"Finishing, Simply Put"

I recently received "Finishing, Simply Put ...no chemistry degree required" by Charles Neil in the mail. Weirdest thing happened: I read the first 120 pages right after sitting down with it. Finished the book the next night.  Not often a book on finishing keeps me glued to a seat.

What I liked about this book is the volume of photos to show what's going on. I've included some scanned pages here to give a feel for it (the grey shadow to one side of the scans is due to my scanner).

I've followed Charles for a number of years so some parts of this book were review of some of his own techniques. That said, though, having things I learned from him here and there all in a compact reference with photos is well worth it.

Other chapters included new ideas, like using water under oil to control blotching, or very old ideas, like the use of asphaltum over dye to create rich Mahogany colors.

Most finishing books fall into two categories: details on the chemistry of finishing, and cookbooks.  Both are very useful; certainly I have a couple in each category.  This book hits a practical stride between those two explaining how the parts build to the finish you want to achieve.

There's considerable coverage on how to avoid common pitfalls (with photos), how to recover if you didn't (with photos), and common repairs (with photos).  I love books that cover "when things don't go as planned".

The volume of photos and easy text make this a fast read. Since formulations for stains, dyes, and clear coats are different for every vendor, this book specifically references many products by name and even shows their differences in photos.

Oils, varnishes, and shellac are all covered along with water-based products with discussion of special issues with water-based products.

Here's a link to a PDF of the table of contents.

This is a self-published book so you won't find it popping up on your usual woodworking radar so I thought to give it some attention.