Hands-On Finishing
with Mitch Kohanek & David Smith
October 20-24, 2025
$1,080.00
$995 tuition + $85 material fee
About This Workshop
This five-day hands-on finishing class is designed to help students understand which finishing schedule is best for their projects. The goal is to learn what it takes to create a beautiful, lasting, finish through a variety of finishing systems, which systems include changing the color of wood with dyes, stains, toners, and glazing techniques. Everyone will have the opportunity to apply these finishing systems of their choice to their assigned lab projects, and students are encouraged to bring small projects to finish during the week. Most of this class will be in the finish shop and not in the classroom. However, everyone will have enough classroom time to learn how to accurately apply finishes with predictable results. Students will learn to use hand-rubbed finishes such as a shellac, French polish, and brush on finishes as well as using spraying equipment. Once the coatings have been applied, adjusting the sheen using rub out techniques, and how to maintain your coating will be demonstrated. Mitch and Tim will teach how to solve common problems and fix finishing defects such as blotching, orange peel, brush marks, and fisheye, and how to achieve the ultimate finish. There will also be an introduction to the basics of color matching. Anyone who works with wood and enjoys its beauty will benefit from this class.
Key Points
- Six steps for a perfect finish
- Customize a wood finishing system for you
- Understand wood as a material
- Proper techniques for wood preparation
- Techniques for coloring wood
- How to choose and apply which finish to use
- Pre-conditioners, sealers, and grain pore fillers
- Understanding open and closed pore finishing
- Rub out and finish the finish
Mitch Kohanek
Interested in learning more about the instructor and their workshops?
David Smith
Interested in learning more about the instructor and their workshops?
Get all the details about our Full Week Programs, including Tuesday night presentations, by visiting the Full Week Programs page.
$1,080.00