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Walnut chest renovation

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Project by Sawdust2 posted 2244 days ago 1267 views 2 times favorited 13 comments Add to Favorites Watch

I acquired a walnut credenza for free. Good news.
SWMBO does not like walnut. Bad news.
SWMBO has lots of artistic ability. Good news.
She wanted me to sand down the walnut top amd somehow stain or bleach it lighter.
I refused to do that with a Hunnert Dollar board. So I went to the local hardwood supplier and got some cherry, as that it what she told me she really wanted.
I had recently gone to a seminar by Peter Gedrys who told me all he knew about finishing wood and mixing colors. So I applied that knowledge, liiterally and actually, to the cherry.
Voila!
Oh, yeah. I sanded down the body of the cabinet, sprayed it with black milk paint, then sprayed it with a mixture of two differnt greens that SWMBO, the artist, mixed together and then we rubbed off parts of the green until we got just the right patina.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.




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13 comments so far

View Chip's profile

Chip

1904 posts in 2264 days


#1 posted 2244 days ago

Nice piece. I probably should already know this but what does SWMBO stand for if you don’t mind me asking?

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt!

View dennis mitchell's profile

dennis mitchell

3994 posts in 2485 days


#2 posted 2244 days ago

“she who must be obeyed”
Lee…painting Walnut what are you thinking! What do you think God made Poplar and Alder for. Sure it looks nice but…Walnut!

View Chip's profile

Chip

1904 posts in 2264 days


#3 posted 2244 days ago

Dennis, thanks for the info. And thanks for posting what my trembling hands just couldn’t bare to type! LOL. A beautiful piece Lee, but man oh man.

I’m thinking it needs to be changed to SWMBOEFWP (She Who Must Be Obeyed Except For Walnut Painting!)

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt!

View oscorner's profile

oscorner

4565 posts in 2482 days


#4 posted 2244 days ago

Good save on the walnut top. What are you going to make with it? A Thorsen table?

-- Jesus is Lord!

View Sawdust2's profile

Sawdust2

1467 posts in 2259 days


#5 posted 2244 days ago

You will notice the price.

I cried. I swore. I begged. But it really didn’t fit with the cherry hutch and dining room table that is just across the room from it. And it was FREE.

It was solid (real wood solid) walnut. The shelf was walnut. The shelf was put in with dadoes on the sides of the cabinet. (I tired to get that out and salvage it but no luck.)

I don’t have a close up of the top but the cherry was pretty mismatched color wise. I did that so I could really test what I had learned from Gedrys. Top turned out very even. Four different stains to get that rich deep color. Four coats of tung oil hand rubbed brought out a deep luster. You can see 3 feet down into that top.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

View Chip's profile

Chip

1904 posts in 2264 days


#6 posted 2244 days ago

Totally understandable Lee. And you did a beautiful job on that top. Thanks again for sharing.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt!

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

18320 posts in 2332 days


#7 posted 2244 days ago

and in the end you have a beautiful piece of furniture that will be around for a very long time!

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

View Karson's profile

Karson

34370 posts in 2572 days


#8 posted 2244 days ago

Good save Sawdust2

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

View Dick, & Barb Cain's profile

Dick, & Barb Cain

8681 posts in 2471 days


#9 posted 2244 days ago

Beautiful !!

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

View CharlieM1958's profile (online now)

CharlieM1958

14863 posts in 2389 days


#10 posted 2244 days ago

Very nice end result, but I’m with Dennis on painting walnut. If my SWMBO said “either the walnut goes or I go”, I’d tell her I’ll miss her. :-)

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

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

18320 posts in 2332 days


#11 posted 2244 days ago

ouch
hehehe

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

View Diane's profile

Diane

546 posts in 2294 days


#12 posted 2227 days ago

I love it, it looks so rich to me. It matches everything in the room and it was free those are big pluses to me. I can understand not wanting to paint walnut though. The flower arrangments are beautiful too.

Diane

View Beginningwoodworker's profile

Beginningwoodworker

13225 posts in 1844 days


#13 posted 1669 days ago

Thats a nice chest.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

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