Will Sampson talks about the challenge that finishing presents to woodworkers. His guest is Chris Reding, a finishing expert who talks about new innovations that bring powder coating technology to woodworking with the promise of safer, faster, environmentally friendly and more durable finishes.
This episode of the Woodworking Network Podcast was sponsored by the Executive Briefing Conference, being held September 8-10, 2021, at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO.
Woodworking Network is a home for professional woodworkers, presenting technology, supplies, education, inspiration, and community, from small business entrepreneurs to corporate managers at large automated plants.
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Intro music courtesy of Anthony Monson.
Intro:
Welcome to this episode of the Woodworking Network Podcast. Join us as we explore the business of woodworking big and small and what it takes to succeed. I’m Will Sampson.
Today’s episode is sponsored by the Executive Briefing Conference. We’ll be talking with Chris Reding, Global Director for Alternative Substrates for IFS Coatings, to fill us in on how powder coating is making inroads in the woodworking industry. But first I want to talk about:
It’s called a finish for a reason
One of the most fascinating things about woodworking is how crucial the final finish is to the success of a project, but woodworkers by and large devote more energy to the woodwork than they do to the finish.
It’s always been my theory that woodworkers are mostly mechanical in their approach to their work. They are all about physically manipulating the wood, cutting and shaping, joining and fitting to get a sturdy and handsome result. Then comes the finish. It’s almost an afterthought.
In the hobby world, far too many projects just get a wipe of oil or a splash of poly, and the maker calls it good. Complex finishing processes are just that, complex, and they take the woodworking mechanic into the realm of chemistry, a place an awful lot of woodworkers seem uncomfortable.
In the professional world, virtually everyone recognizes the importance of a finish in the perceived value of a project. The final finish is what the customer sees and touches. It doesn’t matter if the piece has the best wood workmanship in the world if it has an unsatisfactory finish. And if it has a spectacular finish, the customer will pay more and be very happy. That’s why professional shops value talented finishers.
A good finisher is like that magic medieval alchemist who can mix up a secret potion that turns lead into gold, only the finisher is turning woodwork into gold for the shop.
I readily confess that I come from the mechanical woodwork side. I have high admiration for great finishers. They always seem a bit eccentric to me, but that’s okay because they deliver the goods. I know I can’t compete with their talent.
My own finishing experience is long and varied. When I started woodworking in grade school, it was all about paint. I think my first woodworking project was a helicopter I sawed out of a couple of boards and nailed together. It got a sloppy blue tempera paint finish that was good enough for a 6-year-old.
When I really started to get into woodworking, I learned about stains and oil-rubbed finishes and various varnishes, including the ubiquitous polyurethane that was a new thing when I first tried it. When I got interested in making stringed musical instruments, I learned how to spray nitrocellulose lacquer and then sand and polish many coats to get that glassy gloss that looked so good on a guitar or mandolin.
I should digress a bit here to describe my real spray finish education that had nothing to do with woodworking. In a previous life I built custom bicycle frames and finished them with DuPont Imron, a catalyzed polyurethane that had all sorts of nasty stuff in it like ether and isocyanates. I had a full spray booth, separate air line for breathing, and I learned how to spray vertical tubes in tight quarters without runs. Talk about chemistry, I had to learn all about reducers, precision mixing, Zahn cups, and fish-eye treatments. I learned new technical terms like sheen, orange peel, and force drying.
But I’m still not a chemist. I’ve visited finish manufacturing and testing labs and toured countless finishing operations, including highly automated processes. I am amazed by the technology, but my interest is in just getting a guaranteed good result to complete a project. After all that’s why they call it a finish, isn’t it? I guess I’m more like the cook that needs to follow the recipe rather than the chef who can take a handful of disparate ingredients to create something spectacular.
Before we get to our interview with Chris Reding, let’s pause for a word from our sponsor.