# Woodwhisperer Poker Chip Tray



## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

*Working Out the Design & a Trip to the Cutoff Bin*

Hey everyone…
A while back I built a hold'em poker table for a friend of mine  
and recently I was invited to a game at his house. When he brought out the poker accessories he had these real nice clay poker chips in a metal briefcase. I thought how nice it would be to have some wood trays that matched the table. I remember seeing an article in a Woodcraft magazine (Mar '07) by Marc Spagnuolo AKA" The Wood Whisperer" for some nice wooden chip trays. I dug up the article and they seemed perfect…great looking, easy to execute and stackable. The article was detailed enough to build from, but of course I can't nail 2 boards together without doing a few Sketchup/Podium renders…and I wanted to monkey with a different look. After a little brainstorming I came up with this.

I am putting a link below each pic to the full size image…. 640×480 just dosn't do these justice!

Here is a basic look at the tray. I kept all of Marc's dimensions and proportions. I threw in this view and the exploded view with dimensions in case anyone out there doesn't have the magazine and wants to build one of these. I am using hard maple and walnut.



http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/fella77/e5950b2a.jpg

Heres an exploded view of all the individual segments and their sizes. I had the guy at the hardwood dealer plane everything oversize so I don't have to sweat the glue ups as much..I will just plane or sand them to finished width of 1"



http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/fella77/04f8f4b6.jpg

All these images were drawn in Sketchup and then rendered in Podium. Podium doesn't recognize line work or text so to get the line work and text into the image, I had to use a 2D export of the hidden view and combined it with my rendered image in photoshop. I was trying to get a mix between photo real render, and industrial illustration..



http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/fella77/335cec85.jpg

A trip to the local hardwood dealer a mile from my house that has a wall of cutoffs and deals yielded all the wood I will need to make the 5 chip trays that my friend needs ( he has slightly under 500 chips). The walnut I got from the scrap bin ("scrap sounds so harsh..I like "undersized stock" better) is allot darker than the brown in these renders..it's almost black..



http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o190/fella77/30ed76f9.jpg
Basically the procedure is rip all my pieces to exact widths, glue up my blanks for the tops and bottoms without the 2 end pieces of walnut. After the glueup, I size the blanks to finished dimensions. Then I clamp together a "top" and "bottom" lay out the hole pattern then bore the 40mm holes. Then I mate up two pieces of walnut for the end pieces and bore a 1" hole in those. Then I glue the end pieces onto my tops/bottoms and round over the edges. I am thinking a few sprayed coats of catalyzed lacquer for these…no stain. I just realized I didn't include the shallow grooves routed over each row so they can be stacked securely with the tops off…DOAH!


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## CorporalWilly (Jan 7, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Working Out the Design & a Trip to the Cutoff Bin*
> 
> Hey everyone…
> A while back I built a hold'em poker table for a friend of mine
> ...


Wow Dave, that is cool. Some of the casinos around here should see those. Why don't you try sending some pictures to them? You never know buddy. bye for now.


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## toddc (Mar 6, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Working Out the Design & a Trip to the Cutoff Bin*
> 
> Hey everyone…
> A while back I built a hold'em poker table for a friend of mine
> ...


This will be a great addition to a great project. The table is definitely top-shelf! I can tell that this will be as well.


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## Taigert (Nov 20, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Working Out the Design & a Trip to the Cutoff Bin*
> 
> Hey everyone…
> A while back I built a hold'em poker table for a friend of mine
> ...


That is going to make some nice tray's it will go great with the table.


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## thewoodwhisperer (Dec 11, 2006)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Working Out the Design & a Trip to the Cutoff Bin*
> 
> Hey everyone…
> A while back I built a hold'em poker table for a friend of mine
> ...


I can't wait to see these come together. I love the alternating stripes!


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## Grumpy (Nov 9, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Working Out the Design & a Trip to the Cutoff Bin*
> 
> Hey everyone…
> A while back I built a hold'em poker table for a friend of mine
> ...


Great blog David & nice table.


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## chiptalk (Sep 15, 2009)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Working Out the Design & a Trip to the Cutoff Bin*
> 
> Hey everyone…
> A while back I built a hold'em poker table for a friend of mine
> ...


This is one of the most beautiful chip racks I've seen, nice work. I've seen a lot of them, I am the owner of the Pharaoh's Club poker chips in the finished image.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Working Out the Design & a Trip to the Cutoff Bin*
> 
> Hey everyone…
> A while back I built a hold'em poker table for a friend of mine
> ...


