New Course: Colour and Lacquering Masterclass

Most of us finish a piece with oil or wax, and both do a good job. A surface can be taken a great deal further than that, and it is what our new class is all about.

The Colour and Lacquer Masterclass

A full day taking a piece from bare wood through to a deep gloss.

The morning is at the lathe, turning a large sycamore spindle and hollowing part of it. Sycamore is pale and close-grained, which is what colour wants underneath it. You choose a dye from the eleven shades in the Intrinsic Colour Collection, and if the morning goes to plan the piece is sealed before we break for lunch.

The afternoon is given over to the lacquer. You build the coats, you wait between them, and you cut back with abrasive paste until the gloss is deep enough to see into.

The kit comes home with you. Sanding sealer, lacquer, two pots of True Grit paste and a respirator, all used on the day and yours afterwards, because there is little point learning a finish you then cannot apply at home.

You will get the most from it if you are comfortable turning a spindle safely. No experience of colour or spraying is needed.

Saturdays, five places, £229 including lunch. The first date is Saturday 10 October 2026.

One question I know will come, so here is the answer early. This finish suits decorative work. For a bowl that will hold food I would still reach for Danish Oil.