"Hand Rubbed": What does it mean to you?

[Ole Anderson]

I keep seeing advertisments for "hand rubbed" furniture. I wonder what that means in this era of factory spray finishes? In my shop as close as I come to hand rubbing is me, not a machine or brush, "rubbing on" several layers of wiped on varnish, followed by a light sanding with 400 grit paper, then rubbing on a final coat of Johnson's paste wax with 0000 steel wool. I am sure that term can apply to several different finishing techniques. What does hand rubbed mean to you?

[Chris Friesen]

To me it basically means old-school--rubbing out with progressively finer abrasives. See http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/h...oodfinish.aspx for example. I wouldn't call what you do a "true" hand-rubbed finish, but I suspect that's true for most stuff claiming to be hand-rubbed.

[Clarence Miller]

hehehehehehe

[Prashun Patel]

Hand rubbed to me means an oil finish applied with a rag and rubbed in, repeatedly and painstakingly.

Rubbed out means to me rubbing a film forming finish with fine abrasives to level and polish the surface.

[Peter Quinn]

Hand rubbed to me means an oil finish applied with a rag and rubbed in, repeatedly and painstakingly.

Rubbed out means to me rubbing a film forming finish with fine abrasives to level and polish the surface.

What he said. Plus I'll add sometimes as simple a technique as rubbing a sprayed surface with a cork block wrapped in brown paper to remove that off the gun feel and dust nibs. I'd call that hand rubbed though it does little to change the luster of the surface because it involves rubbing, and hands, and it adds a great tactile feel to an otherwise pebbly surface.

[Michael Hamilton, ID]

What I do could be called hand-rubbed - spray lacquer finish, very lightly hand sand with 800, hand rub out with 0000 steel wool (or Fibral if I can ever find the stuff again!) and finally hand buff with an old t-shirt.

[Neil Brooks]

hehehehehehe

That's it. Go mix up some dishwashing liquid and water ... put it into an HVLP sprayer ... and wash your mouth out

[Bob Wingard]

I think these days, it means exactly what it says ... someone, at some time, rubbed their hand over the finish.

[Wayne Hendrix]

That's it. Go mix up some dishwashing liquid and water ... put it into an HVLP sprayer ... and wash your mouth out

If I stick the HVLP sprayer in my ear will it wash my mind out of the gutter?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Way back when (way back in the days before flatting agents were around).....all finishes came in one sheen - a high gloss.

To get a satin sheen, the finish had to be rubbed out by hand.

A slurry of very fine abrasives (pumice) and oil was used and the apprentices used the palms of their hands to work the slurry over the finish.
It was a very time consuming process - but - it served two purposes.

#1 - it became the mark of a fine finish - just as dovetail joints serve as a mark of fine drawer construction, so a satin or hand rubbed finish served as a mark of high quality finishing.

#2 - it kept the apprentices busy - as in idle hands being the devils tools busy.

[Mike Henderson]

I rub out most of my projects. I spray lacquer but that doesn't give me the level of gloss that I want. I use Menzerna brand compound in several grits to rub out the finish, most of the time by hand but sometimes with a powered buffer. It really brings up the shine to a glass like finish.

Mike

[Clarence Miller]

Hand rubbed to me means an oil finish applied with a rag and rubbed in, repeatedly and painstakingly.

Rubbed out means to me rubbing a film forming finish with fine abrasives to level and polish the surface.

all joking aside I think of this when thinking of hand rubbed finishes.

[Ole Anderson]

While visiting some vineyards in Napa, we visited, if I remember correctly, the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. One of its claims to fame is the fantastic woodwork including a massive curved staircase. I remember them talking about all of the craftsman that took years to do all of the work, and that all of the woodwork was hand rubbed with oil many times. Quite impressive. Really nice touchy feel wood all over the place.

[David Helm]

I agree with what most have said, however there is one more handrubbed finish that no one has mentioned; French Polish. Padding on layers of shellac to get a high sheen. It is very labor intensive, and really means hand rubbed. There is no way to do it other than by hand.

[Howard Acheson]

If you are talking about a specific furniture manufacturer, the only definition that counts is what the manufacturer says it means. "Hand rubbing" has become a marketing term--it has no real universal meaning.