6 Finishing Tools Every Woodworker Needs
Every project ends with it, applying finish. But finishing starts before you even think about bringing out a can of oil, way back when it’s time to remove saw marks and prep the surface.
Over the years I’ve learned through trial and error how to achieve a professional finish and it starts with planing, scraping, and sanding and ends with the type of finish and application method for that buttery smooth, perfect look you want for your projects.
Here’s a list of 6 tools I use every time I finish a project to make the preparation easier and the execution perfect.
1. Block Plane
After gluing up a panel for a table top the first tool that touches the wood is a chisel, to scrape the glue nibs off.
But the second tool is a block plane. Now in all honesty I use a smoothing plane, but a block plane will work just as well, and in some cases better. A block plane has a low angle which reduces tear out in figured wood.
But the purpose of using a block plane at this point in your project is to knock down any ridges or differences in the seams between the boards.
You could use a sander for this, but a plane will knock down those small discrepancies in a few seconds while a sander would take a few minutes.
Just be careful that you know what your grain direction is. You don’t want to cause too much tear out at this point, but if you do tear out a little wood, well that’s where the second tool comes in.
2. Cabinet Scraper
A card scraper is a square piece of steel with a hook shaped burnish on the edge which shaves the wood fibers.
It’s purpose is to prepare a surface for finish by flattening and removing imperfections, but doing a whole panel is a tiresome, thumb burning process, which is why I use a card scraper for removing tear out.
The scraper excels at scooping tear out out of a panel, especially in figured wood or wood with interlocking grain. The little hook on the edge of your scraper uses some sort of magic to shave the fibers in such a way that they won’t cause additional harm.
But they can be a bit tricky to sharpen and use, especially for a beginner. Lucky for you, I have a video on the topic which does a way better job explaining how to setup and use the tool than my written description could do.
How to Use and Sharpen a Card Scraper
3. Sanding Block
I always start off sanding with a random orbital sander with 80 grit then moving up through the grits (120, 180, 220) doing each slowly and methodically for the best possible surface I can make, but there are always issues that powertools cannot fix.
Mainly these stripes. You may or may not get them. I think it has to do with my sanding pad and sander, but regardless, I know they will exist and I’ll need to fix them.
The best way I’ve found to get rid of the stripes is to sand them out by hand, but don’t just wrap some wood in sand paper, you need a real sanding block.
It could be homemade, but it needs a soft substrate between the block and the paper such as a piece of cork.
That soft material allows the sandpaper to get down into any slight imperfections and less than flat surfaces, especially if you did have some tear out that you removed leaving a slight divot in the table top.
Or if you want to buy one, here’s the one I use.
4. Plastic Tubs
Once you get to finishing you’re not going to want to use it straight from the can, especially if you need to thin or mix a two part finish together which is where this tool comes in, and they’re free.
After finishing up a tub of butter, sour cream, cream cheese, or whatever you fancy, just run that tub through the dishwasher and store them away for future use.
The nice thing about these is they have a lid for temporary storage, just don’t rely on them for long term, multi-day storage because these containers are not airtight and the finish will go bad in them over extended periods of time, but for saving the excess between coats they work perfect.
5. Syringes
You can buy these online, here’s a link, or if you’re like me you can take them from your medicine cabinet. Most child medicine comes with little syringes which are perfect for measuring finish, especially two part hardwax oils. If you’ve never used them before because of the expense, try out my favorite hardwax oil, Natura OneCoat and pick up the syringes.
I use two, one for the hardener and one for the oil, and when I’m done with them I give them a wipe and reuse them over again.
For finishes requiring less precision in mixing, I don’t worry about going to the syringe length, but they are handy.
6. Old T-Shirts
Lastly, another free resource. Old t-shirts. I’m talking about the ones that have really seen the end of their life. You want the ones with some holes along the seams. You know, the thin, soft, ones and yes, they are probably your favorite shirts, but they don’t look as good anymore as you think they do and it’s time for some new ones.
So reuse them one last time as rags. Just cut them up into small pieces and use them for cleaning glue squeeze out, for cleaning dust off your table top in-between sanding grits, or for applying finish.
And that last one is why you want old shirts. New shirts tend to have loose fibers that will come out and stick in your finish but the old shirts have worked those fibers out after years of washing and won’t leave cotton behind in the finish.