If you've ever worked with wood, you might know how satisfying the finishing process can be. Assuming, well, you've worked with actual wood... Pine and cedar is fine for building, but it's not wood, it's kindling. I'm talking about putting that first coat of oil across a crazy chunk of birds eye maple or walnut. Burled or not, it's almost always incredible. As if the wood is dead and lifeless, and you've somehow pulled Lazarus out of a paint can. It's amazing.

The 3-D cutting boards obviously satisfy the most for the instant, but the glow of a dark hardwood could be the end-all, be-all of self gratification in a job well done. If you don't work with wood and would like to try sometime, start with non-attractive woods like pine and poplar. They're nothing to look at, but they also aren't $20 per foot.

Also, while we're on the subject, the skill of finishing wood is at an all time low. Why are people so quick to reach for poly and lacquer? I know lacquer dries really quick and is relatively hard, but it's just a coating. You're burying your wood. And poly is just criminal. You know that's just plastic deluded into thinner right? You literally putting plastic on your wood. What happened to the good old days of hand rubbed oil and wax? The market is currently full of fantastically easy products to use, but most are just "used" to reaching for the sub-par products because that's the way they've always done it. You want to make better projects? Use better products.

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