furniture. The refinishing process can be done in the simple way by re coat the furniture with the new finish material (could be the same types or not). Many finishing suppliers have been recommended to do re finishing every certain period of time (6 months or 1 year) to keep the finishing color and looked. We can choose the finishing material that can be applied by brush or rag to make the refinishing can be done easily. There are some exterior finishing materials such as: spar varnish, oil or water based paint finish that can be applied by brush or cloth.

Wood conditioner for wood finishing.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

The best way to get the maximum advantage of the staining result is by applying the stain directly to the raw wood. We can apply stain by spray, dip, brushed or wipe, but the stain must wet and penetrate into the wood surface. By this application we can get the maximum beauty of wood. This method will let the stain to color the wood and enhance the natural grain and pores of the wood. But this finishing system is often causing problem in some soft wood. Some types of woods such as: pine, maple, alder, etc. are soft porous which has high absorption to the stain. The application of stain directly to the wood has high risk to get problems cause by too much absorption of stain such as: color too dark or blotchy color finish. To overcome this problem, some finishing materials suppliers have created a special finishing material that is called as “wood conditioner”.

Wood conditioner is special materials to address the problem of blotchy color in the soft wood. Wood conditioner is like a base stain, or thin sealer that serves to reduce the penetration of stain into the wood. Wood conditioner may have different types from one product to another, but in principle it is a barrier to avoid too deep penetration of the stain into the wood. Wood conditioner is applied to the raw wood before the stain application. The way the application of this wood conditioner can be by wet spraying, wiping, or brushing until it soak and wet the wood surface evenly. Wood conditioner should be applied evenly to completely wet the surface so he could wet and fill at the wood surface that has a high porosity.

The wood conditioner is working similarly with the glue sizing or sealer sizing, but the wood conditioner should be easier to be applied since it is the material that is specially design to handle the soft wood. Some types of wood conditioner can be followed by stain application without sanding. Wood conditioner of this type is more work as stain base which will reduce the strength of the stain, so it does not too wet and soak into the wood surface. This wood conditioner is usually an oil base and must be followed by the application of stain with the same type (oil base stain).
The other wood conditioner requires drying and sanding process to produce smooth wood surface. This material contains some sealer that will stiff the wood fibers. It has to be sanded to produce smooth and even surface. This wood conditioner can be followed by application of different types of stain. The best way to apply the stain is by spray application since we can do better control to the stain thickness. The application of stain by brushing or dipping has bigger risk to get blotchy color problem, since the uncontrolled the stain thickness at the surface.

Some tips in the application of the wood conditioner.

Get the proper preparation at the unfinished wood

To get the good finish, we always need to start with the proper preparation at the unfinished wood. The wood conditioner is not a magic potion that can overcome the finishing problem as a result of poor preparation in the unfinished wood. Do a proper sanding at the unfinished wood; do correction at the wood problem such as: dents, holes, cracks, etc. make sure that the wood is dry before finishing process begins. Most of the finishing problems come from the unfinished preparation.

Read and follow the technical data sheet.

Every material has it specification. Read the instruction and the technical data of the material. Make sure we already know the character or the wood conditioner and how to apply.

Do some test at wood panels first, before making the application to the furniture product.

Wood is an unpredictable material. He could have very large varied properties. The same finishing process on a different wood can produce very different results. Even the same type of wood can be have different properties. Therefore, every time we do a finishing process we should start to do the process at a piece of wood panel with the same type and same condition. Make sure that we have found a proper finishing system before start doing the finishing process at big furniture product.

step panel for wood finishing

Scotch brite for wood finishing.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Scotch brite is one of the materials that is lot used in the process of wood finishing. Scotch brite is an abrasive material that is used to do sanding or polishing in the finishing process. Scotch brite is made from synthetic material that is covered with mineral abrasives. Scotch brite is available in many types and grade that indicates the coarse of the material. The fine type of scotch brite is also used in the domestic life to wash the household for wash the cookware and table ware such as: dish, cup, pan, etc. The scotch brite for this purpose is the fine scotch brite and available in the supermarket or grocery store The scotch brite for wood finishing is available in the industrial tool store and also available in some grades. The scotch brite is also lot of used at the automotive or metallurgic industry, and available in some grades and types. While in the wood finishing, the scotch brite is used to do the sanding and polishing in the finishing process.

the heavy duty scotch brite

scotch brite to sand the complicated form

To do the sanding, the coarse scotch brite is used. It is the proper abrasives to sand the sealer or top coat at the non flat surfaces. The sandpaper is the good material for sanding, but it is difficult to be applied at the furniture part that has 3 dimensional forms such as: legs, turning, edges, the carving and the other complicated form part. The sanding with the sandpaper has high risk for the over sanding. The sand paper is too aggressive and not flexible enough to follow the complicated form. It will tend to cut trough the coating layer at the protruding parts, especially at the first sealer layer or the wash coat layer when the coating film is still thin. To sand the complicated form, then we need the scotch brite. The scotch brite is the flexible abrasive material that is quite flexible to follow the complicated form and reach the inside part with less risk of over sanding. The scotch brite is even less aggressive compared with the steel wool. The scotch brite is also won’t be fall out to form dust as the steel wool does. Since that the scotch brite is the better choice material to do sanding at the complicated form.

