I just don't get using clear lacquer on Poplar?

[Crazyraceguy]

I think this unit is a service counter and "point of sale" area, for a local tea shop. It is part of a larger installation, with a lot more of the same 1/2 round being applied to the walls.
This part of it took 290 pieces, 150 on the longer/straight section and 140 more around the curve. There are 1200 total pieces. I just do get it though. Poplar is not so great looking when raw, but the clear coat just enhances it. Paint? sure, it does fine like that, but pretty much any other kind of wood, would look better. Just an opinion though, someone must like it?

It doesn't show too well in the pic, but I routed a slight relief in the backs, of the ones on the curve.  This is so they would sit flat, without rocking or sticking out.

 

[Packard]

A customer of mine had his showroom remodeled using raw knotty pine as a wall panel.

In just a few months it looked filthy.  He had to sand it down to make it look clean.  He ended up applying clear poly so he could wipe off any dirt.  His shop was in the back and they did a lot of welding and grinding so tha airborne dust would make the pine look dirty.

Of course, if the walls looked dirty, the their lungs probably did too.

My guess is that your customer wants that “wipe down ability” too.

 

[woodferret]

Tea shop.  Probably the closest one can get to bamboo if you're doing reed and not flat ply/TFL.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Tea shop.  Probably the closest one can get to bamboo if you're doing reed and not flat ply/TFL.

Beat me to it. I'm thinking they're going after a bamboo "look" without actually using bamboo.

 

[Cheese]

Hmmmm, the Lincoln Log look returns in 2024.  [blink]  Unfortunately, that particular "style" won't be very attractive whether it's clear coated, painted or covered in tar...and that's destined to be a cleaning nightmare regardless on what coating is applied. If you want the bamboo look, why not just use bamboo?

I'm more impressed with the skill level of whoever cut those 1-1/2" diameter dowels in half, the consistency is pretty impressive.

 

[Packard]

Setup a positive stop on my radial arm saw and a hold down to keep the pieces in place, I believe I could hold impressively tight tolerances on length too. 

The problem I have with that, is that the wood dowels I can buy, need additional sanding to take a really nice finish.  Thinking about sanding all those 1/2 dowels to 220 grit is making my head pound.

Painting it with water based paint would raise the grain.  Thinking about sanding after painting is giving me another headache.

They do make ready-made reeded panels.  I don’t know if it is applied to bendy plywood though.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

They are 1" pieces, that were done by one of our hardwood suppliers. I'm 95% sure that they did this with a molding machine. There are 1200 pieces of this stuff  [eek] They were supposed to be exactly 1" wide, but were actually .030" over. Since it had to come out to an exact even inch measurement, I set up my router table with an off-set fence, as a jointer. That way I could take the slightest bit from the sides.
They are not necessarily exactly equal, but they do add up to 10" in every 10" increment. That's how I know how many there are, on each half of the unit.
I knew if I just started at one end and just let the error accumulate, it would take more effort to chase it to fit the other end.

I did one, about a year ago, that was just square sticks, with an equal spacing between each one. It was painted though (on site even) it left me primed white, got painted gray I think?
I just don't like the random color all over the place look. It's fine on bigger pieces, like drawer parts, but not like this. Might just be me, but Birch or Maple would have been better.
The best part is, I don't have to like it, just build it and move on.  [smile]
I've built a lot of stuff that I didn't like and some I really did, but never got to see again.
It's just too bad that it wasn't as easy to take pics, back when I first started. I had a little digital camera, but it wasn't at the shop all the time. I would have to remember to take it in, when I had something worth saving. It was stolen years ago and I lost quite a bit with it.

 

[mino]

..
The best part is, I don't have to like it, just build it and move on.  [smile]
...

Well ... a coffee shop ... I bet the customers are not at the retirement age nor close to it.

You know the "go green" and all related stuff that is "in" these days? Well, anything that *looks* polished is considered "consumerism" by lots of the customers who attend cofee shops/places these days.

So you got the design you got, givin a fake "natural" feel. Then comes the reality - else maintenance is nigh impossible. So lets apply a clear coat on top of a soft wood like poplar ... more expensive, less durable, worse looking, *but*, good-enough to give that righteous "natural" feel to folks who (want to) believe milk is made at Wallmart thus cows shall be abolished.

--
I still remember how a neighbour opened a pub in the 90s in his house. The whole interior was made from lacqueered beech softwood. Total kitsch par excellence in a brick & concrete 1950s European style townhouse.

But his audience just loved it.
Was close-enough to the raw "town pubs" seen in the 1970s Westerns and in local villages when the folks were kids. So after 10 beers it no longer mattered that those beech "posts" and "beams" were glued to a brick&concrete wall ..

--

The work is really nice and I like how you tuned the sizes etc. Also using something like this to "solve" a round corner is not a bad idea. Lots of work, but can be reasonably series-produced.

Great job and thanks for the post!