Children's "furniture can be painted, varnished or shellacked; first decide how it's going to be used, then choose a finish.

You’ve worked hard and deserve the best results from your efforts. Don't neglect this important aspect of furniture building. Choose your finish from the ones below.

Shellac finish. Shellac is inexpensive, easy to use, quick-drying and hard wear­ing. It goes well on almost any type of wood and is especially good for natural effects on lighter woods like pine, where you can make special blends of white and orange shellac to tone up the colors of the wood. An advantage of shellac for chil­dren's furniture is that it is easy to repair without complete refinishing, in the event of damage.

Brush the shellac on with long strokes going with the grain, laying down a wet, even coat as quickly as possible. Do not brush back and forth over it because shel­lac dries fast and such brushing would tend to pile it up and produce a sloppy finish.

Milton Solomon photos

Vanity table. Project 3. is given Firzite coat and wiped, then two Satinlac coots, then waxed.

Satinlac is applied to toy-bin desk. Project 1, over single coat of Early American maple stain.

Smooth out sags, runs and brush marks by stroking them lightly with the bristle tips.

Three coats of shellac will suffice for a fine durable finish; allowing sufficient dry­ing time, steel-wool between coats and ap­ply a coat of paste wax at the end.

Varnish finish. Varnish is an excellent finish for furniture. It resists acid, alkali, heat, and water marks; it is not easily scratched, and has good lasting qualities. Since it is extremely slow-drying, keep dust and foreign particles from settling on it while it is wet. Room temperature should be around 70 degrees to make the varnish flow smoothly and evenly.

The surface to be varnished must be thoroughly clean and free of dust and dirt. Use a special varnish brush whose bristles taper to a wedge shape at the end, and put the first coat on diluted and brushed very thin; subsequent coats are "flowed" on. To "flow" varnish, hold the brush at a low angle and use a sweeping stroke; don't brush over the same area too much.

For a high gloss finish, the final coat should be rubbed very lightly with 360-A WetorDry paper moistened in lukewarm soapy water, or with 000 steel wool. Use just enough pressure to smooth the sur­face without dulling it.

For a satin-rubbed finish with varnish or Satinlac, sand very lightly with 6/0 or 8/0 waterproof finishing paper dipped in water, and then, using 000 steel wool, rub with the grain until you get the sheen you want. Follow with wax.

Satinlac is an easily brushed lacquer that is excellent for amateur use. Varnishing procedures for a satin-rubbed finish apply to Satinlac application as well. The use of spray lacquer techniques is not discussed here because the more popular methods we cover are those that one's wife is likely to use after the furniture is built.

Note that surfaces must be completely dry before steel-wooling or sandpapering.

Enamel finish. Enamel is an opaque finish that will completely hide the wood grain under a solid, even color. For chil­dren's furniture, a non-toxic enamel such as Keystone's Slikup should be used—the extra cost is slight. Slikup comes in a variety of children's colors, and its thinner is odorless.

To apply this paint, seal the wood with thinned shellac and sand smooth when dry. If porous wood is used, filler is then re­quired; therefore try to use non-porous woods such as pine, birch, etc., for painted furniture. Apply the enamel, in the color desired, sand the dry coat slightly, and apply a second coat.

If small areas are to be painted a second color, paint the basic color on first (both coats), then go over it when dry with the second color.

Mika Bonvino photoj

Shellac coat, followed by sanding, then varnish, was finish given to sturdy slat chair. Project 6.

Lead-free Slikup paint in white, black, red was used to decorate the rocking horse. Project 12.

Color Is Important

There is more than one reason for paint­ing your child's nursery in a pastel hue with bright color touches, instead of modern "adult" colors like deep green, chocolate or charcoal. In decorating nurseries, par­ents usually prefer pastel enamels for their fresh, clean appearance and easy wash-ability. And research shows that babies prefer them, too. Babies have distinct color preferences: if baby could say it, he would call for a yellow bassinet, or possibly a red and white one.

Scientists have been curious about what colors children favor and have tested their responses to a variety of color hues. Tiny infants look longest at bright colors, while a dull color seldom catches any interest. Babies stare longest at yellow, then at white, pink and red. They give least at­tention to somber hues like black, dark green, blue or violet.

Because very young children get their basic enjoyment from their sense of touch and form, real enjoyment of color doesn't come until an infant reaches the age of two. Starting at about three, the strong liking for yellow begins to disappear and the pref­erence for red and blue begins. This pref­erence usually continues throughout life. One survey of more than 20,000 people showed that blue was the favorite color of adults, followed by red, green, violet. orange and yellow, and that these prefer­ences begin in pre-school children.

So forget pink and blue for nurseries. Yellow is the color a baby can see and en­joy the most. Save the pinks and blues until the baby celebrates his third birth­day.

Revitalize Damaged Toys

Wooden toys that have become dented and scratched can usually be rejuvenated in the following manner: If the toy's dent is shallow, remove the finish carefully with paint remover or paint thinner. Slowly let a few drops of water fall on the wood. The water will swell the compressed wood fibers so that they will return to their original position. The dent will then dis­appear. Sand down any excess swelling.

For toys that are more deeply scarred and gashed, remove the finish with odor­less thinner, then fill the holes with plastic wood. For this type of repairing, use a forefinger to smooth the plastic wood into place so it will harden to a flat, ready-to-paint surface.

In choosing paints for children's toys, be certain the enamel you choose is lead-free, because a young child automatically pops everything into his mouth. First wash the toys, let them dry thoroughly, cover a large flat surface with several thicknesses of newspapers, and begin. •

Lay unit (toy-bin desk, here) on laminate sheet and trace all around; actual cut goes outside line.

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