Cool blog


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## Morneplaine (Dec 15, 2015)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Working Out the Design & a Trip to the Cutoff Bin*
> 
> Hey everyone…
> A while back I built a hold'em poker table for a friend of mine
> ...


very cool love it


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

*Bad blades, lots of strips, and not enough clamps...*

So I finally started doing some ripping last week. I got my 40T blade sharpened, and I threw together a half ass thin strip ripping jig. The results of that was five pieces that when placed together you could read an eye chart through the gaps between them ! The maple was difficult to push through the saw and I was getting awful saw blade marks and really rough edges, not to mention that my thin strip jig was binding up on the maple. So frustrated, I grabbed my credit card and was determined to remedy the situation. 5 days later, there was a brand new Forrest WWII thin kerf tablesaw blade (review Here) and a thin strip rip jig (review here). So after getting the blade mounted and the saw adjusted I got to work stripping up my material's.



The Forrest produced perfect edges for gluing and the jig worked great to make the pieces consistent. So once I got all my pieces cut I started doing glue ups. Here is a shot of the first "half" in the clamps.
 I used a glue roller to apply the glue quickly and evenly. I also sandwiched the glue up between two pieces of scrap maple to help distribute the clamp pressure. I put aside the outside walnut strips..they don't go on till after all the holes get bored. Here is three "half's" drying in the clamps

Unlike Marc who owns more clamps than anyone I know, I can only do three glue ups at once. I am actually going to use only the Bessy's from now on. They have such nice even clamping pressure and the jaws stay parallel to each other. They are just so much easier to use than the pipe clamps. Sure they are more expensive…but you get what you pay for. Here is a shot at all the other "half's" waiting their turn in the clamps.

So, once I get the glue ups done I will be paying a visit to my old employer, to "borrow" his wide belt sander. The half's are all around 1 1/4" thick now. I will wide belt them down to 1" and they will be nice and flat and consistant in thickness.


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## saddlesore (Oct 17, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Bad blades, lots of strips, and not enough clamps...*
> 
> So I finally started doing some ripping last week. I got my 40T blade sharpened, and I threw together a half ass thin strip ripping jig. The results of that was five pieces that when placed together you could read an eye chart through the gaps between them ! The maple was difficult to push through the saw and I was getting awful saw blade marks and really rough edges, not to mention that my thin strip jig was binding up on the maple. So frustrated, I grabbed my credit card and was determined to remedy the situation. 5 days later, there was a brand new Forrest WWII thin kerf tablesaw blade (review Here) and a thin strip rip jig (review here). So after getting the blade mounted and the saw adjusted I got to work stripping up my material's.
> 
> ...


OK, so I'm hooked…........


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## gizmodyne (Mar 15, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Bad blades, lots of strips, and not enough clamps...*
> 
> So I finally started doing some ripping last week. I got my 40T blade sharpened, and I threw together a half ass thin strip ripping jig. The results of that was five pieces that when placed together you could read an eye chart through the gaps between them ! The maple was difficult to push through the saw and I was getting awful saw blade marks and really rough edges, not to mention that my thin strip jig was binding up on the maple. So frustrated, I grabbed my credit card and was determined to remedy the situation. 5 days later, there was a brand new Forrest WWII thin kerf tablesaw blade (review Here) and a thin strip rip jig (review here). So after getting the blade mounted and the saw adjusted I got to work stripping up my material's.
> 
> ...


Great post. Keep em coming.


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## CorporalWilly (Jan 7, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Bad blades, lots of strips, and not enough clamps...*
> 
> So I finally started doing some ripping last week. I got my 40T blade sharpened, and I threw together a half ass thin strip ripping jig. The results of that was five pieces that when placed together you could read an eye chart through the gaps between them ! The maple was difficult to push through the saw and I was getting awful saw blade marks and really rough edges, not to mention that my thin strip jig was binding up on the maple. So frustrated, I grabbed my credit card and was determined to remedy the situation. 5 days later, there was a brand new Forrest WWII thin kerf tablesaw blade (review Here) and a thin strip rip jig (review here). So after getting the blade mounted and the saw adjusted I got to work stripping up my material's.
> 
> ...


Right tools for the right job used by the right man!


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## croessler (Jun 22, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Bad blades, lots of strips, and not enough clamps...*
> 
> So I finally started doing some ripping last week. I got my 40T blade sharpened, and I threw together a half ass thin strip ripping jig. The results of that was five pieces that when placed together you could read an eye chart through the gaps between them ! The maple was difficult to push through the saw and I was getting awful saw blade marks and really rough edges, not to mention that my thin strip jig was binding up on the maple. So frustrated, I grabbed my credit card and was determined to remedy the situation. 5 days later, there was a brand new Forrest WWII thin kerf tablesaw blade (review Here) and a thin strip rip jig (review here). So after getting the blade mounted and the saw adjusted I got to work stripping up my material's.
> 
> ...


Nice job… I just received my first Bessey K-body clamps for Fathers day…


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

*Making progress...and lots of chips!*

Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..

