Chairmaking Q&A with Luke Barnett

It’s pretty common for our Windsor Chairmaking students to think of questions after attending one of our 5-7 day classes. It is inevitable as you bring your chair home and start to think about the finish and showing it off to your family and friends, that you might notice an imperfection here or there, or wonder … how much Milk Paint should I purchase?? or what’s the best way to touch up this spot??

Question: What kind of filler do you recommend to touch up the wedge gaps and spots where I didn’t do a great job of fitting joints?

Answer: "Durham's Water Putty or just let it ride"

Question: About how many sq ft would you estimate we need to cover with paint? My guess is on the order of 20 for each coat.

Answer: "No... like 3 tablespoons for each coat. Just order a quart"

Question: Also, if you can say, what combination of paint colors produced these:

https://www.barnettchairs.com/rocking-chairs#/contemporary-rocker

https://www.barnettchairs.com/rocking-chairs#/birdcage-rocking-chair

Answer: "They are both very similar but complicated finishes. I'm not quite sure how I did them. I MIGHT have stained the wood with walnut husks before applying the milk paint. I can't remember. I mixed 2 colors of milk paint (maybe one was butternut??). I applied that, then used a few seal coats of shellac. After that I made a glaze that was basically burnt umber oil paint, turpentine and linseed oil. I painted that on, let sit for 30 min, wiped off as much as I could. Then I let it sit for 3 days and put several coats of shellac on top of that."

Question: If I use something other than tung oil as a sealer, what level of gloss would you recommend?

Answer: "Matte or satin at the most"

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