Finishes     

Types of finishes for materials

don't miss the animation at the bottom!

When you think you have finished a piece of work you add a finish to it. In the case of wood the following main types are available:

1. Abrasive paper (such as glass paper to leave the material smooth but not coated with anything). The problem with this is that wood absorbs dirt and moisture and can stain easily with such as coffee cups.

2. French polish, this can be applied to give a very fine highly polished finish which repels moisture but unfortunately melts with a hot cup being placed on it.

3. Oils such as teak oil which soaks into the surface of the wood and brings out its natural colours. Unfortunately you have to be careful with liquid spills and hot items coming into contact with it.

4. Wax, very similar to oil but tends to give a sheen rather than a dull finish like oil.

5. Polyurethane Varnish provides a very tough coating which stops moisture, resists hot items and brings out the beauty in wood since it is clear (I suppose you could call it clear paint).

6. Paint. you would tend to use paint on wood if it was outside, to protect it from the weather or on wood that you wanted to cover up because it was ugly. You would also use it on fine finish man-made boards such as MDF. 

7. Veneer. This is used mainly to cover ugly man made boards and still has to be further finished with one of the methods above (except paint).

8. Plastic coating (laminate). Thin sheet of plastic stuck to the surface of man-made boards using glue such as contact or impact adhesive. This finish is tough and hardwearing and can be made to look like real wood or have fancy patterns on it.

In the case of metal the following finishes are the most common.

1. Paint (spray in industry and hand painted from a tin in school) can be any colour to fit your colour scheme and of cause stops rusting. Epoxy paint is made from epoxy glue and coloured. Its very hard wearing.

2. Plating. This involves using some sort of electrical method (electrolysis) to put a thin coat of one metal on top of another less attractive metal, or to stop the coated metal rusting. The most common are chrome plating,  (chromium coating on the top of either steel to stop it rusting and make it look very shiny) (or on the top of brass such as taps to keep them shiny so you don't have to keep polishing them. Galvanizing, which is coating steel with zinc to stop it rusting.  I'm sure you have heard of gold and silver plating but these are not likely to be common with the workstation.

3. Anodizing. This involves making aluminium shiny and dipping it in caustic soda to 'open its surface structure'. This done, dye (felt tip will do) is rubbed into the open structure and then it is sealed in by dipping it in boiling water.

In the case of plastic the finish is usually in the shape of a pattern being moulded into the surface or polishing. Acrylic when it is cut goes cloudy (opaque). When you polish it using metal polish or the polishing machine it becomes see through again.

4. Drawfiling. This is used on any metal to give a smooth satin finish. See the animation below to see how it is done.

I'm the boss so I can have forty winks now if I want (ho ho ho)