Wood preperation for finish

[Michael Anthony]

Has anyone ever heard of the hot water method for preparing wood for an awesome finish, I have been using it for about 40 years now and I got to thinking the other day that I have never seen this technic in any books or journals on woodworking before.mmmmm???

[Bob Feeser]

Hot water preparation for a wood finish??? Ok you have my curiosity up. Do you use it to raise the grain? How long do you let it dry? Do you coat it with oil based finishes after that, or just water based? Do you wet both sides to prevent uneven expansion and contraction.

My grandfather had a nursery and he used to place 1000 seeds in the ground in a row, and every one of them came up. How did he do it? I'll trade ya info... wanna swap? Bob

[Michael Anthony]

Bob you are correct, you wet both sides very quickly going across the grain you dont want to soak the wood just a light coat the hotter the water the better and a clean t-shirt like material. the cremonese did this 600 years ago

[Michael Anthony]

I for got to add that you then need to let the wood dry by letting the air get to both sides, i.e. lean it against the wall repeat as many times as you want and reduce the grit every time

[Bob Feeser]

Mike, Good tip, I appreciate the information. I am going to have to experiement with that for awhile to get the knack for the proper application. Any tips?

For those who may be interested in the planting secret of how to get 1000 seeds put into the ground to all come up, the answer is: First you have to soak them overnight in a bucket of water. The live seeds sink to the bottom, and the dead seeds float to the top. Skim off the dead seeds, and plant the ones on the bottom. Old world ways are simple, but sometimes simple is the best way.

[Michael Anthony]

Bob: start with a piece of maple or other hardwood I use a rotary bosch sander when applying the hot water work fast, I did this finish with the hot water method

[Michael Anthony]

Their should have been a comma between sander and when oops

[Michael Anthony]

Thanks for the tip about the seeds I am going to try that this spring!!!

[Michael Anthony]

Bob I forgot to answer one of your questions as to the finish after the prep its your choice I used laquer but a trick I use with laquer is to thin the first coat of sanding sealer 50% with laquer thinner, this soaks into the wood much deeper and really brings out the color of the wood!!!