Basic Wood Finishing Procedure
Wood finishing starts with sanding by hand (typically using a sanding block or power sander), scraping, or planing. Imperfections or nail holes on the surface may be filled using wood putty or pores may be filled using wood filler. Often, the wood's colour is changed by staining, bleaching, or any of a number of other techniques.
Once the wood surface is prepared and stained, the finish is applied. It usually consists of several coats of wax, shellac, drying oil, lacquer, varnish, or paint, and each coat is typically followed by sanding.
Finally the surface may be polished or buffed using steel wool, pumice, rotten stone or other materials, depending on the shine desired. Often, a final coat of wax is applied over the finish to add a degree of protection.
French polishing is a finishing method of applying many thin coats of shellac using a rubbing pad, yielding a very fine glossy finish.
Ammonia fuming is a traditional process for darkening and enriching the color of white oak. Ammonia fumes react with the natural tannins in the wood and cause it to change colours. The resulting product is known as "fumed oak".
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—Joanne E. Oppenheim (20th century)
“It is remarkable what a value is still put upon wood even in this age and in this new country, a value more permanent and universal than that of gold. After all our discoveries and inventions no man will go by a pile of wood. It is as precious to us as it was to our Saxon and Norman ancestors. If they made their bows of it, we make our gun-stocks of it.”
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—Lucy Larcom (1824–1893)