Creative Woodworks & crafts 2003-09, страница 45

The biggest problem I expected to encounter was grain raising. It did not occur with the woods I used here. The Cash Coatings behaved as you would expect a traditional finish to. I applied a single coat of cach product over each wood sample. The natural stain and the colors especially impressed me by how evenly they coated and dried on all the woods tested. This opens up great possibilities at craft shows for the same reasons 1 listed above. The possibilities offered by the color coatings arc particularly exciting. The seven standard off-the-shelf prc-mixed colors are: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange, Black and White. The level of translucence of the off-the-shelf colors is adjustable. Water can be used to dilute them, but will increase drying time and grain raising. Instead, use their Clear Cote. You can also use their concentrated color tints and Clear Cote to obtain the desired shades and opacity. The stains and colors are available with or without the gloss and satiti finishes mixed in.

I was so impressed with the Red color dip that I made a compound-cut ornament for Cash Coatings and dipped it. Then I asked if they would send me samples of the other colors and applied them to some of the ornaments from my compound-cut (3-D) ornament collection. It's just what my ornaments needed!

Wood-Loc, an invaluable find

As 1 mentioned before, Wood-Loc is valuable to scrollcrs for flattening thin stock. When the sample arrived, it saved my day on a fretwork box projcct I was just finishing up. The box lid had cupped after the backer had been glued on and allowed to dry. I soaked the lid in a shallow tray filled with Wood-Loc for about an hour, then clamped it so it was flat and allowed it to dry. I think I'm going to make it standard practice to soak and clamp anything like that, even if it isn't warped or bowed, just to make sure it stays flat.

It can also be used to hold a bend or twist in stock. 1 planed the five wood species tested to I/J6"-thick strips, soaked them in Wood-Loc for twenty minutes, twisted them one quarter turn, and let them dry.

My son said the strips looked just like the blades on his helicopter toy. That's the one where you hold the slick between your hands, spin it, and up it goes! It's a good example of a project where you would want to hold the twist.

Availability

Pricing for the coatings tested here range between $9.00 and $20.00 per quart, but a little goes a long way. They don't skin over in tire container and the shelf life is guaranteed for one year after opening. Customers have reported coatings working well after live or six years. Some minor water loss that makes the coating a bit thicker may happen, but that is easily fixed. Not bad!

Having a manufacturer of stains and finishes that can work with you to acquire desired results for the materials and application methods of the end user is nol something readily obtained through conventional marketplaces. Cash Coatings services and products are not available in stores. They may be obtained directly from the company. They have just come out with a Scroller Starter Kit. For more information, sec their ad on page 49.

Cash Coalings may be contacted at: Cash Coalings, 4430 Robertson Road, Madison, WI53714; 1-888-729-1591, /-608-222-2445, 1-608-222-2498 (Fax); cashcoatings@hotmail.com.

Creative Woodworks & Crafts September 8003 • 45