Wood 1010 Wood and Finishing Technology: Larry Van Isagam from Van Technology visits NIWF

We were very fortunate today to have Larry Van Isagam, President and founder of Van Technology, come and spent the day with us to talk about water based coatings. Larry and the students had a great conversation about water base,

which is an ever increasing part of the wood coatings industry.
The students had some great questions regarding their experiences

with the coatings, and Larry was very helpful in explaining how they work, and why we might choose to use a water based coating.
He also demonstrated a few of his products and allowed the students to use them and get some

more 1st hand knowledge of the coating and see what they are all about.
A Big thanks to Larry, who has always been a friend to the program here at DCTC!

wood 1032 Furniture Conservation: Don Williams and The MN Woodworkers Guild meet at DCTC

Don Williams came in from Washington D.C. yesterday and today to work with the students, as well as co-sponsor of his visit, The MN Woodworkers Guild. Yesterday he & the Students had an in depth conversation about color matching & color theory, Molecular Thermodynamics, solubility parameters of coatings, and what ever else the students wanted to know about.

Today was a more hands-on day. The Guild members joined the students to watch Don demonstrate several different methods of mold making and duplication for use in repairing wooden items such as picture frames and carvings that may be missing or damaged, and to learn about gold leafing or gilding.

Don demonstrated a number of materials that can be used to make and cast molds, and he demonstrated both water and oil gilding. In addition, there was some great back and forth about hide glue, shellac, Japanese Lacquer, and general conservation techniques Don uses in his day to day work as a Museum Conservator.

We always like to have Don in to work with the students, and we can't wait until his next visit this summer for his 3-day workshop on the restoration of veneers and their finishes. (July 20-22, visit http://www.woodfinishing.org/workshops.htm for more info on summer courses)

Students return to Fort Snelling for more conservation work

We took another field trip to the Fort Snelling Chapel today, where the students could see how their work held up since their last visit (very well, I might add!) and get back to work on this historic building.
Today we looked at some solvent testing, went through all the steps we've learned in school and developed a cleaning and re-coating schedule, then followed through on it!
All the students felt confident taking on new challenges in a real-life setting.