Great Wood Finishes: A Step-By-Step Guide to Beautiful Results [Hardcover]

 

 

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This book was very clear and helpful. Great for beginners and advanced people too. A must have in my opinion.

I owned a high end body shop for twenty years. Did a lot of European cars, and the finished products, all to often, wound up under strong showroom lights. Factory approved finishing and repair for BMW, Benz etc. With specific application techniques, and finally exhaustive rubbing, a finish was produced that would far exceed factory specs. It was necessary to tone it down unless you were doing an overall. Why am I saying all of this? Well mainly this: If someone asked me about refinishing I could get very specific about techniques. What to do, what not to do, and the tips and tricks to take it over the top. It is all to often the technique that would separate the mind blowing finish from the mundane. Of course the proper material had a lot to do with it, but if I had to choose just one, it would be technique. Now that woodworking is a part of my life, trying to apply 20 years of automotive knowledge to woodworking, is almost a waste of time. In automotive, you build up a thick layer of finish, that is often catalyzed for quick drying, then the next day cut it with wet and dry paper, and polish it with lambs wool bonnets. Unfortunately that doesn't have a thing to do with wood finishing. I have been on a quest for the past couple of years to find a book on wood finishing that would give me the kind of knowledge that I understood with automotive. After all of my searching, I finally found it, and Great Wood Finishes: A Step-By-Step Guide to Consistent and Beautiful Results by Jeff Jewitt is it. You couldn't gain the experience given in this book without spending a lot of years acquiring it. The only obstacle to acquiring a lifetime of finishing knowledge is our willingness to open our minds and accept it.
They say their is two ways to learn: Either go through the school of hard knocks, or listen to someone who has gone through the school of hard knocks. Not only does this book show you how, their is a knack applied, by the author of explaining the relevant aspects of what you want to know. Their is no way I want to spend the kind of time and resources that would be necessary, in order to learn the lessons explained in this book. I guess you could say that Jeff Jewitt is more than an deeply experienced wood refinisher, he is an excellent teacher as well.
He explains the different finishing techniques, each of the different materials, and even the unique problems you acquire in finishing different species of wood.
The book gives you full color photographs, for example, of a piece of cherry, which is divided into different sections, displaying the different shades as a result of different coloring techniques.
I am glad that I bought the other books on refinishing wood, but this book is the one that I feel the most akin to. The author tells you the pitfalls to avoid, and is still very much in touch with the reasons why he does what he does. He doesn't just say this is the way you do it period. He explains quite often the reason why. Overall I highly recommend this book. Nothing really negative to say about it. It's a great one.

If you are reading these, you're probably like me - looking for a good finish book that's easy to read and follow and that has good pictures to help. Well this is the book! This is a great resource book on all aspects of finishing wood. Jeff covers everything from different ways to prepare the wood to the various ways to color wood, fill the pores, and finally to the application of the top finish. The book has hundreds of beautiful pictures which he uses in addition to the very descriptive verbal explainations of each process. I like the addition of the special "summary tips" on each subject and the highlighted "Pro and Con" list on each process.

In the last chapter he has a step by step outline of how the information covered in the previous chapters can be applied to a specific project. I don't think that you will regret purchasing this book. I use mine frequently. Hope this helps you make a decision.
Happy woodworking!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Wood Finishes
Jeff has a unique command on finishing products and their proper application. Great Wood Finishes is an example of what most woodworkers are looking for - how do I get a great... Read more

Published on April 9 2002 by Barry A. Reiter

2.0 out of 5 stars bad index
This book's index is incorrect If I buy a book I want to be able to look up things that I vaguely remember, with this book I can't.
Try to look up "gel stain".

Published on Mar 31 2002 by Roger Sigler

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Finishing from Start to... Well... You know...

Here's another invaluable reference for anyone wanting to apply a professional-quality finish. Read more

Published on Mar 27 2002 by Jeffrey A. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative!
If you are looking for a book on finishing wood ....this is your ticket. This book has all the information you need or want to know about finishing wood. Mr. Read more

Published on Jan 30 2002 by Byron D. Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent guide for the intermediate to advanced finisher
Jeff spends some time covering the basics of materials and equipment then gets right into the application. Read more

Published on Dec 28 2000 by Keith Mealy

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference
This is an excellent guide to producing high-end wood finishes. In particular, the section on dye staining, a method often used by pros and underutilized by amateurs is... Read more

Published on Feb 10 2000 by Dennis N. Schmidt

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