72 Hours of Woodworking #2: Days 2 and 3

To start off my 2nd free day I asked my wife if I could borrow her iron, oh the joy in her face when she thought I was actually gonna help out with the laundry…

Oh her dismay when she realized instead of helping out I was only going to cause her more work to cleanup after I used it for iron-on edging!

At least I didn’t ask her to help with the sanding. Biggest issue was the heat because I had to do it out in the sun and was dripping with sweat (which inevitably ended up on some of the pieces so I had to redo)

I have yet to stain a single piece of work (so far all painted or pressure treated for outside) and was looking forward to using it on this piece, however my mom wanted au natural and since these are shelves a good protective coat so I tried out MinWax Polycrylic and rolled the first coat since it dries fast (especially in 90+ with direct sunlight). Unfortunately the roller didn’t leave as smooth a coat as I sanded it even and went with a foam brush which went on much nicer but had to be applied at a break-neck speed.

A couple 2×4s laid across the rails make for a good drying bed

Day three went a bit bumpy because it was overcast, started to rain a couple times, and I left the camera inside!

I cut the support slats and finished the side pieces for the shelves. I then had to figure out what tools to pack since space was at a premium (driving 350 miles, leaving space for beach gear, and room for me to pickup a new dust collector on the way back).

Final results will be posted as a project later today.

-- Scott