ground coat question

[uncle duke]

Are you guys still grounding the wood so that the varnish doesn't soak through or are you just applying varnish and moving on?  I've been of the egg white/glue in the past - feeling lazy and looking for short cut.

[Edward Byler]

If you use straight varnish as ground you should fill end grains with turpentine until it won’t hold more. I also use chalk on the end grain of the spruce edges. It takes lots of practice to not have the end grains look burned . All this varnish for ground should be in the wood-not on . That’s of course Just my opinion 

[Shunyata]

In the wood, not on!!!  Amen!

Best method is to apply and fully wipe off excess with cloth.  When dried, skiff sand with 400 grit or finer to improve adhesion.

Depending upon what you are using for a ground, you can wind up with an easily chipped finish if you allow buildup.

[JacksonMaberry]

Personally I avoid proteins. I have tried dozens of things and continue to experiment, but right now I'm sold on Joe Robson's ground system. I use it a little differently than he recommends - I get a good heavy tan on the bare wood before I start applying the coats. As I understand his products, what you end up with is a complex of resins and a tiny bit of oil (as part of the last step, the "ground varnish) entirely inside the upper few microns of the wood surface. I have found it to be an idiot proof system. Going right on top of that with as richly colored a varnish as you want will not burn anything. 

[nathan slobodkin]

2 hours ago, JacksonMaberry said:

Personally I avoid proteins. I have tried dozens of things and continue to experiment, but right now I'm sold on Joe Robson's ground system. I use it a little differently than he recommends - I get a good heavy tan on the bare wood before I start applying the coats. As I understand his products, what you end up with is a complex of resins and a tiny bit of oil (as part of the last step, the "ground varnish) entirely inside the upper few microns of the wood surface. I have found it to be an idiot proof system. Going right on top of that with as richly colored a varnish as you want will not burn anything. 

Jackson,

What is your issue with proteins? 

[JacksonMaberry]

43 minutes ago, nathan slobodkin said:

Jackson,

What is your issue with proteins? 

In the case of albumin and gelatine, the hygroscopicity puts me off a bit. In the case of casein, I don't understand it well enough to feel comfortable using it and, due to its pH is known to react with anthraquinones like alizarine and purpurin, as from madder. Then there's the Echard findings, where protein coatings seem not to have been found. I don't have strong feeling about how anyone else gets finishing done, it's just a preference at this point.