Dust in finish, how do you deal with this?

Jason,

My advice would be to take the piece back down in the shop. Before you do this take a half hour and blow off the dust (wear a mask if you have one) in all nooks and crannies with an air compresor if you have one to remove heavy loose dust. Then vacum up any remains of the dust & be picky in the area you plan to finish. Let the shop settle for about an hour to let any micro fine airborne dust settle to the ground. Then if you want take bed sheets and square off a corner floor to ceiling to create somewhat of a dustproof area. I hope this helps, in the near future if you do get into just finishing furniture or maybe into more than just a hobbyist shop as I’m asuming it would be wise to invest in air filtration and full dust collection.

Peace.

-- "I don't cut wood. I machine it!" G.M.

Xtreme has some good advise but it might take some paint thinner to wipe all the dust off. I’ve spent all day sometimes cleaning my shop just to get ready for applying finish.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture ,maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

a1Jim is right. It is amazing how much dust is still present even when the air seems clear.

-- Sam

When I spray varnishes, even after all the cleaning I will let the air settle for at least a couple of hours, try to have all my prep ready to go, spray guns ready, material mixed, I then tip toe into the room, being very careful not to stir up any dust from the floor, wipe down the project to be finished with the appropriate tach cloth to get any dust that may have settled on it off, do the finish and then tip toe out and not go back in until it’s dry.
Just picking up things off the counter will bring dust into the air so “movement” is your enemy.

Tung is a good penetrating oil, but dries slowly. Cheat to win by using a wiping varnish as a topcoat over the tung. Take something like Interluxe’s Jet Dry spar varnish, cut it by half (or so) with naptha, wipe it on with a rag, and right away wipe off the excess. This would be over the tung, which you could apply directly before. Then hang a plastic garbage bag over it as a tent. It should be tack free in a half hour.

I also struggled with airborn dust getting in finishes. I finaly got a good air cleaner (Powermatic) and run that for an hour and then shut it down before I do any finishing and have all but eliminated extra particles in my finishes. What still shows up buffs out instantly.

-- Tom Hintz, www.newwoodworker.com

Shellac – it dries before the dust has a chance to settle on it.

-- Steve, Webster Groves, MO

Xtreme90 has good advise and if you use sheets, NOT plastic, use a spray bottle of water and very lightly dampen the cloth. That will hold any dust onto the fabric and not float onto your project.

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

Hey, you guys are great help, I cleaned up the shop waited for a couple hours and went to it.

I started to notice that the cloth I was using is leaving some bits behind. I looked in the closet and found my cleanest dirty shirt, I’m not sure if I’m being to picky or not??? Is there such a thing? What type of rags do you use? every thing I seen in the closet looked like it was just a bunch of lint just waiting to stick to oil?

I’m not sure about polishing? Can I sand with some 1000 to 2000 grit and hand rub it with some type of paste or wax?

I think I’ll pick up some shellac, don’t get me wrong, I still want to use tung oil but I want to try some other options for future projects.

-- www.wheelersstudio.com

Yep!

Prevention is the best medicine. If its possible dedicate a closed off portion of your shop as a clean zone strickly for finishing products. If thats not possible, I say clean up as much as possible first, block all drafts entering the room, let any dust in the air settle and than work slowly as to not stir up any remaining dust in the shop.

As the Woodwhisperer and I, use clean pieces of old T-Shirt material, it is almost lint free, tight weave and soft. Watch Marc’s dvd on finishing, he does a great job showing simple and accuratly how to get a great finish.

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

I’ve used coffee filters to wipe down projects after sanding, etc. They are lint free, just change them often.

-- don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things

And when dust has settled there I’ll use 600 to 1000 grit sandpaper and a soft sanding block (cork, felt or homemade homosote) and knock them down and it doesn’t kill the gloss. Just lightly touch the surface.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †