"Rustic Business Card Holder" --by RusticWoodArt

As usual Frank, a wonderful job of combining form and function. Nice job.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Very nice Frank. A little bulky to carry around in your pocket But it would sure look good on a desk.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

From the first picture (before reading too far ahead) I thought this was a small 5 board bench looking box to keep the bus cards in! What a neat little project, what a great eye to see potential in what would normally be cast off in trying to get down to usable lumber.

Now about that bench in front of the piano. Is that a modified “5 board” (or perhaps six-board) bench, or is that one massive block for the seat?

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Frank your eye is blessed and you waste nothing and let nothing go to waste. You’re my kind of woodworker! It shows a beautiful cooperation between God’s creation and man’s manipulation.

-- Jesus is Lord!

Intresting contrast between the bench and the piano.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Yeah, he needs a more rustic piano.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Scott;—-the bench is a (6) board, 13’’ wide x 40’’ long and 22’’ high….finished with boiled linseed oil, after which I then applied shellac and then covered with six coats of brushed on varnish. This is one of the few pieces that I do that is not a ‘one of a kind’ since I also do accept commissions to reproduce this one.

Folks love this one and I am always receiving compliments about how I have left the saw mill marks of the blade in the wood. This one I call an “English Sitting Bench”.

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

—-Ha! I can’t do anything about the piano, it belongs to my wife and she rules and rocks the keyboard!
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Cool business card holder. I gave one to my Dad that has a rock inbedded into a piece of root wood. I’ll have to get a picute and post it. Great imagination, keep up the cool work.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

always exciting and inspirational to view your projects.
Nothing too small—- creating BIG beauty.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

How has it been to apply varnish over shellac? I have heard of it being done, but never tried it myself. I am wondering what benefit I would get by doing shellac and varnish rather than just varnish itself?

Still, a nice job Frank.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Hi Bill;
Well first of all you must understand that all that I do for finish on my ‘wood art’ is mostly done by hand, hand brushing and hand rubbing. I do not use the water base finishes as of yet, unless that is what the customer ask for and then I reserve the right to say no. In NH we still are able to use the oils and when that time comes of a different set of rules here, then I’ll probably make my own.

I can spray, but still I prefer to hand apply, when I do spray this is usually done to test finishes on pieces that I am doing and for small pieces of ‘wood art’ where I want to seal fast with lacquer.

That said, I like the use of shellac on wood, since it adds color=richness and shellac is so easy to touch up, should that need arise in the pieces future and then also, shellac dries so fast that you can do many coats in one day. I use varnish on top of shellac to give the surface of the wood added protection and durability. I know that there are places where you can buy shellac with hardners already added in, but that route is one that I have chosen to not take. Shellac by itself needs to be cut with denatured alcohol and then when the alcohol is evaporated what is left is pure shellac=natures best. I use shellac by choice since this fits in with the nature, character and age period of the ‘wood art’ I produce.

Any more questions ask away….
Thank you for your comments and questions.
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Frank:

Is your shellac blonde or some of the darker shades? And do you use dewaxed shellac so that you can put a topcoat on it?

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Hi Karson;
I have used most often, orange//amber and then there are the blondes and garnet, also I like especially color tinting and shading to my own wants.

One can use the flakes, however over the years I have found it just as easy to use premixed such as Zinsser Bulls Eye Shellac and then cut to a 1-1/2 lb.cut. These can be done in multiple coats and many over the course of a day. Then allow to dry fully. One can then apply one or two coats of Zinsser Bulls Eye Seal Coat Universal Sanding Sealer. The Seal Coat is already premixed at a 2 lb. cut and is also 100% wax free.

Over the years, (20 or so) I and others in finishing have talked and debated about waxed and de-waxed, mixing flakes, using premixed and not stirring so the wax settles and then decanting or pouring off the top and topcoating with varnish and polys and in all the talking I have learned that proper preparation is the best course of action. This is one of the reasons I do so many test pieces, I have test pieces of wood all over that are labled with what went on them and then I am always playing with new scenarios on them and in all this I am still learning. I have used waxed shellac under varnish and polys and I have never seen a bonding failure, but then I always practice ‘preparation’ which means proper scuffing of all the previous surface finish and I believe that ‘preparation’ is the key.

Having said all this, it still remains that even with the use of de-waxed shellac under varnish and not understanding and practicing ‘proper preparation’, you will still run the risk of bonding failure. The lack of preparation of any wood surface before first application of finish and the lack of ‘proper preparation’ in between coats has to my estimation probably caused more bonding failures then all the time spent in trying to save some time by cutting ‘preparation corners’.

Now again having said that, I have found that by applying Zinsser Bulls Eye Seal Coat Universal Sanding Sealer, as a pre-finish bond coat, over the pre-mixed waxed is a sure fine way to go. And then again you can always use the flakes and go with de-waxed.

If I am not using a topcoat of varnish then I always go with the waxed shellac.

Still liking shellac after all these years!!!
Thank you for your question and comment Karson.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Frank: On my cradles I used Danish oil to bring out the grain patterns then I used Zinsser Orange shellac to mellow out the cherry and the walnut, usually sprayed. It is a waxed shellac.

I then sand to get them smooth and do a top coat of Zinsser Sanding sealer in a 1/2 and 1 ib cut for a French Polish.

A Zinsser representative from their New Jersey office used to come to all of the woodworking shows in New Jersey and PA. His name was Gene last name ??. He gave me some samples of their sanding sealer when they came out. One time I took an empty can to him and asked him to fill it up, He gave me another quart.

They are good people. They were test marketing an orange French Polish but it never made it to market, only the clear version. I called him up and asked him why. He replied that their testing showed that the Amber Shellac turned purple in high heat. What might happen is transportation across the US desert area.

I’ve not noticed any problems with what I’m doing.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Well purple might be a new in color this year..never know.

Thanks for the lesson Frank. I am sure I will be asking for more finish lessons soon. I do not like the way my finishes turn out. I am looking on ways to improve it. It is good to know what other experienced people have done to make such great looking finishes.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

I’m looking to move on from the off-the-shelf stains and poly (the typical HD fare). I may have to go to finishing school – all this talk of finishes is making my head spin!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/