Everyone makes mistakes. It’s part of being human. The question for you is how do you keep your mistakes from becoming serious problems? Better yet, how do you avoid making mistakes to begin with? This post will answer these two questions and how to repair a few not-so-common mistakes when finishing your unfinished wood furniture.

For the experienced as well as the amateur craftsman, carpenter, or woodworker, mistakes are inevitable to a degree. By maintaining an attitude of humility and knowing when to ask for help, you can avoid committing errors, both serious and trivial. When working with wood, like anything, each task has it’s own peculiar set of pitfalls. Let’s dive in and talk about them.

- Sanding pen marks out of furniture: This is an easy one. With pen marks, if the ink is non-permanent, simply use a low-power belt or block sander and gently sand away the ink-stained wood until the pen mark is gone. If the ink is permanent, sanding will still work, but make sure the ink is truly gone afterwards, otherwise it may react with whatever stain or finish you use.

- Stain on unfinished wood isn’t drying: Checking whether the stain and the wood are compatible will alleviate this from happening. Sometimes the stain itself is the problem. It may have been produced improperly. A wood stripper will remove most stains from most woods. You’ll need a stiff brush to paint the wood stripper onto the wood, and some water and rags to wipe it off. Make sure the wood stripper is made for the wood you’re using. It isn’t a good idea to use a really strong one on pine, for example.

- Repair nicks in softwood floor: unfinished wood isn’t all about furniture. Sometimes floors, walls and ceilings take point. Fixing nicks in softwood floors is a simple matter of sanding them out. You might want to use a random orbit sander as it’s wide girth will help you do a small sanding job.

- Furniture varnish remover: Removing varnish can be done with a wood stripper, too. Just take into account the strength of the varnish vis a vis the strength of the wood stripper.

Unfinished furniture colonial style is a popular way to have your furniture done. For original pieces, usually the only places to find them anymore are at auction houses or in the homes of collectors. The colonial style is a fine example of master craftsmanship and exquisite skill. These pieces deserve our recognition and appreciation as prime instances of the intersection of creativity and discipline. I am going to assume that you, as a customer, are interested in buying unfinished furniture in the colonial style that is made by a contemporary craftsman and not an original piece.

Buying unfinished furniture colonial style is not a hard undertaking by any means. Indeed, their are stores offering selections all over the United States. The trick is finding a store that sells the piece you want in the style you want and not fainting over the price, especially if you have to ship it. It is obviously better to find a store as close to where you live as you possibly can. Beyond that, the principles for buying unfinished furniture colonial style are the same as buying any other piece of unfinished furniture.

- Look for sturdy craftsmanship. Do not simply assume that a piece is well-made just because it looks good. Appearances deceive, and furniture is no exception.

- Shop around. Do not rely on one store to meet your needs. Some stores may have different craftsmen available with varying levels of ability.

- Do not settle for something less when you know that you can get something better for the same price. You are the customer and the customer is always right, no matter what the salesman may think.

- Last but not least, never forget to check with the manufacturer (if the store is a retail store) of the furniture piece to make sure you are buying what you think you are buying.

Follow these principles and a beautiful colonial style unfinished furniture piece shall be yours.

If finishing furniture is your forte, one of the most important things to consider is what is the best sander to sand unfinished furniture with. If the wood is not sanded properly, the grain can become warped and twisted, ruining the wood. Wood can be sanded improperly via two ways: either the wood is not sanded enough or the wood is sanded too much. Either way offers unique problems, but the most common example is that the wood is sanded too roughly, destroying or damaging the grain. There are other details to take into account when sanding wood but the important thing to keep in mind is the type of sander you buy.

Finishing sanders come in two varieties, block sanders and random orbit sanders. A block sander is exactly what it sounds, a block of sandpaper attached to a motor that imparts it vibration. A random orbit sander is heavier than a block sander. It consists of a large circular spinning block with sandpaper attached. Block sanders provide a better finish that random orbit sanders. Another obvious advantage is that, due to the size of the sander, block sanders can get into corners and nooks that random orbit sanders cannot due to their size. Random orbit sanders also require special sandpaper, unlike block sanders which use standard sandpaper that you can cut into whatever shape you need.

When purchasing a sander consider the following features:

- How fast the sander vibrates. Orbits per minute (OPM) is the most common measurement. Remember, a faster sander sands quicker.

- Some brands offer a variable speed option, which is worth considering if the price is low enough.

-  Do not pay attention to the dust collection system; this probably will not work anyway. If you do want a dust collection system, be sure to buy a sander that comes with a hole punch system so that you can easily punch dust holes in standard sandpaper, rather than having to buy special paper (obviously this only applies to block sanders — orbital sanders require a special kind of sandpaper anyway).

Keep these principles in mind when buying a sander and you will be one happy customer.