the fine scotch brite

the fine scotch brite is used to polishing the compound

The fine scotch brite is used to polishing at the rubbing process. When we do rubbing, the last step is polishing with the compound or pumice powder. The scotch brite can be attached at the rubbing machine to apply the compound or pumice stone powder at the polishing process. The uses of the rubbing machine will give the consistence result. It is specially needed when the high gloss finish is wanted.
To find more about the rubbing process, you can go for our previous post Rubbing and polishing.

How to design the furniture.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 07:45:00 +0000

The modern furniture product is a result of long series of processes. It is like a building, the furniture product is started from an idea. The idea then goes to the designer and start to be realized. Designer is a person who does have expertise in capturing an idea and express it to be tangible form. How to get the ideas and how to cultivate the ideas is the expertise of the designer. This idea could come from anywhere, from models that already exist, from the fashion trends, books, magazines, nature, etc. But, to make the idea become real product, then the designer has to translate the idea to the manufacturing process. The first step is to make the drawing for the idea. The drawing then has to go to the furniture manufacturer to be used as a guide to make the real product.

The woodworking technology today has been developed and so advanced to accommodate the furniture manufacturer industry. Various machinery, facility and raw materials are available to support the furniture manufacturer. This condition gives the big freedom to the designer to design the furniture. Almost all models and types of furniture products can be produced with the technology available today. The developing of information technology also help the designer a lot by providing abundant information about the furniture style, sources, substrates, and other information needed. It means that the designer today has a very big chance to explore and maximize his creativity.

The rattan seat bench

However, of course, the designer cannot inconsequential when designing a product. There are many things need to be considered to make the product that is success in the market. Here are some things that should be considered in the designing of furniture product.

The aesthetic value of the furniture.

The success of the product depends on the market acceptance. The furniture product should have aesthetic value to many people or the society. Now, when the furniture is like a commodity product, then the esthetic value is very important factor. The esthetic value is the “differing factor” that drives peoples to choose the product. The "esthetic value" could be varying from one people to the other, from one society to the other, from one place to the other. There are many factors that influence the esthetic value of the society. The region, social culture, gender, age, economic level is some of the influence factors for the esthetic value.

Since that when the designer design the furniture, then he needs to determine the segment market of the product. By knowing the market, then he can explore the esthetic value according to the target market. By this way the he can design the proper product.

The production process to make the product.

The attractive product is not enough. He also should also be sell able with an economical price. To get reasonable price, then it must be able to be manufactured in a reasonable cost. The production cost will depend on the facility and system where the manufacturing process will be held. The process in a small workshop that serves to make custom product will be different with big furniture factory that make big volume products in the mass production system.
Therefore when the designer design the furniture, then he also should consider the kind of furniture manufacturer who will build the product. If he works for a furniture factory, then he needs to do discussion with the production manager to find out the best suitable product according to the facility and system in the factory. If the designer works to the furniture buyer or he is a freelancer, then he need to have knowledge about the process of manufacturing furniture.

The function of the product.

The furniture product is household product. No matter how good is the furniture, he still has to fulfill its function. The people buy furniture product because he want to use it, not just only to enjoy the beauty. Therefore the furniture has to fulfill the function value; the furniture has to be usable to the user. Including the function value is also the safety; furniture should be proper designed to be save enough to be used by its user.

The function factor also depends to the person who is going to use the furniture. For example the furniture that is dedicated to the baby or children should have extra safety in construction and models. And the function value of the product could be very significant until it can restrict to make the other value.

Antique brown rattan finish.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:30:00 +0000

Most of rattan products are marketed in the finished. The rattan is special substrates that have provided value as its uniqueness, but the proper finishing will give added value by enhancing its special form. The finishing for rattan is actually very similar to the finishing for the wood. The materials that are used are the same. But since rattan does not have grain and pores as the wood, then the rattan finish is more emphasis to enhance the unique form and shape of the rattan product.

In this article we want to share the finishing process rattan wicker with light brown color and dark brown glaze. The rattan base color is light brown with the dark brown color glaze is used to fill and coloring the inside of the rattan wicker to generate the attractive and life finish. Rattan skin is used, so the special sealer is used as the first layer to get the better adhesion of the finish. While the NC finish system is used, the NC clear coating, stain and glaze are used for the overall finish.

antique brown rattan finish step panel

Here are the finishing processes step by step.

