11-03-2011, 09:57 AM
Hi,
You are most welcome Rob and I hope the link and website were informative.
Over the last week or so I've been working on restoring a TV cabinet and ran into a problem regarding the use of Talcum Powder as lubricant during flatting with abrasive paper.
All my previous cabinet restorations have been accomplished by removing the original finish with a cabinet scraper then after staining I've applied brush coats of shellac to quickly build up a good thick base for flatting; my first restorations were done using dry abrasive paper for flatting then when I saw the tip about using talcum powder I adopted this and found it to be excellent.
Removing original finish with the scraper usually leaves the old grain filling in place so the brush coats of shellac went on with no difficulty whatsoever allowing flatting to a perfect "matt" using abrasive paper and talc.
This TV cabinet I'm restoring was in such poor condition and had extensive woodworm damage together with much de-lamination that I ended up replacing half the frame members; two complete sides and the entire veneers.
I used Sapele Pommele veneer for inlaid panels with quartered Sapele veneer for cross banding. Normally I apply eight brush coats of shellac (French polish) before flatting but due to our terrible climate on this cabinet I only applied four brush coats of shellac before attempting to flat and for my stupidity I suffered a great a great deal of trouble. I was alarmed to see the talc had settled into the open grain left exposed due to insufficient thickness of shellac; normally an artist's brush will easily remove talc but this time the talc was refusing to move.
I ended up having to apply a colour wash of artist's acrylic Burnt Umber to kill the whiteness of the talc.
This was a very hard lesson to learn and I don't want anyone else to fall into the same trap so thought it worth while adding these notes. Many years ago the best work was done by filling the grain with shellac; this was a lot more expensive due to the extra time involved but avoided problems that can arise by using paste grain filler which can show up badly at a later date especially if traditional Plaster of Paris has been used; Rose tint or linseed oil would be used to kill the whiteness of the paster but it could still give later problems so I always grain fill using shellac.
The Sapele veneers used on this cabinet have quite open grain and four coats of shellac only partially filed the grain hence the problem. The cabinet has now had nine coats of shellac applied and hopefully this time when I flat all will be well. I'll only try a small area as a test using abrasive paper and talc.
This TV cabinet is still work in progress and the entire restoration is covered by a huge thread on another forum but once completed I'll post the story onto this forum and hope the many new techniques and skills I've learned during it's progress will be of help to other members.
I still like using talc as a lubricant whilst flatting but am now aware to be careful ensuring grain is fully filled by only testing it on a small area first.
Kind regards, Col.
You are most welcome Rob and I hope the link and website were informative.
Over the last week or so I've been working on restoring a TV cabinet and ran into a problem regarding the use of Talcum Powder as lubricant during flatting with abrasive paper.
All my previous cabinet restorations have been accomplished by removing the original finish with a cabinet scraper then after staining I've applied brush coats of shellac to quickly build up a good thick base for flatting; my first restorations were done using dry abrasive paper for flatting then when I saw the tip about using talcum powder I adopted this and found it to be excellent.
Removing original finish with the scraper usually leaves the old grain filling in place so the brush coats of shellac went on with no difficulty whatsoever allowing flatting to a perfect "matt" using abrasive paper and talc.
This TV cabinet I'm restoring was in such poor condition and had extensive woodworm damage together with much de-lamination that I ended up replacing half the frame members; two complete sides and the entire veneers.
I used Sapele Pommele veneer for inlaid panels with quartered Sapele veneer for cross banding. Normally I apply eight brush coats of shellac (French polish) before flatting but due to our terrible climate on this cabinet I only applied four brush coats of shellac before attempting to flat and for my stupidity I suffered a great a great deal of trouble. I was alarmed to see the talc had settled into the open grain left exposed due to insufficient thickness of shellac; normally an artist's brush will easily remove talc but this time the talc was refusing to move.
I ended up having to apply a colour wash of artist's acrylic Burnt Umber to kill the whiteness of the talc.
This was a very hard lesson to learn and I don't want anyone else to fall into the same trap so thought it worth while adding these notes. Many years ago the best work was done by filling the grain with shellac; this was a lot more expensive due to the extra time involved but avoided problems that can arise by using paste grain filler which can show up badly at a later date especially if traditional Plaster of Paris has been used; Rose tint or linseed oil would be used to kill the whiteness of the paster but it could still give later problems so I always grain fill using shellac.
The Sapele veneers used on this cabinet have quite open grain and four coats of shellac only partially filed the grain hence the problem. The cabinet has now had nine coats of shellac applied and hopefully this time when I flat all will be well. I'll only try a small area as a test using abrasive paper and talc.
This TV cabinet is still work in progress and the entire restoration is covered by a huge thread on another forum but once completed I'll post the story onto this forum and hope the many new techniques and skills I've learned during it's progress will be of help to other members.
I still like using talc as a lubricant whilst flatting but am now aware to be careful ensuring grain is fully filled by only testing it on a small area first.
Kind regards, Col.
