Wood 1032 Furniture Consesrvation: Tim Inman visits to discuss and demonstrate restoration techniques

Tim Inman, from Randolph, Iowa was kind enough to join us to discuss restoration. Here he is showing the students techniques for restoring antique picture frames.

Tim has been in business doing refinishing since 1974. His company, Historic Interiors, offers both custom restoration services to individuals and businesses for antiques and other quality furniture items, including clocks, movements, picture frames, etc., as well as providing specialty products and training to the trade and other active hobbyists. They also make custom reproduction pieces as commissioned.

Tim has served as an advisory board member for the National Institute of Wood Finishing at Dakota County Technical College since the early 1980's

Wood 1019 Spot Repair II: Mirka visits to demo new products for polishing marble

A representative from Mirka came in today to demonstrate new materials for removing the scratches from marble. Information like this is so valuable for doing on-site touch-up and spot repair, it just adds another service that the professional touch-up artist can provide.

products are always evolving in this competitive marketplace, we are always happy to have our students getting the 1st hand demonstration of the latest innovations from the professionals!

Wood 1032 Furniture Conservation: Cleaning & Conserving

Sometimes furniture comes in that doesn't need, or shouldn't be refinished, sometimes preserving the original finish is the way to go. In fact, there can be some wonderful surprises in store when preserving a finish. This chair came in and the goal was to clean the years of grime and build up that had accumulated.

After determining what the finish was, the right solvents and cleansers were chosen, and the chair was meticulously cleaned.

After a bit of careful, skilled work

we discovered beautiful, ornate painting that was previously covered with years of dirt and oil.
Learning to make these decisions of refinish vs. refurbish is something that sets NIWF grads well on their way to a successful career in wood finishing technology.

Wood 1026 Advanced Finishing: Practice Boards & Story Boards

When it comes to Advanced Finishing, it is so important to get lots of hands on experience. The students get about 20 boards that they must prep and finish using different materials and techniques. From crackle lacquer to varnish and shellac, from dying, staining and glazing; Advanced finishing give a hands on approach to the use of many products wood finishers will encounter.

Another important aspect of Advanced Finishing is to create Story Boards. A Story Board is a recipe, of sorts, for wood finishers. It is a step by step visual and written set of instructions for creating a color, finish or effect on wood. You can see in the picture that each step in the process is masked off, preserving it so that the end result can be obtained again and again. This is a valuable skill for wood finishers because, if done well, any finisher should be able to look at a story board and re-create what has been done in the past without having to do a lot of guess work.

Wood 1026 Advanced Finishing: working our color theory with dyes

"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence."

-Abigail Adams

The color theory never leaves us, we just get the opportunity to apply it differently. We are in advanced finishing (Wood 1026) and we are, once again, matching colors, but this time we are using dyes instead of pigments. We are still using our color wheel and going about the process the same way to match the hue, value and chroma of the color, only the materials have changed. Exercises like this really solidify color theory and give us a greater understanding of the materials we are using.

Wood 1010 Wood and Finishing Technology: Organic Chemestry

In Wood and Finishing Technology, we go in-depth into some of the organic chemistry behind finishing products. This knowledge assists students in making decisions about what products to use on what types of finish; how when and why you can and cannot mix chemicals together; what different solvents will do to different finished; what is safe to use on certain finishes and a whole host of other useful information for the professional finisher.

Wood 1019 Spot Repair II: Audrey Vincent comes in to demo König touch-up products

Alum and König Mid-West Sales Rep, Audry Vincent came in to demonstrate König Touch-Up products. König is a is a family owned business that traces its beginnings to 1892. Located just outside of Frankfurt, Germany, they have been supplying touch-up and repair products for wood, laminates, and other surfaces since 1930. They brought their products to North America in 1996.

In addition to her schooling here at DCTC, Audry has been formally trained by König, so we get to learn first hand how König want us to use their products.

Wood 1026 Advanced Finishing: Ken Boettcher visits to discuss muti-step glazing techniques

Past graduate and Master Finisher for E Street Makers, Ken Boetcher came in today to discuss and demonstrate some high-end multi-step glazing techniques as well as crackle lacquer.

"I graduated from the DCTC Wood Finishing program in 1982.It's hard to believe that I have been in my chosen profession for 25 years...
My career started as a touch-up/prep person for an imported furniture store,on to a high-end refinishing shop,to a precision match sampling company and then on to my current employer of 16 years E Street Makers."

Ken has visited us at the National Institute of Wood Finishing many times over the years to share his knowledge with the students. Ken says of NIWF, "I use the program as a recruiting platform and as a sounding board for various questions that arise".

"Over the years I have found that hiring someone that has taken the finishing course not only provides an employee that has chosen wood finishing as a profession but also someone that comes in with a basic understanding of the industry.They are easier to train,easier to hand-off special projects to and easier to communicate with."

A big thanks to Ken for his visit, we look forward to the next one!

Wood 1010 Wood and Finishing Technology: Applying Finishes - Spraying

Understanding how to spray a finish can be a very important part of finishing new wood, or re-finishing. In Wood 1010 - Wood and Finishing Technology, we cover many different spraying techniques, we examine a number of different spray guns and delivery systems, and we learn how to properly maintain our spray guns, including how to disassemble and reassemble our guns.
Students get plenty of opportunity to apply color and finish using many different spray guns that we have here at DCTC. Our shop is equipped with 2 spray booths.

Wood 1015 Spot Repair I: David Wendell Larson visits NIWF for a spot repair demo

Master spot repair artist David Wendell Larson came to visit and show his more than 45 years of spot repair expertise! David has been self employed since 1957, and has been operating his business in the Twin Cities since 1966, not to mention that he was the furniture conservator for the Groves Collection from 1976 to 1984 and for the Norwest Corporation of Arts Program from 1988 to 1998. He was a Member of the George Frank Study Tour to China in 1987 and to Paris & London in 1994. He is a contributor to Professional Refinishing magazine, and we are pleased to have him on our Advisory board as well. David is always a welcome addition to our classroom, we thank him for his visit, and look forward to next time!

Past Grad Dave Smith takes on The Office Credenza

Past Grad and owner of Fresh Air Finishers in South St. Paul, Dave Smith, shared one of his past projects with us. Dave had to take care of some problems in this office, all the work had to be performed on-site, so here is a brief overview of a day in the life of an NIWF grad.
You can see that there was blushing, peeling and cracking on the finish.



So after masking off the office, it is time to strip the old finish that is failing











Then, after careful preparation, it is time to apply color and spray the new finish.
After much hard work, Dave's skilled hand returns the office back to it's rightful owners looking brand new!

Great work Dave, Thanks for sharing your work with us!

Wood 1010 Wood and Finishing Technology: Wood Identification

Wood & Finishing Technology is one of the most involved sections of the program. In this sections we cover so many topics; one of those is Wood Identification. Wood ID is important because different wood reacts differently to chemicals, stains, dyes and many other things. Wood, as an organic object, is not all created equally, and it is imperative that students know how to work with different woods and what precautions might need to be taken with certain woods, whether they are finishing, doing wood working, or trying to avoid possible health hazards.