Finishing is the process of applying to the surface of wood a thin coating of varnish or other substance, to render it durable, enhance its beauty or change its appearance. There are numerous methods of finishing, and a variety of materials are used; the varieties of varnish being the principal. The distinctive qualities of these varieties are treated under the article Varnishes.

In their natural state all woods are more or less porous, consisting of bundles of hard fibres, with interstices filled with a softer substance. These constitute the grain, and as the hard or soft parts predominate the wood is said to be hard, fine, or close-grained, or soft and open-grained. To fill these softer parts, or pores, and give to the whole an even, uniform surface, hard, and capable of a brilliant polish, is the object of the finishers' art. This hard, firm surface was formerly gained by the successive application of several coats of varnish, at least three preliminary coats being required to fill the pores; the inequalities were then reduced by fine sand or glass-paper, and several additional coats laid on, the last, after becoming thoroughly hard, being polished if desired. In this operation, however, a great quantity of varnish is absorbed by the open pores of the wood, and it is consequently so expensive that it is now seldom used. Recourse is therefore had to various plans to render the wood non-absorbent before applying varnishes, and certain compounds called fillers are largely used for this purpose.

The Processes

Finishing, although comprehending many minute sub-divisions, may be divided into four principal processes, i. e, Filling, Varnishing, Rubbing, and Flowing,Polishing, etc. Each of them are treated at length in their proper order, and for full information regarding the successive operations, the learner must refer to these heads: here we shall give a general view of the entire operation without details. The process described is tor fine work. First make the article to be finished quite clean and free from dust; then apply the proper filler with a brush; rub it well into the grain with excelsior or tow, rubbing across the grain when practicable, then clean all the surplus filler from the surface with rags; after filling, allow the article to stand for several hours, during which time the filler should become quite hard and dry. Before proceeding to apply the varnish, if necessary, make the surface of the filler quite smooth, with sandpaper; then apply a coat of varnish, allowing it to get quite hard; after the last coat of varnish, with fine sand-paper, sand-paper the surface sufficiently to make it entirely smooth and remove any lumps or irregularities. The number of coats required depends greatly upon the quality of filler used, regarding which some remarks will be found under the head of Fillers. It is said that with some fillers one coat of varnish is sufficient, but this can scarcely be the case with fine work, as it is not possible for one coat of varnish to give sufficient body to rub; four, or possibly three coats are more desirable. When the last coat of varnish has been applied, the article is ready for "rubbing" with pumice stone, moistened with linseed oil and applied with a bit of hair-cloth or coarse rag. This is for the purpose of making the varnish perfectly smooth and preparing it for the polishing. After rubbing, if a dead finish is desired, the work is complete, but the body of the work is generally cleaned up with a little oil well rubbed in, which gives it a lustre, afterward rubbed with a cloth dampened with alcohol which removes the surplus oil from the surface. The veneered panels are either "flowed" or "polished," which processes are described under these heads.