Washing the rattan and application of first sealer.

The first process is to take care the rattan skin. The rattan need to be washed and cleaned from the waxes that may still attached at the surfaces. We used a scotch brite that was wet by acetone to rub and clean the rattan. We rubbed to the overall rattan to make sure the rattan was cleaned. Then we blow with the air gun to clean the dust and dry the acetone.

Then after the rattan was clean, we sprayed cane sealer to the rattan surface. The cane sealer is the special sealer to take care the rattan skin. We sprayed the cane sealer wet coat to the overall surface, and let it dray for about 30 minutes.

Stain application

Stain is used to coloring the rattan. We sprayed a light brown stain to make light brown color rattan finish. The stain was applied by wet coat spray to the rattan surface. We let the stain dry for about 5 minutes.

Application of second sealer.

The second sealer is applied to protect the stain color and also to form and build the finish film. For the second sealer we used a NC sealer, since the overall finish system is NC finish. NC sealer was sprayed to the overall surface. We let the sealer for about 30 minute to dry.

Glaze application.

The glaze was applied to fill the inside webbing and form the brown color for the rattan. Dark brown glaze (Van Dyke Brown glaze) was brushed to fill and coloring inside the webbing. The glaze was also layered evenly on the surface to form the finish color. We did some highlight to the glaze layer to make more life looked finish. We waited for 1 hour to let the glaze dry.

Application of the first top coat.

The next step is the top coat application. We don’t need to sand the clear coating at the rattan finish, so we can use the top coat instead of sealer. The top coat also will give better adhesion then the sealer. The top coat was sprayed wet coat to layer and protect the glaze layer. We let the top coat layer for about 30 minutes to dry.

Smudge pad and dry brush glaze.

The next process is the antiquing process. We used dark brown pad stain to pad the top coat layer. A dampened cloth with the pad stain was padded at the top coat layer to make the antique impression. We added some dry brush to burnish the corner and make more antique looked.

Application of the second top coat.

The next process is the second top coat application. It is the last coat layer to protect the finish color and to form the gloss of the finish. A medium gloss NC top coat was sprayed to the finish. And the result was the antique brown rattan finish.

Tips to buy furniture online.

noreply@blogger.com (Wisno Johanes) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Buying furniture online could be preferred and more fun by some people . With the information technology has allowed everyone to browse and find the furniture product he need from any places, any time, unlimited. With the online market, every people has the opportunity to buy the products he want with the best price, without any problem about the distance and time.

Nevertheless the online purchasing furniture online also has some disadvantages compared with the purchasing in the real store.. Purchasing products online have high risk for fraud and dispute. The better communication and prudential action is important to be held in online transaction.

These are some tips for buying furniture online.

Make sure that the website we dealing is true.

Security in the online transactions starts from the website that we deal with. Make sure that the website that we use to transact is the real website of the furniture seller company. Protect your computer with antivirus and anti spam when you browse the website. The unsecure website not even is risk of fraud, but also risk of spam and virus that may contaminate our computer.

Check the website address carefully; make sure he is registered in the country authority where the website is addressed. Check the owner of the address; make sure the person in the address is real.

Make sure that the companies that we are dealing is the right company.

When we decide to buy furniture then we certainly have to make sure that we are dealing with a furniture company. It is better to deal with small company who really does “furniture business” than dealing with a big company that just a “broker”. Make contact with the person in the company , and do good communication to make sure that he really know about the product he sell.

Check the term of service.

In every transaction there is always a possibility of errors, moreover in the online purchases. There is always a possibility getting problem with bad product, wrong product or other disputes since the lack of information. Make sure that we deal with companies that provide a guarantee of good handling of any disputes. Read carefully the terms of service as well as guarantee that he offers. Do confirmations to the seller, make sure you are clear about the terms inside, and be careful to the bias sentenced that may cheat.

Check the delivery.

Delivery of goods is very important in the online furniture buying. Furniture is breakable item. It is heavy and need properly.handling. Find out shipping agent used, and make sure that he could handle with the furniture shipment. Also don’t forget to check the delivery time and cost.

Make sure that we buy the correct item.

Buying furniture online means that we rely our decision on visual observations and a written description of the product. Although many company are give guarantee to the returning shipment, but it will take lot of effort and time to do that. It is better if we can get the right product at the first shipment. Read and check carefully the specification of the furniture product such as: the substrate, the construction, the finishing type, the size, etc. There may be some things we need to know more details about the product that we need to find out. Then do a deep communication about the detail of the product specification.
The products that are display in the website are images that are taken from photography. The appearance of the product is greatly influenced by the environment and lighting while the portrait was made and the quality and setting of the computer. It is possible to see the difference between the displayed looked in the computer with the real product. Therefore, find many more information about the product far as possible. We can get a color swatch to ensure we get the right color.