Here is a shot with one base assembly (right) finished with the wax. The other is not (left)

Booooooooooring.
After finishing the base and the underside of the top, I turned my attention to the top of the top.

I began with two coats of de-waxed shellac (Zinser Seal-Coat)

Here you can see the raw wood vs. sealed.

Watch a really boring video of me shellacing. Witness my careful maneuvers with the shellac pad. Warning: slow action.

Sapwood!
There were two prominent sapwood streaks to deal with.

When you fume with ammonia the sapwood is not affected. I ordered a different dye from Tools for Woodworking

It is relatively close to Actual Fumed oak, though it could use a little brown. I bought a couple of other colors but have not mixed them yet. Any who. Here is the sapwood with a little dye. It is not possible to totally disguise it. I just wanted to reduce the contrast. If you add too dark a dye it will bleed into the surrounding areas. One way to deal with this is to tint all of the shellac so that the entire piece has the dye’s tone. I was not willing to alter the color of the entire table. I add the dye to a little shellac and then paint it on the sapwood. I carefully wipe the borders.

Top Coast
I used my stash of Minwax Wipe-On Poly for the top coat. It is a satin but still fairly Glossy. Also, you can’t get it anymore in Los Angeles County due to VOC regulations. It is easy to apply and looks nice with added protection.

After three coats of the poly I rubbed the top with steel wood and then a cloth. Finally the Walnut wax which tones down the poly and adds more brown to the top.

Inspector
We have been debating the sheen of the piece. Here is the boss inspecting the table.

Next time
Project post once I get someone to help me haul it to the dining room.

I will be attaching the top with countersunk lag screws.

The holes are over sized to handle movement. The screws will only bite into the top.

I put the base together to test it.

I built a large tent this time from plywood strips and extra bender board left over from the garden.

Here is a shot of the table going into the tent.

Suited up for ammonia.

Here are the test pieces. Left to Right: After four hours with no finish, with Boiled Linseed Oil, 6 hours with BLO

It has been humid here, so I waited a few days for the air to dry out. I use a first coat of very thin shellac.
Here is a shot with one leg assembly first coated.

Wet top.

After all parts coated once.

The colors are very different in the florescent lights. Here is a shot with natural light and the flash.

Next time : a little dye and blending? More shellac, poly for the top, wax…

If you are interested. My SketchUp model of “The Craftsman” Tabouret available here

Try playing with the styles menu.
My Craftsman Style

Sketchy Lines

X-Ray view

I drew the Hall Chair pictured in the book.

It is very Limbert in style.
This was hard for me to sketchup due to that angles. If anyone has any good advice about how to do cutouts in an angled piece please let me know.

I have been playing more with Sketchup Styles and animations. See more animation here. Music by me. If I sold furniture this would be a neat way to demonstrate to a customer.

I geared up today to finish the table that was started three years ago. I began by reviewing all of the original plans. Starting with the book “The Furniture of Gustav Stickley” by Joseph J. Bavaro & Thomas L. Mossman.

This book is a great Stickley starter book for furniture making.

I modified the original table by making it shorter in length. My old style drawings…..

I also wanted to try a few new things in SketchUp that I had learned over at the Fine Woodworking Design Click Build Blog

Here is my rendering complete with a Sketchy Lined watermark

I also tried tying some scenes together in an animation. We will see if I can get it to post here.

If not here is the link

Erasing the Past
All of the parts have been in storage in my office for a long time. I originally sanded the base parts to 400 but they have gotten some damage, and I have discovered that I like to finish the oak at 220 so back they go.

I took a closer look at the through tenon and noticed I have some clean up to do. But I also thought, clever me, I put a dowel through the end of the tenon to prevent slitting before mortising. It is only visible from the underside. Someone must have told me to do that.

My buddy Juan came over and we muscled the table top into the shop. It is so heavy at 1 1/2” x 42” x 78”.

Some genius (me) had stained the entire top by using it before it was finished.
Cereal bowl stain.

Water stains and my pencil marks for sanding.

It took an entire album (Vampire Weekend) to sand the top to 80 grit. I went cross grain slowly, then with the grain, and then hand sanded lightly.
Halfway.

One side

Inspecting with light.

The flip side was not as messed up, so it only took about 2/3 of an album (Radiohead – In Rainbows).
It has the main piece of wood from Grandpa's Box
Great knots, so we will have to decide which side to use…. Hmm..

