Its been a while since I have updated this blog, but I have been working on the Credenza off and on. The problem is that there is not much to show for the work I have been doing on it lately. It hasn’t changed in appearance much since the last post. This is mostly because of all the sanding I’ve had to do. Hours and hours and HOURS of sanding. I’ve also spent days on all the final fitting, adjusting, aligning, and fussing with all of the parts and hardware to make sure it is actually ready for the finishing booth.
I decided a while back that I was not going to hand finish this piece. I will get it professionally finished. This decision is in part because I found the right finishing guy. But it is also just HUGE and I’d rather pay someone else to spray it than spend the next hundred years french polishing it myself.
Some of the following photos are in my old shop, before I moved into the new shop. Then I didn’t work on it for a while since I got sidetracked by the Freestanding Cabinet. And now, since I have to move again, I made the decision to get this thing DONE so it doesn’t go back to my tiny old shop.
Here are a few more photos that I snapped over the last few months:
Running the doors and drawer fronts through my Ryobi thickness sander at my old shop:
Many many many many many many many hours of hand sanding:
I cut a slot down the end-grain side of each door and drawer front:
These battens will be laminated into those slots to reinforce the solid panels and stabilize them to prevent warping:
Here the battens are getting glued in place on the table saw, since it is a perfectly flat surface. Shims are used to slightly hyper-extend the opposing high corners in the hopes that when it “relaxes” it will be flat.
The battens glued up:
And here they are trimmed:
Oh look, more sanding. Every outer surface of this Credenza has been polished to 600 grit. You can see your reflection in the figured Jatoba when it is done. A new trick I learned: after you sand to 220 grit with the random orbit sander, cut a circular piece of 600 grit paper a little bigger than the 220 disk. If your sander is connected to a vac hose, the suction plus the friction of the 220 disk will hold your 600 grit disk in place. It is surprising how well it works. So you can use your random orbit sander with any sandpaper you want!
I broke my big toe nail… nothing a little epoxy won’t fix. Luckily this was on the back side of a rear foot. I didn’t take an “after” photo but once it was sanded you could barely notice it.
I love this next photo… the Credenza on the lift. Man, what a luxury. It really made it easy for all the tedious fitting of hardware.
A did add a second vent for cross-ventilation (for the electronics) but I still need to order it.
Finally, when everything is trimmed and fits perfectly, it is disassembled and all of the hardware is removed in preparation for the finish shop.
Then It gets loaded up in my truck…
And off it goes!
My friend Don (who I have been sharing the shop space with) has helped me immensely over the past three weeks to complete this project while we still have our shop. THANKS A TON DON. Believe it or not, the above photos represent about 56 hours between the two of us.
Total building time so far: 146 hours.
-- Happy woodworking! http://www.blakeweber.us
14 comments so far
Beginningwoodworker
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13238 posts in 1869 days
#1 posted 894 days ago
Nice work.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
chrisstef
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5564 posts in 1202 days
#2 posted 894 days ago
I cant wait to see it shine once the finish is sprayed. Lookis like a lot of hard work has gone into that (money too).
-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty
Karson
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34394 posts in 2596 days
#3 posted 894 days ago
Nice looking Great tip on the sandpaper.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
Dennisgrosen
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10851 posts in 1311 days
#4 posted 894 days ago
I think we all are very excided to see this beautyfull piece
completly finished with finish ,hardware and installed in your home Blake
but next time you have to moove it , then remember a matress / formmatts under it
the blanket isn´t enoff to prevent marks if you meet an unseen bumb/hole on the road
take care
Dennis
SPalm
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4174 posts in 2078 days
#5 posted 894 days ago
Yowser Badowser !
Can’t wait till we see it with a finish.
Steve
-- -- I'm no rocket surgeon
Todd A. Clippinger
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8654 posts in 2295 days
#6 posted 894 days ago
Bearing witness to the growth of a woodworking artist…awesome:)
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://americancraftsmanworkshop.com
live4ever
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980 posts in 1206 days
#7 posted 893 days ago
oh boy oh boy oh boy…can’t wait for the finish! Wish there was a way you could have outsourced the sanding too, but it’s a labor of love I suppose. lol
-- Optimists are usually disappointed. Pessimists are either right or pleasantly surprised. I tend to be a disappointed pessimist.
lanwater
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2435 posts in 1130 days
#8 posted 893 days ago
I think it would look great when done.
mafe
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8081 posts in 1285 days
#9 posted 893 days ago
Look forward.
Best thoughts,
Mads
-- Mad F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect. Democraticwoodworking.
Thos. Angle
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4400 posts in 2158 days
#10 posted 893 days ago
Great stuff, Blake. WOW!!! To 600 grit???? That’s slick.
-- Thos. Angle, Jordan Valley, Oregon
matt garcia
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1739 posts in 1868 days
#11 posted 893 days ago
Nice job, Blake!! Can’t wait to see it finished!!
-- Matt Garcia Wannabe Period Furniture Maker, Houston TX
AaronK
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1366 posts in 1660 days
#12 posted 872 days ago
i like your idea of internal battens. they look good, dont stick out, and do an important job. something to remember when building solid panels.
yuri
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129 posts in 1799 days
#13 posted 871 days ago
Blake,
I have a question about battens glued into door and panels. How it is going to work against shrinking/expending with moisture changing? There are cross grain glued. What are your thoughts?
Blake
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3421 posts in 2070 days
#14 posted 870 days ago
Its so solid and that stuff is so dense its not going anywhere. My friend has been doing solid door panels that way for 40 years and they have held up.
-- Happy woodworking! http://www.blakeweber.us
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