Skip to main content - Acrylic - A family of synthetic resins made from acrylic acids.
- Adhesion - The ability of one material to stick to another.
- Alkyd - A family of synthetic resins made from organic acids, combined with oils and alcohols.
- Alligatoring - A reference to a certain failure in paint that looks similar to an alligator hide. Also known as checking.
- Binder - An ingredient or blend of ingredients in stain that holds the pigment particles together.
- Bleeding - A reaction in the stain or dye that causes the pigment to rise to the surface of the wood.
- Blushing - Trapped solvent or moisture in the finish that gives a white/grey cloud look to the coating. It can appear in spots or across the entire piece.
- Bridge - The ability of the coating to dry over a crack or void in the wood.
- Bubbles - The formation of air bubbles in the top of the finish
- Catalyst - An agent that is added to finish that causes a reaction in the coating. This reaction causes the finish to be more durable than without the catalyst.
- Checking - Small cracks or lines in the finish. Also known as alligatoring.
- Cold Checks - The cracking of a finish due to exposure to cold temperatures.Usually exposure happens before the finish has completely cured.
- Craters - The appearance of small holes or depressions in the finish. Also known as fisheyes.
- Crazing - Very fine lines or crystalline patterns in the finish usually caused by too much catalyst.
- Cross linking - The molecular reaction in a finish from adding catalyst that causes the finish to harden more than without added catalyst.
- Distressing - Intentionally marking, gouging or scratching a finish to give the piece an antique look.
- Dye - A type of color that soaks into the fibers of the wood instead of being left on top like pigment. Commonly used to evenly color wood before staining.
- Filler - A very heavy bodied, slow drying pigment used to fill in grain and create a flat, smooth surface to topcoat.
- Fish Eye - A small crater or depression in the finish. Often caused by silicone or oil contamination.
- Flatting Paste - An additive used to reduce the sheen or gloss of a finish.
- Flash Point - The temperature at which a finish will ignite when exposed to a flame.
- Flow-out - The ability of a liquid to level itself as it dries.
- Ford Cup - A brand of viscosity cup.
- Glazes - Slow setting heavy bodied pigment stains commonly used to accent grain or for other color accents like antiquing.
- Gloss - The sheen or reflectivity of a coating.
- HAPS - (Hazardous Air Pollutants Incompatibility) - The inability of one finish product to work with another product.
- Lacquer - A generic term for finishes using nitrocellulose as a main ingredient.
- Lifting - The separation of one coat from another often seen as "alligatoring" or checking".
- Mar - A scratch or rub mark on the finish.
- Mar Resistance - The ability of a finish to resist scratch or rub marks.
- Mil - One thousandth of an inch. 0.001.
- N.G.R. - (Non-Grain-Raising) - Usually refers to certain stains that do not raise the fiber of the wood when applied.
- Nitrocellulose - Lacquer's main ingredient. A very flammable material that has a tendency to yellow with exposure to sunlight.
- Opaque - The opposite of transparent. The hiding quality of a pigmented coating.
- Orange Peel - A rough finish surface reminiscent of an orange peel's texture.
- Pigment - The raw ground colorant used to give a stain its tone.
- Pinholes - Small holes in a finish.
- Primer - A specialized coating made for application to raw wood as a first step in a finishing process.
- Precats - A finish that arrives already catalyzed from the manufacturer.
- Reducer - Thinner.
- Sags - A ripple in the coating caused by excessive millage when sprayed. Usually seen on vertical surfaces.
- Sealer - An undercoat of finish who's function is to stop further absorption of successive coats into the wood, thus helping the successive coats to level.
- Stearate - An additive to the coating or to sandpaper that makes it sand easier.
- Substrate - The material or product to be coated.
- Toner - A pigmented sealer or topcoat reduction that is used to color certain areas of the wood over the existing stain, giving a uniform look to the stain.
- Topcoat - The final finish coat, usually a specific finish product designed to give better flow out and durability than the sealer coat.
- VHAPS - Volatile Hazardous Air Pollutants.
- Viscosity - The thickness of a coating in its liquid state.
- Viscosity Cup - A small cup used to measure the thickness of a coating.
- V.O.C. - (Volatile Organic Compound) - The solvent ingredients in a finish.
- Washcoat - A reduced finish that is applied over raw wood to reduce stain penetration, or over stains and fillers to promote adhesion of the next coat.
- Waterbase - A coating that uses water as the main vehicle for carrying the resins of a finish.
- Water White - A high grade of lacquer that shows very little amber tone when applied.
- Zahn Cup - A brand of viscosity cup.
