528 days ago
by TheGravedigger |
11 comments »
Well, it’s finally done. The workbench base is done and has been mated to the top.
I gave the finished base three coats of finish. The first was equal parts turpentine, BLO, & spar urethane. The next two were just BLO & spar urethane 50:50. All were applied with a rag & then rubbed dry like all finishes of this type. This gave me a good seal for the wood, and gloss wasn’t really a consideration. Yes, I know lots of folk will go for a proper finish, but I’...
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452 days ago
by USCJeff |
3 comments »
It’s been a while since I’ve put some things I’ve learned in writing. I like the idea of blogs as a type of woodworking journal. It seems I see a lot of cool tricks and tips in articles and forget them pretty quickly. I just got to the point in my woodworking self-education that I now understand that finishing is really what makes the difference b/w good projects and great projects. I’ve done a ton of experimenting over the last few weeks and had a wide range of re...
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177 days ago
by Eric |
7 comments »
From all the feedback I got on my end grain finishing problem, Kaleo had the biggest word (oxidization) so I think he’s right. :^) However, I couldn’t bring myself to apply his solution, which was to sand the box down and then to put a finer grit on the end grain. Actually, my wife instantly vetoed any solution which involved removing the finish I already had on it. She loves the box, and isn’t concerned about the flaws.
But I had to do something. So here’s what I d...
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178 days ago
by Al Navas |
4 comments »
From my latest blog entry,
First, my thanks to all who read my earlier entry, and sent me e-mail requesting a follow-up. Here is that follow-up, from my blog:====================================
In this episode I answer a question from Michael, on WoodNet:
Is there a difference in suntanning before or after applying the Waterlox? I noticed that you only applied one coat on 1/2 of the board but never showed the end result of the suntan.
And my reply was:
I currently have the tes...
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182 days ago
by Eric |
5 comments »
Okay, so I’m just about done. I’ve put the “last coat” on, and buffed it out with 00000 steel wool. Not too sure if I like it as is, or if I’ll add one more coat. It’s easy enough to do, so it’s no big deal.
But there’s one thing I’m unhappy about, and that’s the exposed end grain on the pins and tails. The end grain looks all dried out and kinda nasty. Check it out (click to enlarge):
I’m not sure how it got this way...
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192 days ago
by Eric |
2 comments »
Well, after my last post I decided to back up a step. I sanded down a bit with 360 grit, and then without thinking I wiped the whole thing down with mineral spirits to make sure the sawdust was all gone. About halfway through doing that, I realized that I was also stripping off whatever finish I had already had on the box (or at least much of it)! Hah. Oh well, could be worse, right?
So I went with Marc recommendation to use a straight wiping varnish with a 50/50 mixture of varnish (I boug...
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202 days ago
by Eric |
8 comments »
So I’m working on finishing my wife’s Mothers Day box. I went with Marc’s varnish/oil/mineral spirits blend (1 part each), but as I was applying the first coat I saw that there was something all solidified in my mixture, and it wouldn’t blend with the rest. I went ahead and finished the coat and emailed Marc for his take. He thought that maybe the varnish had already cured, so I went and bought some new varnish. No problems on this batch.
So after applying a second ...
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214 days ago
by gizmodyne |
6 comments »
Shellacin’I cleaned up 90% shop dust by vac and broom and then run the overhead air filter for a bit before finishing. I protected the workbench with plastic. The panels are raised up on scrap sticks. You can see a bottle of Transtint (Dark mission brown) in the foreground.
I add denatured alcohol to a container and then add the shellac to the consistency of a 1lb or so cut. Very thin.
I am padding on the shellac with a clean t-shirt scrap wrapped around another scrap. I also ...
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215 days ago
by gizmodyne |
8 comments »
I had a little more handwork to do on the Little Journey’s Bookstand. I fiddled with the tusks a bit.
I originally sanded the piece to 400 but decided to sand to 220 this time. The loose tenons/tusks took forever to sand and detail.
Fuming Time
I have always wanted to try this. Two years ago I had a student whose dad owned a blueprint shop. He gave me a large bottle of super strength ammonia. I had bought an ammonia respirator in preparation for the job.
I build a simple te...
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235 days ago
by Eric |
10 comments »
I have to admit, since I finished with the actual woodworking part of my wife's box, and presented it to her, I’ve barely thought about it. But the box isn’t finished yet (literally), so I’d better press on to the end.
So here’s my question for you: how would you finish the box? I was considering a simple 1:1:1 blend of boiled linseed oil, varnish and mineral spirits, as recommended by Marc Spagnuolo in one of his podcasts. That’s the finish I used on my Good ...
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