Go to guide for finishing

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Kim_reaper

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Has anyone got a link to to a good go to guide for pros and cons of various finishes?
Between company sponsored lists and American to UK translations I'm a bit lost. I do projects for both interior and exterior and have used a few different finishes basically just winging it every time, but really need to get to grips with finish options. Anyone?
 
the complete manual of wood finishing by frdederick oughton
ISBN 0 85442 030 4
stobart and son ltd
 
You can't go far wrong with anything written by Bob Flexner. His "Wood Finishing 101" is, as the title suggests, a good ground-up guide to finishing. Books by Michael Dresdner and Jeff Jewitt are also worth reading. Yes sorry these three are all American authors.

Just to point out, the Oughton book Droogs recommends above is not exactly a recent publication. And it's about traditional methods, which don't necessarily apply to anything you'd do today. Not that there's nothing to learn from older books, quite the opposite, but it's hard or impossible to directly relate some older advice to today.
 
Do check your local library system for books on the subject, old and new, so you can have a read of things without having to take a punt on them. Using inter-library loans I've been able to read literally dozens of woodworking-related books in the past few years, I couldn't have afforded them all and I found I would only want to own a mere handful of them anyway, even if they were available (the older titles are frequently unobtainable).

A good few books are worth a read for sure, but I do mean A read, the take-aways are often just little titbits so not worth paying serious money for. And the secondhand book market has some crazy prices on things, books you wouldn't mind spending a couple of pounds on regularly go for 30 quid and upwards.
 
I suggested it as it provides an excellent base level of knowledge to build from. Just coz its ol dont mean it dont apply as the saying goes. After Holzappfels books on turning are still relevant to turners today .just as oak is still oak and ebony is ebony and reacts now as it did then
 
Wasn't slamming it Droogs, I said what I meant to say pro and con with regard to older titles.
 

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