Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Can anyone recommend an easily obtainable finish that is dead flat? I need only a small amount for contrast on a turned piece, but it will be handled.
dead flat finishes
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Phil Pascoe
Established Member
No ideas? Flat as possible, obviously.
As an alternative, do you happen to have any pumice? You can tape off the relevant portion, load pumice into a soft brush and flick over the masked area, effectively flattening (making more matt) whatever gloss finish is already there.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
I'm looking for a finish for bare wood that is as flat as possible and as quick and easy to apply as possible. It's for the rim of a platter that will have fretwork done on it. The inside will be Tru Oil as highly polished as I can get it. the inside of the fretwork will be dyed. I want to get the rim surface finished before I do the fretwork to stop the dye running onto the top of the rim. I suppose I could use Rustin's plastic and flatten it - it's mahogany, so the grain is quite close - it wouldn't take too many coats. That's only just occurred to me, actually, and is possibly the easiest way of doing it.
I'd use a matt polyurethane varnish, thinned down a bit - but mostly because I've got a tin of it at the back of the cupboard. I think it's one answer but wouldn't say it was the best or only one - if you've got some RPC, it would probably be just as good - it's much better stuff than its name suggests.
I don't know the specific products you might try over here but on the US sites a common recommendation for a dead-flat finish is one of the water-based polys, which apparently can be very matt indeed. And because the finish is so clear it looks like there's nothing on the wood at all which might suit you perfectly.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Ed - yes, a sound idea. Andy - I've often thought the name doesn't do Rustin's any favours. I've used it for 30+ years and found it brilliant. I'm surprised they haven't tried selling it under a different name.
custard
Established Member
It's a very fashionable finish, unfortunately some of the best matt finishes I've seen are specialist sprayed lacquers.
For home use water based pu is probably your best bet, but if you're chasing absolutely matt you'll likely be disappointed. For one thing it's not all that hard (matt finishes from a tin are often a bit softer), I've found it burnishes in use and acquires a sheen. The flattening agents are usually the heaviest element so sink to the bottom, therefore you need to be scrupulous about stirring or else you'll get an uneven level of sheen as the job progresses, one trick you can try if you're chasing the most matt possible is to let the tin (of whatever you're using) settle for a few days, then gently pour off the top third and dispose of it, the remainder will then have extra flattening agents.
The golden fleece for a lot of furniture makers today is a dead matt, water white finish that won't yellow pale timbers, and strongly resists UV to maintain that look for many years. It's very much a work in progress but many of the most promising results do seem to be sprayed. I sometimes apply a very thin coat of well cut blonde shellac to the inside of cabinets, as long as you don't go beyond one or two coats the level of sheen is pretty marginal, but sadly so is the level of protection! I'm experimenting with Aquacoat grain filler at the moment on Ash, and that holds some promise, but again it's not nearly as matt as I'd like.
When I built my current workshop I made a conscious decision not to have a spray room, if the bespoke furniture market keeps drifting towards ultra pale timbers with ultra matt finishes that may have been a mistake.
For home use water based pu is probably your best bet, but if you're chasing absolutely matt you'll likely be disappointed. For one thing it's not all that hard (matt finishes from a tin are often a bit softer), I've found it burnishes in use and acquires a sheen. The flattening agents are usually the heaviest element so sink to the bottom, therefore you need to be scrupulous about stirring or else you'll get an uneven level of sheen as the job progresses, one trick you can try if you're chasing the most matt possible is to let the tin (of whatever you're using) settle for a few days, then gently pour off the top third and dispose of it, the remainder will then have extra flattening agents.
The golden fleece for a lot of furniture makers today is a dead matt, water white finish that won't yellow pale timbers, and strongly resists UV to maintain that look for many years. It's very much a work in progress but many of the most promising results do seem to be sprayed. I sometimes apply a very thin coat of well cut blonde shellac to the inside of cabinets, as long as you don't go beyond one or two coats the level of sheen is pretty marginal, but sadly so is the level of protection! I'm experimenting with Aquacoat grain filler at the moment on Ash, and that holds some promise, but again it's not nearly as matt as I'd like.
When I built my current workshop I made a conscious decision not to have a spray room, if the bespoke furniture market keeps drifting towards ultra pale timbers with ultra matt finishes that may have been a mistake.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
It's academic atm, actually - I turned through the rim, I got a dig and had to take it too thin ... which is rather off putting as I did exactly the same with the first one. :roll: :lol:
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