Here are some of the most commonly used furniture woods with suggested finishes for each. With the materials described above and the rules described here, you can work out many finishes of your own.

Walnut

Hard and porous, walnut always requires filler for a smooth finish. However, if you wish the texture to show, eliminate the filler.

For a natural finish, mix natural wood filler with a little burnt umber. Fill the wood, sand lightly, and finish with two coats of water-white lacquer.

For an antique gray bleached finish, first bleach the wood (use any commercial bleach available for woods), sand until the natural color shows, then use gray filler. Finish with a coat of lacquer or varnish.

For a stain finish, apply the stain, fill the surface of the wood with wood filler that matches the stain, and finish with varnish or lacquer.

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Wood is stained to emphasize grain and natural figure. Many professionals use stain when wood has little natural beauty of color or graining. Most stains give the wood surface little or no protection, so you may want to use a protective finish as well.

For proper staining, the wood surface must be uniformly smooth, clean, and free of any old finish or wax. Try to work on surfaces horizontally; when you must work on a vertical surface, work from the bottom up with continuous edge-to-edge stroke paralleling the grain to minimize drips and overlap marks.

Water stains give a clear, sharp tone with deep penetration. They have the broadest range of brilliant, warm-toned colors. Their disadvantage is that they raise the grain and require at least 24 hours drying time.

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Before applying your selected finish to an entire project, try it out on the underside or on a scrap of the same type of wood. You’ll often have to experiment with finishes in order to achieve a uniformly rich appearance over the entire project since many of those shown are made from a combination of woods.

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A good channel depth for ¾-inch shelving is a 3/16-inch at the top and bottom. Cut the channel 1/16-inch wider than the panel, add 5/16-inch to the height of the opening, and you have the proper height for your sliding panels (this leaves 1/16 clearance for easy sliding).

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When hanging doors, allow for free movement between matching doors (and around hinges). Some carpenters judge the amount of space needed between paired doors by inserting a paper match between them before setting hinges. (more…)

Drawer Construction

Regardless of the construction method, each drawer will normally require the same number and size of grooves and cuts. By standardizing your procedure, you can repeat the same grooves and cuts for several drawers.

Be sure to cut all pieces exactly, and remember to allow 3/32-inch between drawer and frame, so that the drawer will have room to slide. Use ½-inch material for drawer ides and ¼-inch stock for the drawer bottom.

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Most tabletops consist of several boards fastened together in some manner as to form a flat surface. Large planks can be joined either with dowels or with threaded rods plus glue. Long expanding clamps are needed for doweling. If you don’t have such clamps, and prefer not to rent them, the planks can be drilled, glued, and tightened together with threaded rods.

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In almost any variety of home crafting, power tools make a noticeable difference – most jobs can be done easier, faster, and with more precision than by hand. There are two general categories of power tools – portable and bench-mounted.

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