---
title: "Finishing"
url: https://seventhdesigns.com/finishing
description: "Surfaces, films and the last few hours of work, where a piece either gains its depth or loses it."
published: 2014-01-21
updated: 2014-01-21
---

# Finishing

Published 2014-01-21

Surfaces, films and the last few hours of work, where a piece either gains its depth or loses it.

## [Cerusing Oak, and Why It Works on Oak](https://seventhdesigns.com/cerused-oak-finish)

[January 21, 2014](https://seventhdesigns.com/cerused-oak-finish) — [Finishing](https://seventhdesigns.com/finishing)

Cerusing fills the open pores of a coarse-grained timber with a contrasting paste so the grain pattern reads as a drawn line rather than a colour.

[Continue reading](https://seventhdesigns.com/cerused-oak-finish)

## [Oil, Varnish and Shellac](https://seventhdesigns.com/oil-varnish-shellac)

[December 9, 2013](https://seventhdesigns.com/oil-varnish-shellac) — [Finishing](https://seventhdesigns.com/finishing)

Three household finishes that behave in three entirely different ways, and the questions worth asking before choosing between them.

[Continue reading](https://seventhdesigns.com/oil-varnish-shellac)

Quote

> A surface left by a sharpened edge and a surface left by an abrasive are not the same surface at a finer or coarser degree. They are different in kind, and no progression of grits converts one into the other.

## [On the Surface Left by an Edge](https://seventhdesigns.com/working-by-hand)

[July 15, 2013](https://seventhdesigns.com/working-by-hand) — [Finishing](https://seventhdesigns.com/finishing)

[Continue reading](https://seventhdesigns.com/working-by-hand)

Image

## [Hardware, Hinges and the Details](https://seventhdesigns.com/hardware-and-details)

[June 3, 2013](https://seventhdesigns.com/hardware-and-details) — [Finishing](https://seventhdesigns.com/finishing)

Hardware is the part of a piece of furniture that is touched most and considered last, which is the wrong way round.

[Continue reading](https://seventhdesigns.com/hardware-and-details)

## [Refinishing a Secondhand Dresser](https://seventhdesigns.com/refinishing-a-dresser)

[May 13, 2013](https://seventhdesigns.com/refinishing-a-dresser) — [Finishing](https://seventhdesigns.com/finishing)

The first decision is whether the old finish needs removing at all, and the honest answer is more often no than the effort involved would suggest.

[Continue reading](https://seventhdesigns.com/refinishing-a-dresser)