Re: Need advice on wood finishing

Hi David, This might not be the reply you want, but as nobody has
suggested it I'll put my 2 cents worth in. I've recently finished a
small wood project & I'm not a woodworker so I phoned the local trade
college & found that they have a wood polishing & staining school, On
talking to them they said "bring it over". When I arrived I was
asked what color I wanted, & gloss or satin finish? come back
tomorrow afternoon & pick it up. No charge, perfect job (I had sanded
it super smooth first) & more importantly no worries about botching
the job ( I had spent a lot of hours on it) Cheers, Ian.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "David Goodfellow" <davegood@g...> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I'm making a cribbage board as a wedding present to my daughter.
(No,
> that's not my only present to her.) I want it to be perfect, and
so far, so
> good. It's 3.5 x 12 x 3/4" oak. The peg holes are drilled and a
pocket for
> peg storage is milled. Both of these operations went as planned
(Thanks,
> Vector!) Still to be done is the brass lid for the storage pocket,
to be
> engraved with her (new) last name and the date of her upcoming
marriage.
> These I can handle.
>
> But I have no experience at all in wood finishing. The board is of
oak, and
> I plan to put a dark stain on it to contrast with the brass storage
pocket
> lid. And here (finally) are my questions:
>
> 1. What stain would you recommend?
> 2. What about sanding? Before or after staining, or both?
> 3. What about final finish? I was thinking of a clear poly-
whatchmacallit
> for a hard, glossy finish.
> 4. Anyone have a procedure for this? I haven't much time -- only
to the
> end of the month -- so I need to get it right the first time.
>
> Would sure appreciate a response from someone knowledgeable with
> woodworking. I'll be putting this message on a couple of other
lists as
> well.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave Goodfellow
> Northridge, CA
> "No problem too small to baffle this expert"