Where I last left you, I had gotten all the strips glued up into blanks. I had to wait about a week or so, to take a day off and pay a visit to my old boss and his wonderful wide belt sander. Sorry but I didn't take any pictures of the process but it went something like this… The trays were only 10" long, and you cant put anything through the sander thats smaller than 16", so I butted each tray end to end and sent them through. I fished a piece of long scrap out of the scrap bin that was the same starting thickness as my trays and sent that in after the last piece at the end. I also wasn't going to be able to feed and catch the pieces as they emerged from the sander, so I set up a piece of MDF on some horses and the pieces dropped nicely on it. I had to remove a considerable amount of material ( I was 1/4" over) so I loaded a 60 grit belt and that made quick work of the uneven edges and excess glue. Then I kept sanding all the way to a final thickness of 1", changing belts as I went for a final grit of 120. Here are some shots of the sanded pieces…



I love that wide belt sander..the blanks are perfectly flat and sanded nicely to 120..


I don't' have a drill pres so I ventured over to my buddies cabinet shop to use his ( it pays to know allot of people who own cabinet shops!). I ended up cutting my blanks to length on his RAS. Honestly, I should have waited till I got home..I ended up with some tearout..the blade isn't the greatest in that RAS, and at home I have a 12" Makita SCMS with a pretty nice blade in it and a zero clearance insert.



Once the blanks were all cut to length, I then cut the walnut pieces to the same size. I was using a stop, so everything would be the same length. I then clamped the matched blanks together and clamped that to the drill press table and bored my 40 mm holes. I bought a brand new carbide tipped forstner bit and it payed off. I cut through the blanks like butta…no burning at all!



The drill press I was using was a little old..I think it had a bit of a run-out problem cause the holes weren't perfectly straight..but nothing I couldn't' clean up with some sanding. I then set up the walnut pieces for boring. Marc's method was to tape the two pieces together….I forgot that, so i just did it like this..



I apologize for the crappy picture…that was with my cell phone. Here is a couple shots of the raw pieces, not yet sanded…





Now it was time to really put the oscillating spindle sander I got for Xmas to work..



I was using the standard 80 grit sleeve that came with the sander, but I went to Home Depot and despite what I had read in the blogs, they offer a replacement pack of 80 grit sleeves in all the sizes, but heres the good part..it also has a full set of 120 grit sleeves as well!





After thoroughly sanding the holes to 120, it was time to glue on the outside strips. After marking all the pieces so they would line up properly I started glueing..





Heres some trays out of the clamps and waiting for the next operation..



Heres a close up. Still got allot of sanding to do..



OK, so next operation will be rounding over the outside edges, and then routing a shallow groove over each chip slot, top and bottom so they can be stacked when the covers are off. So hopefully in the next episode that will be where were at!


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## CanadianWoodChuck (Sep 8, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


Looking good - whens the next game?


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## Betsy (Sep 25, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


Those look good. I've been thinking this might be a good project to make for my boss's Christmas gift. I've enjoyed the blog.


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## thewoodwhisperer (Dec 11, 2006)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


Coming along very nicely! The contrasting colors are going to sing when they get the finish on them!


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## thetimberkid (Apr 5, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


Looking good!

Thanks for the post

Callum


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


Great job. I was looking at the magazine today when I was cleaning up the shop. It's surprising what you find.

I'm cleaning up for Lee Jesberger's visit tomorrow.


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## Chardt (Jul 16, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


Those look great! Have you made the chips yet? Or are you buying them?


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


Thanks for all the nice comments everyone. So far so good…upon closer inspection I really wish I had made all the crosscuts on my own saw…some of the pieces have considerable tear out. Oh well…it is what it is.

Chardt, these are for a friend of mine that I built a hold'em table for (see the first blog in this series). He has almost 500 of these quality clay casino chips to fill these up with!


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## itsme_timd (Nov 29, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


These are very cool, thanks for sharing.


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## jeanmarc (Mar 23, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


Great job.


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## Ken90712 (Sep 2, 2009)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


Very cool.


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## Morneplaine (Dec 15, 2015)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Making progress...and lots of chips!*
> 
> Ok, after a brief side track, here we go again with the poker chip tray saga..
> 
> ...


super good looking


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

*Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*

OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.

Speaking of finish I was going back and forth between shooting these with cans of Deft or having a friend of mine who works at the same cabinet shop I used to, to spray them with professional catalyzed lacquer. I really don't mind finishing, but this guy has been spraying lacquer for 15 years, they have a professional spray booth and this stuff covers better than 5 coats of Deft ….in two coats. I would have been spraying cans, in my garage, picking dust and bugs out of the finish. So I had my buddy shoot them …and it was the right descesion..they came out awesome! HERE ARE SOME PICTURES..


I borrowed 20 chips from the guy I am making these for so I could test out the fit..




So, all thats left is to install the little rare earth magnets in the holes, maybe throw a couple coats of fine cabinet wax on them and they will be done!


