Bookcase for Office

Despite the aversion to stain, apparently a nice match to the desk.

-- Earle Wright, Lenoir City, Tennessee

Charlie,

You did a good job here. It can be challenging to match another piece or furniture because it has been “stained” by time and this is a tough one to color match with a new piece. But with regards to finishing a piece it should take at least as long as the construction. So while it takes a lot of effort, it is well worth it in the end.

You did well.

Thanks for the post.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Charlie,
Anyway it is a nice bookcase and it does exactly what you made it for. Good Job!

I don’t see anything wrong with it. Progress not perfection… I couldn’t help but notice you have the Campus cutie on the corner of your desk, better not let your wife catch that or you’ll be in the doghouse!

-- --Chuck

Ahem….. the campus cutie would be my daughter, who, by the way, chose to go to college in NEW YORK CITY instead of HERE for FREE!!! Now you got me started, Chuck. <g>

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Charlie Great Job. Nice looking bookcase.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Nice bookcase and you can’t really tell that you hate staining. ;^)

-- If we learn from our mistakes, I'm getting a fantastic education.

You have made a very matching bookcase for your office in a very short time. The reflection of the wall in the top of the bookcase shows the quality of the work.
Sharad

-- patanjali

Good looking bookcase. I hate staining also. That’s why I don’t do it anymore. I always use water
based dye now.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Gary, I’ve been saying I’m going to try that. I was looking at a selection of analine dyes in the Lee Valley catalog the other day, and I’ve made up my mind to include some on my next order.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Hi Charlie

Your bookcase looks good to me. You did a nice job on it. There is a guy in my church group that has a restitution/finishing business. I am seriously thinking about having him doing some of my finishing on big jobs and painted cabinets.

I didn’t even see your daughters picture. I was busy looking at the trolley cars. We just sold a trade card on Ebay advertising a trolley car manufacture. Thanks for posting.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

Hey Charlie… This looks good to me! Pretty nice…

I refurbished the desk that I’m typing on now about nine and a half years ago, and I had the same problem. Once I got all the old finish off, I noticed that it was several different types of wood. Not having much money (or knowledge) at the time, I couldn’t afford (or didn’t know about) a lot of special alternatives. So, I bought a big can of Minwax Red Mahogany stain and more or less “painted” on the stain without wiping it off. I still got woodgrain, but it was all one color. (I’m sure your cringing, stay with me.) I found that without wiping the stain off, you couldn’t put poly on it or it would dissolve and run. SOOO… I used an areasol spray poly to seal it (without disturbing the “painted on” stain) and then I used multiple coats of wipe on poly after that. I thought FOR SURE that the fiinish was going to get destroyed and chipped because of the way that I did it (not wiping off the heavily applied stain), but it’s almost ten years old and the project still looks great. It has some minor scrapes and scuffs around the legs, but the finish has held up surprisingly well, AND, I got a really nice, consistant, even stain color over all the woods. Someday if I ever have to redo it again, I’ll do it correctly, but so far it’s worked out good.
(I hope I don’t get put in “Bad Technique Prison” for that).. lol..

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

Actually, Steve, that is kind of what I did on the top. I applied one coat of stain and wiped it off the traditional way. The next day I did another coat with a foam brush and just let it sit for 24 hours. When I came back with wipe-on poly, some stain came off on the rag, but the finish stayed pretty dark.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Looks good to me.

-- Terry Roswell, L.A. (Lower Alabama) "Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans."

Charlie
I don’t know what your talking about it looks good to me. I am talking about the bookcase and not your daughter lol
Bruce

-- Canadian Wood Chuck (Bruce)

looks great charlie , and it serves its purpose . well done

-- if you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes

This really has fantastic grain to highlight it. Good work.

-- Maplewood, MN

Thanks everybody!

Watch your step, Bruce. Down south here, just making jokes like that can lead to a shotgun wedding!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"