This side has a nice pattern write up the middle but the other side has better ray flecks.

Next time.. More grits and I visit a professional finisher to see how he does it.

After the shellac coats dried the top looked like this.

The product I am using is a dark brown wax, but I think I may have added a little black dye to it sometime back.

I am pretty aggressive with the wax, since my point is to get it into the pores. I have tried squeezing it out from the center of a rag, but I’m not a fan.

As it hazes over you can see that the pores of the wood are now tinted black and that swirl marks are visible.
Some advise to go with the grain to avoid these marks, but I just inspect and buff them out later.

I keep a rag in both hands during buffing to avoid putting marks on the finish.

After buffing it looked like this.

If you have not seen the final project it is posted here

Another coat and some rubbing and I am ready to post.

Panel
I picked stock for the panel lid and resawed it to around 3/8”.

Yesterday I bought a new blade for cutting the miter keys. I did not have a flat ground blade and wanted one for the miter keys. I used it for cutting the panel grooves and a little ripping. Nice so far.


I offset the groove so that I can rabbet the bottom of the panel later.

The mitering setup.

I rabbeted the panel from 1/4” stock.

Inlay
I have never done inlay before. I have watched it done on t.v. so what the heck. Go for it.
Surgical instruments set out.

Etching the outline of part one. Inlay stock held with double sided tape.

Darkening the lines.

Tiny router bit. This takes concentration.

Cleaning up the lines.

Part one done.

Layout for part 2.

Picture Story…...


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There were a few tiny gaps I wanted to fill. I taped off the area.

I mixed up CA glue and walnut dust to fill the voids.

Finished Inlay

Glue Up
I sanded the panel before glue up. I am getting into taped glue ups. Easy. I put spacers in to get the panel to sit correctly. I glued a drop on the middle of the ends of the panel to keep them in place and allow for a bit of expansion.

Finally, weighing down the panel so the glue drops hold.

Next up. Keys for the panel. Rabetting. Sanding. Finish.

I volunteered to make an urn for his ashes. The memorial is on Saturday, so I am on a timetable.

Take One
I read Gary Rogowski’s great Fine Woodworking article on mitered boxes and then SketchedUp a basic plan based on the size of box that the memorial home requested.

I originally intended to make the box from a pine board I got at Grandpa’s house.

I chewed it up with my initial attempts to make the mitered box.

So I invested some time making two jigs. A miter sled and a cradle for cutting miter keys based on the article.
Take Two
I picked out a board from the stash. Quartersawn white oak.

The box dry fit. 6” x 10” x 5.5” inches tall. 1/4” bottom.

I sanded and pre-finished the inside and bottom of the box with shellac.

Once it was taped on three corners I opened the box and applied the glue.

Taped and Clamped up.

Keys
After the box dried overnight, I planned out the miter key pattern. They are placed an inch from top and bottom and directly in the middle. Time to run the cradle.

I planed walnut down to 1/8”, ripped it, and busted out the dozuki.

Dry fitting the keys

I applied glue with a toothpick.

You can see my favorite knot here. Gnarly.

A little persuasion to get the keys to sit.

The keys are set and drying here.

A couple hours later I sawed the keys down.

I planed down the keys with a block plane. After two corners I decided to call it quits till tomorrow.

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 used a glue brush and a larger brush.

I work from the middle out to the ends to avoid over collecting on the ends.

After one coat (Still wettish)

When the first coat and on are dry I sand with my little worn spongy sanding block to knock down the dust nibs /level the surface. You can do this with very worn sandpaper too. If I have nothing else I take a piece of 320 and rub it against itself to break the grit down to a softer texture.

I feel the grit of the finish with my hand and then sand very lightly until It feels smooth. The goal is to remove that grit feeling and nothing more.

Tint it
On the second and so on coats I added the dark brown dye to the shellac to add a little more color to the project.

Shot with final coat of tinted shellac

Finally I tackled the sapwood by adding a few more drops of the dye to the shellac. The sapwood lacks that tanins that enact color change via fuming. (By the way I find the liquid dye WAY easier to work with than the powdered).

I brushed the concentrated color/shellac mixture onto the sapwood only.

Before:

Brushing Shellac/Dye..

After blending with my shellac pad..

Better I think.

Dry time
I really want to finish this, but I am going to wait a few days to let the shellac cure before I wax it.

This one’s for you Lee… Watch the shellac dry.

Next time Wax