Milk Paint DVD

My Popular Woodworking Milk Paint DVD has just come out.  While many paints hide the wood’s subtle surface quality or create a plastic looking finish, milk paint is an incredibly thin, natural-looking paint that allows every pore of the wood and every tool mark to shine.

The heart of this video is what I learned from Curtis Buchanan when I apprenticed with him: how to paint a black-over-red paint job (or other multi-colored paint surface). But I also did a lot of research for this video, learning how to make a viscosity measuring cup from a Pepsi bottle, how to make milk paint from scratch, trying different brands of paint and different painting techniques. I also explain how to identify fake milk paint, how to mix the paint, different brushing techniques, how to burnish the paint and apply a protective top coat, among other things.

Here’s an excerpt from the video, showing a couple decorative painting techniques:

And the trailer:

Here’s some photos from a recent photo shoot with Alec Himwich:

Curtis Buchanan was making a set of these Birdcage Barstools a couple years ago. We were developing a simpler method of assembling the backs of these chairs and I visited with him for a week and built this chair with him.

I love the textured surface that a spokeshave leaves on the underside of the seat, contrasting with the smooth top surface of the seat.

I stumbled on a 30″ walnut log laying in someones backyard a few years ago. They agreed to let me have the log in exchange for a couple stools. After two years of drying, I finally delivered these stools last month. They were thrilled.