Finishing options

The Switch Cab Mini is made from a 100% real tree wood with a proper grain in so it can be finished in pretty much anything made for that purpose. That means you can use wood dyes and stains, oils, waxes or pretty much any kind of paint you want including regular household emulsion (the little tester rollers available in Wicks, B&Q and Wilcos etc work great and come with their own applicator so there is no clean up.

No.1 – The Natural

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Ok, so if you really want to totally au naturale you can just leave it completely unfinished. The cabs are made from quality Birch plywood so unless you live in a super humid or hostile environment it should look fine for years and years. You might want to give it a light sanding with 180 grit just to really smooth out the grain and make it feel silky to the touch but you really don’t have to.

However if you really want to bring out the grain and add a subtle touch of class a light coat of Danish Oil or Furniture Wax will really bring out the luster.

My personal recommendation would be Danish oil which despite the name is not actually oil. It’s a light varnish mixed with lots of thinner which you just wipe on with a cloth and allow to soak into the grain before wiping off the excess. It’s ridiculously easy to apply, dries super quickly and you can vary the final finish by simply adjusting the amount of coats you apply. 1 or 2 coats will give you a flat/matt finish that lifts the grain without being too shiny. Adding more coats will increase the shine and luster but you may need to sand and polish it if you want a really high gloss, lacquered look.

Danish oil can also be painted on or drawn on with sharpies, makes a great base for stickers, applying Mod Podge or decals. It works really well over stains and dyes or you can use it to seal drawings or stickers applied to the bare wood.

Other things you could use are …

• Shellac
• Lacquer (Cellulose or Acrylic)
• Varnish
• Sanding sealer
• Teak Oil
• Tung Oil

No.2 – Splash of Colour

Now if you don’t really fancy yourself as much of an artist but would like to add some colour to proceedings I have a few suggestions.

If you like to see the woodgrain you can either use a wood stain, which usually come in quite boring (brown) colours but offer an element of protection to the wood as well meaning you may not have to add any further finish on top.

Wood dyes generally come in a much more exiting colour selection and soak deep into the wood giving a really rich yet translucent finish. Dye’s do require a sealing coat so you will have to apply Danish oil, Wax or lacquer over the top but man, watch that colour pop when you do.

If you are not a fan of Wood and want something a bit more opaque, normal household emulsion works really well. Paint your cab to match your Living room or bedroom. Also works really well for doing simple designs such as stripes or stencils.

Spray paint will also work fine but you might want to use a sanding sealer first to fill the grain if you want a smooth finish and if you really want to go to town you could also lacquer, wet sand and polish for a true “Custom Auto” high gloss finish just like a nice car

No.3 – Adding Graphics

So if you want something more custom or Arcadey looking you might want to add some graphics. There are quite a few ways to achieve this depending on the effect you are after how much effort vs money you want to put in. You could get someone to print some custom graphics for you to apply using the deign templates here, or if you like a craft project and don’t mind investing a little bit of time and effort I can show you how to get pretty much exactly the same results, if not better just using an inkjet printer, mod podge and Danish oil by clicking here.

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• Natural
• Stains & Dyes
• Paint
• Decals
• Wrapping
• Burning
• Drawing