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.

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.

There are many reasons to buy unfinished furniture, especially if you are looking for quality. First, it’s impossible to buy inferior woods. You can see the unfinished wood and judge for yourself whether its quality or not. Many furniture manufacturers use second-rate woods in their furniture because they can hide the quality of the wood under thicker stains and paints.  Second, you can experience the joy of finishing furniture yourself. There is nothing like sitting down at a table that you finished, enjoying your favorite meal. Third, if you cannot finish your furniture on your own, or you do not feel comfortable doing so, many stores will finish your selection for you, custom-fitting your furniture to your style.

Buying good cheap unfinished furniture can solve a big problem many people have with buying furniture: It’s easy to repair the little damages that happen to furniture from time to time. Small nicks, pen marks, scratches, all these are simple and painless to fix. With finished furniture, its a lot harder because not only does is it difficult to repair small damages, but the wood itself might be poor stock, as I said above. With unfinished furniture built from good wood, repairs do not have to be irritating. Buying and finishing your own furniture helps preserve it’s value, enabling you to pass your furniture on to your children.

A hidden benefit to buying <a href=”http://quickunfinishedfurnitureguide.com”>unfinished furniture</a> is the value it adds to your home. High caliber wood adds richness to a space, no matter if its a bedroom, living room, kitchen, or other room in your house. If you ever sell your house and suddenly discover you will have to sell your furniture, the high caliber wood will increase the price that potential buyers are willing to pay you for your furniture. You can also auction your furniture off at a higher bid, or fetch a higher price for it at online retailers and bargain websites like Amazon or EBay.

Finally, good self-finished furniture offers a priceless classy feeling to your home. It makes the interior your home warm and welcoming. With the kind of wood that you get with unfinished furniture, wherever you place your furniture in your home, you can always count on visitors, guests, company all agreeing that it makes your home a class act. And that is worth whatever the price you paid for your furniture many times over. So think about buying unfinished furniture and finishing it yourself for your home. You will not be disappointed.