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## CorporalWilly (Jan 7, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


Wow, Las Vegas here in the desert could use those holders. Very nice job Brad.


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## thetimberkid (Apr 5, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


They look great!

Thanks for the post

Callum


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## Bigbuck (May 15, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


Nice job, those look great


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## Quixote (Jun 9, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


Brad,

These are really great works, I'm intrigued by the finish.

Catalyzed Lacquer? I'm not familiar with a commercial product of 'catalyzed lacquer'. Catalyzed urethanes, polyurethanes and epoxies are common to me, and adding a small amount of catylist to a base coat of lacquer to enhance a chemical crosslink to a urethane topcoat is common practice in the automotive refinish industry.

Catalyst doesnt dry, it hardens, it activates a chemical in the base paint that combines to form a different compound that becomes a solid. Lacquer dries by the solvent evaporating so it literally dries out. Mixing the two isn't exactly oil and water,but they are different.

I've also used a small amount of catalyst in automotive lacquer to improve flow out, but this was always a bit of a 'voodoo coctail' that no paint company would warranty. The very small amount of catalyst will pull enough moisture from the air to harden, but I've always topcoated with a polyurethane clear afterwords.

Could you tell us more?

Q


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## Betsy (Sep 25, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


Hey David those look great! I've been thinking of making a set of these for my boss for Christmas this year. You've inspired me to think more seriously of it.

Thanks for the post.


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the nice comments everyone! I appreciate it..

I should have been more specific…it's precatalyzed lacquer. here is an explanation of it from the woodweb..

Precatalyzed vs. catalyzed lacquer 
The technical differences between these two types of lacquers. July 18, 2000 
Q. 
Is precatalyzed lacquer the same as a catalyzed lacquer?

A. 
There are basically two types of catalyzed lacquer: Pre-catalyzed has the catalyst added at the factory, where with post-catalyzed, you add the catalyst at the time of use.

Pre-cats are generally a little slower in dry time and cure because the catalyst is not as powerful, or "hot." There are also blocker solvents in the lacquer that help prevent the chemical reaction from taking place in the can.

This results in long pot lifes, 6 months or better, and no hassle with adding catalyst. In a word, convenience.

Post-catalyzed lacquers dry and cure faster, and are better for high production uses. I think they cure to a little tougher film, but I cannot put a number on it. Pot lifes can range from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

Ultimately the chemistry is similar; it just depends on what your specific needs are, speed or convenience. 
John Buries, technical advisor 
I don't know the exact brand they use..I think it might be Mohawk..they buy it in 5 gal cans and the dealer puts the pre catalyst in before we would pick it up. Then it would go from there into the spray pots. The benefit of this type of finish over non catalyzed is the finish sets up faster than non catalyzed and it looked to me that you can spray it on a little thicker and it doesn't run or sag as easy. You only need two coats to get great coverage.Hope that answers your question!


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## SteveKorz (Mar 25, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


Wow, these are cool!! Very nice…


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## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


Beautiful work David!!! . That looks like a lot of work but well worth the results .


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## jeanmarc (Mar 23, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


*Nice job, those look great*


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## JohnGray (Oct 6, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


*Very nice thanks for the post!!!!*


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


yow ! very precise work. crisp


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## CraftsmanCollective (Aug 25, 2008)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


WOw, those are really cool. I love poker, some day I'll have to get on making some of these…or just buy a set from you..


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## Ken90712 (Sep 2, 2009)

Brad_Nailor said:


> *Sanding, Sanding and more Sanding....did I mention Sanding?*
> 
> OK, let me apologize right up front…I didn't take any pictures of the next few operations..they were really basic stuff, and I was so focused on completing them I just didn't think to grab the camera. I last left you when all the trays were glued up and ready for routing. First I did some preliminary sanding of the ends. I clamped the top and bottoms together and installed the belt on my Rigid drum sander. I clamped a temporary straight edge perpendicular to the belt to keep the ends as square as I could. After squaring the ends up I installed a core box bit in my router table to route the shallow grooves in the pieces. I had to double side tape a piece of 1/4" MDF to the table due to the bit being too long and I couldn't get the groove shallow enough. So after the grooves were routed, I gave the ends a slight round over. With all the routing operations finished, I then began the task of sanding. Most of the pieces were sanded to 150 already, so after sanding all the routed areas to 150 I sanded the rest of the pieces to 220. That was a long and tedious process to get into all the areas inside the holes near the inside edges x 10 separate halves! It was also quite tedious to sand the shallow grooves..I had to use a dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it and try to go with the grain. I ended up just going against the grain till I reached the 220 level and then sanded with the grain to make the sanding scratches disappear. It was a long process but always worth it, because if you chince out on the sanding your finish suffers.
> 
> ...


Very well done!


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