Hello All,

From my 2 car garage in Oregon I run a small part time wood shop devoted to making my wife happy so that she will continue to finance my woodworking habit. As such, I find myself making a variety of projects. Up until recently, I've payed little attention to the finishing aspects of the project, content to just slap on what ever minwax finish that I picked up at the local mart.

I'm beginning to see that my finish is much less than professional, and I believe it is holding me back.

I've been lurking for a few months here and have visited this forum on several occasions. I've seen you discuss some very interesting finishes. I've had a hard time deciding on one or two techniques to try out first.

At this point in the shop I've just started (is that what you call it when there is a stack of lumber in the corner and some half drawn plans?) a white oak china hutch and I'll be starting on a maple corner bookshelf after that. I'd like to get some recommendations for these two projects from a finishing prospective so that I can order the materials and try it out on some scrap and get the boss to buy off on it.

What would you consider the "Must Haves" in the finishing toolbox? It seems that right now I've got just about every mixwax poly that they make, but I'd like to branch out to some other (simple?) techniques to get me started.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Regards,

Blake