Foolproof Wood Finishing: For Those Who Love to Build and Hate to Finish [Paperback]

Teri Masaschi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006

Instructing woodworkers on how to choose, prepare, and apply wood finishes, this reference provides expert opinions with easy-to-follow steps on how to minimize costly mistakes and ensure beautiful surfaces. Covering the entire finishing process, chapters include topics such as creating a test sample, sanding techniques, using wood putty and epoxy, employing pigments and dyes, and utilizing decorative methods. A final chapter compiling the author’s most amusing anecdotes from a lifetime working in finishing is also included.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Teri Massaschi is a frequent contributor to woodworking magazines, and her facility with wood finishing comes through in this book."  —Canadian Woodworker

"Very readable and presented in a straight-forward manner. It also fills a gap in the market place on how to use these readily available finishes which are now becoming popular in the UK."  —Yandle's Wood Club Newsletter, UK

About the Author

Teri Masaschi teaches wood finishing and has written for American Woodworker, Home Furniture, and Woodworking Magazine. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565233034
• ISBN-13: 978-1565233034
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good, but a little narrow, May 16, 2008

By 

Matt Skuegler (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foolproof Wood Finishing: For Those Who Love to Build and Hate to Finish (Paperback)

This would be a very good choice for someone looking for a comprehensive introduction to how to prep, stain, and finish furniture. There is a real wealth of information and it is presented very clearly.

But for all the info on furniture finishing, I was disappointed by the coverage of other basic woodworking projects. For example, there's nothing about what finishes are safe for cutting boards, wooden bowls, or children's toys. And I would have welcomed something that talked specifically about finishes for shop furniture. There also is nothing on spray finishes, which is mildly frustrating given that the author mentions how much more convenient they are than the brush-on and wipe-on finishes she does cover.

I also found the author's style a little distracting. A bit heavy on the exclamation points and the quotation marks and the folksy stories. Not a big deal, really, but it detracted from my enjoyment in reading it somewhat.

It's an outstanding book for a slightly different reader than me. If I had it to do over, I'd get another one instead.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book, December 12, 2006

By 

Jack Wilson (Burke, Va) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foolproof Wood Finishing: For Those Who Love to Build and Hate to Finish (Paperback)

Don't let the low price fool you. This is very complete book on finishing. Every step is covered from sanding to putting on the top coat. If you purchase only one book on how to finish wood this is the one to own and read. In my view the only thing better than this book is to take one of the authors classes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Improved finishing, October 14, 2008

By 

John J. Hodgson "John Hodgson - Improved fini... (Albany, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foolproof Wood Finishing: For Those Who Love to Build and Hate to Finish (Paperback)

I recently took a one week finishing course at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine given by the author, Teri Masaschi. This book closely followed the course. The author is very knowledgeable and has a great deal of experience. Neither the book nor the course will make you a Master finisher overnight but it will provide a lot of information and product sources to improve your finishing skills. If you are the kind of person who has difficulty picking up skills from a book alone then I recommend taking a course with the author. She can take you very calmly through the various steps of proper finishing and allay much of the fear and trepidation that many woodworkers have about finishing (aka screwing up a lot of good woodworking at the last step of the creative process). On the other hand, if you are willing to experiment a little with the various techniques on practice boards and find out what works best for you and especially if you are not heavily invested emotionally in the final product( e.g., stripping and refinishing an existing piece of furniture) then this book alone could definitely meet your needs. Just bear in mind that the techniques require some practice and experimentation before committing them to any piece of good furniture and especially not a priceless heirloom. Also, while the methods she recommends will provide a superior result, most of the products are not cheap nor readily available except by mail order. That's not her fault, of course, but you should be prepared to invest both time and money if you want to become really good at finishing furniture. Isn't that just the way life is, though?