Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Finishing

Before I read Jeff Jewitt's book on finishing I knew almost nothing about the finishing process. After reading this book cover to cover almost five times now, I feel confident about applying a finish to my first project. Jeff's writing style and knack for explaining make learning the often misunderstood art of finishing a pure pleasure. You will learn all types of finishing and application styles from padding, wiping, brushing and spraying. Jeff covers preparation of the wood surface all the way through staining, filling, sealing, top coats, and finally buffing. The plethora of color photos really gives you a good idea of what he is describing and enhance the text tremendously. You will not be disappointed with this encyclopedic description of wood finishing.

Great book. Presents all the tricks of the trade for finishing wood projects. This book helps me to manage all my finishing tasks much easier. No longer do I "hope" for a match when it comes to staining. Through the techniques presented I have been able to take most of the guess work out of the process. I highly recommend this book for those serious about their project finishes.

I started doing refinishing work and woodworking when I was about 10 with my father. Now being somewhat older and getting back into it, I started looking for good resources to expand my abilities with wood finishes. Not to mention the fact that I ran into a few finish issues rehabilitating some birch cabinets in my kitchen. Jeff Jewitt's book not only presents a very good overview of wood finishing, but also high quality photographs of the processes he is using to accomplish the finishes. This book coupled with Bob Flexner's book Understanding Wood Finishes are my two main resources for wood finishing now. There are wonderful tips and suggestions, along with detailed, step-by-step instructions for the different processes. The Taunton's Illustrated Guides have got a new fan.

I've read a bunch of finishing books in search of the perfect finish. This book is by far the most thorough, best organized book out there. The quality of the images and illustrations are outstanding and the books is packed full of useful information. I love all of the high quality images they use to show you errors in finishes and then go on to show you how to resolve the problems. They give pluses and minuses of each finishing technique and show you the best ways to apply them. All in all, A GREAT BOOK.

At over 300 pages of superbly illustrated information, this book is the new bible on wood finishing. The words "Complete" and "Illustrated" in the title tell it all.Just about everything you need to know about finishing from basics to advanced is covered. Every topic is illustrated with full-color photos and line drawings when needed.Plenty of hints, off-page references and guidance. Topics are covered in anywhere from a half-page with three photos to whole chapters. Jeff and his wife, Susan, the photographer, have gone out of their way to show every process and product talked about. Every chapter is organized the same way, which may be the way of Taunton's new, "Complete Illustrated Guide to..."If you are only going to buy one book on finishing, or if you have a whole shelf full, you need to buy and read this book.Great job, Jeff and Susan!Now that I have a bit more time, I thought the table of contents would be interesting and tell more about the wealth of information in this book:1) The finishing environment2) Tools for surface preparation3) Finishing Tools4) Preparing Flat Surfaces5) Preparation of Curved and Complex Surfaces6) Fixing defects7) Stain Basics and Application8) Glazes, Padding Stains and Toners9) Natural Dyes, Chemical Stains and Bleaches10) Controlling Color11) Filling Pores12) Sealers13) Choosing a Finish14) Reactive finishes (including new conversion finishes)15) Evaporative finishes16) Water-Based Finishes17) Rubbing out Finishes