Choosing a Brush for Your Top Coat
George VondriskaDescription
You’ve spent a lot of time on your project getting it ready to finish, so why not finish it right? If you’re going to apply four layers of stains or top coat with a brush, it’s important to use the proper brush for the job. A WoodWorkers Guild of America (WWGOA) original video.
When you're ready to put a top coat on your woodworking project and you're gonna brush it on, it's very important that you choose the right brush for what you're doing. You are not gonna get a million dollar finish out of a $1 brush. Everything I've got here I got at home centers. So this stuff is readily available but you gotta look for it a little bit. First, let me talk about what the tip of the brush should look like in the perfect world. The perfect world, we'd like to have what's called a chiseled tipped brush. What that means is that this has been shaped, up like this, up like this. Think about what this gonna do for ya as you're spreading your finish, it's gonna concentrate the contact here, making it a lot easier to level that finish out. Make sure that you have a good flowing coat. So that's one feature to look for. Now, let's look at bristles specifically. I'm gonna use this one as an example. What you want in the bristles, is a bristle that is thick at the ferrule end and thinner down at the tip. What that does, is it gives the brush flexibility so that as you're spreading your finish it's easier to get a level coat. Additionally, when you look really, really closely at that bristle, you'd like it to be flagged. What that means is, these are like split ends in your hair, not a problem I have, but what that split does is it allows the tip to hold more finish. So, that once you're dipped and applying, it's gonna flow out better because you have more finish on the bristles. So, chisel tipped, tapered, big at ferrule, small at the tip, flagged, meaning their split. Now the other thing that you want to pay attention to is natural bristles, that's what I've got on this brush, versus synthetic bristles, that's what I've got on this one. With all of your solvent-based finishes like lacquer, shellac, and varnish, you can use either a natural or synthetic bristle brush. As a general rule, the natural bristle is gonna make it a little easier to level your finish. If you're going to a water-based finish, you wanna stick with the synthetic bristle. The reason for that that is the natural bristle, these hairs have a tendency to get a little too soft and you start to loose control of being able to film the finish out. So, shop for a brush, look at 'em closely. Like I said, everything I have here I got at home centers. So they are out there, but you gotta look closely at the brush. Make sure you're getting the right one for the job to make sure the job you do on your finish is a good one.
It seems that most brushes on the market today are synthetic. I eventually discovered that "China Bristle" brushes are natural bristle but, finding chisel-tipped varieties has been difficult. Can you suggest a source where I can get chisel-tipped, natural bristle brushes? Thank you.
I'd heard the reason not to use a natural bristle brush for water-based finishes, is because the bristles will absorb the water and swell. I don't know if this is true, but there result is the same - polyester for water-based paint and finish.
Are foam brushes okay for applying stain and lacquer?
How about a foam roller? It always gives me a smooth coat. Just put in a ziplock bag to keep it moist between coats
I would like to add a brush to your list. TAKLON. Not your Home Depot brush. Got mine from homestedfinishingproducts.com. The finish is like it was sprayed on. No brush marks. I would not want to try to paint the house with it, but I did do a door frame. George, maybe you would want to review some of homested's products.
How about the relative merits of Foam brush versus Bristle brushes. Jim McCulloch Perth Australia
How about including foam brushes in the discussion?
A follow up clip on proper cleaning of brushes would be helpful as good brushes are expensive and it hurts to throw them away.