Teaser...
- Thread starter Iceclimber
- Start date
Edward A Reno III said:
They are worm holes (they actually grow to be 10 feet long with teeth)destined to eat up the entire board.
To Iceclimber, I will be glad, as a big favor to you, to take that piece of junk off your hands immediately before those worms develop into their potential size and apppetite.
[poke]
Tinker
Iceclimber
Member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2014
- Messages
- 504
Sadly those are finish nail holes. I would had loved to use smaller brads but the application required a finish nail.
The wood you see in that picture is edging to the bench top that is made of mdf. In hindsight had i known i would go this nuts i would had used something nicer like walnut plywood or the like in place of the mdf for the bench top. Oh well what are you gonna do. This is gonna be pretty nice regardless all said and done....
Other than a little glue the nails are all that holds the hardwood edge to the mdf. On average my harwood edge is 2.5" i. Hight and 5/4 thick in some places it is 8/4 thick and 8" tall. I could not just glue and clamp the hardwood edging as the mdf top needed to be installed prior to the hardwood edging going on so just clamping and glueing it was next to impossible being the top back sits tight up against a wall. Pretty much with the size of m harwood edging i was nervous to just use glue and brads. Had i a Domino it would had solved the problem. Well kinda i still would not had been able to clamp it the edging tight to the top while the glue set. I probably could had got away with brads though? When all is said and done you will not even see those nail holes. Trust me
The whole project is kinda constructed in many odd ways being as said up thread this all started just trying to salvage a old bench that was in the house from a prior owners workshop nearly 50 years ago. As a result some very non tradition techniques have been employed to make due with what i had to work with. Much like when renovating a old house vrs building something into a new construction home..
In hindsight maybe i should had just ripped the whole thing out and started with a clean slate. In some ways I'm glad i didn't as i would had just ended up with some cookie cutter version of the MFT bench made with plywood and or metal of some sort. This was i got something that is almost like a piece of art furniture...
The wood you see in that picture is edging to the bench top that is made of mdf. In hindsight had i known i would go this nuts i would had used something nicer like walnut plywood or the like in place of the mdf for the bench top. Oh well what are you gonna do. This is gonna be pretty nice regardless all said and done....
Other than a little glue the nails are all that holds the hardwood edge to the mdf. On average my harwood edge is 2.5" i. Hight and 5/4 thick in some places it is 8/4 thick and 8" tall. I could not just glue and clamp the hardwood edging as the mdf top needed to be installed prior to the hardwood edging going on so just clamping and glueing it was next to impossible being the top back sits tight up against a wall. Pretty much with the size of m harwood edging i was nervous to just use glue and brads. Had i a Domino it would had solved the problem. Well kinda i still would not had been able to clamp it the edging tight to the top while the glue set. I probably could had got away with brads though? When all is said and done you will not even see those nail holes. Trust me
The whole project is kinda constructed in many odd ways being as said up thread this all started just trying to salvage a old bench that was in the house from a prior owners workshop nearly 50 years ago. As a result some very non tradition techniques have been employed to make due with what i had to work with. Much like when renovating a old house vrs building something into a new construction home..
In hindsight maybe i should had just ripped the whole thing out and started with a clean slate. In some ways I'm glad i didn't as i would had just ended up with some cookie cutter version of the MFT bench made with plywood and or metal of some sort. This was i got something that is almost like a piece of art furniture...
Edward A Reno III said:
Iceclimber
Member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2014
- Messages
- 504
I do have some a few pieces of very nice D.R. dimes tiger maple furniture along with a set of beautiful Dimes windsor chairs but to date nothing i have made. Tbh this bench i am building i am kinda using as my template or practice piece as i learn the techniques that will be needed to make actual reproduction or just furniture of my own.
The D.R. dimes stuff is what first inspired me to learn to build furniture. I have many years of general carpentry and finish carpentry experience but i am hardly a furniture maker. When buying the D.R. Dimes pieces now about five years ago i could not help but think the construction of this stuff is fairly simple as the period furniture is not all that ornate and that with a little effort and some time i could probably build much of that i was lusting over. Being just a carpenter myself i was way out of my league buying the stuff but i just had to have it so i figured it out. I did so knowing that down the road i would learn to build my own furniture.
At the time i was also a ice climber and rock climber. That hobby was all encompassing and left no time for another. I knew the furniture making would have to wait. About a year ago my long trusted partner screwed up bad and dropped me 30' directly to the ground with nothing to so much as slow me down. Luckily i only sustained a broken heel. It did however take me a full year to recover. In that year i came to the decision i just was not willing to risk another accident and potentially another years sitting on the couch. It was very impractical to say the least and i just can justify such ever again being i am 37 and not 17. Since i made the very hard decision to stop climbing.
So this miter bench being way more than just a miter bench will give me the opportunity to acquire many of the skills needed to incorporate into future projects. For instance the next real thing on my hit list for the project is to build seven doors and thirteen drawers. Right now the plan is to make them in the Shaker style. The drawers and doors will both be flush mount to the face frames. The drawers will have birdseye faces dovetailed into either mahogany or curly maple boxes. The doors will have mahogany styles and i think the floating panels will be either plywood or MDF wrapped in Birdseye veneer? So as you see between drawer and door construction using traditional joinery methods and the veneered floating panels i am given a opportunity to lean how to employ many of the techniques I will need to build actual furniture in the future.
Kinda crazy but i never do anything half way and i always just jump into the deep end feet first. Being i have a background in carpentry its jot a huge deal. I will admit even though i still have had much to learn along with many tools need be acquired..
The D.R. dimes stuff is what first inspired me to learn to build furniture. I have many years of general carpentry and finish carpentry experience but i am hardly a furniture maker. When buying the D.R. Dimes pieces now about five years ago i could not help but think the construction of this stuff is fairly simple as the period furniture is not all that ornate and that with a little effort and some time i could probably build much of that i was lusting over. Being just a carpenter myself i was way out of my league buying the stuff but i just had to have it so i figured it out. I did so knowing that down the road i would learn to build my own furniture.
At the time i was also a ice climber and rock climber. That hobby was all encompassing and left no time for another. I knew the furniture making would have to wait. About a year ago my long trusted partner screwed up bad and dropped me 30' directly to the ground with nothing to so much as slow me down. Luckily i only sustained a broken heel. It did however take me a full year to recover. In that year i came to the decision i just was not willing to risk another accident and potentially another years sitting on the couch. It was very impractical to say the least and i just can justify such ever again being i am 37 and not 17. Since i made the very hard decision to stop climbing.
So this miter bench being way more than just a miter bench will give me the opportunity to acquire many of the skills needed to incorporate into future projects. For instance the next real thing on my hit list for the project is to build seven doors and thirteen drawers. Right now the plan is to make them in the Shaker style. The drawers and doors will both be flush mount to the face frames. The drawers will have birdseye faces dovetailed into either mahogany or curly maple boxes. The doors will have mahogany styles and i think the floating panels will be either plywood or MDF wrapped in Birdseye veneer? So as you see between drawer and door construction using traditional joinery methods and the veneered floating panels i am given a opportunity to lean how to employ many of the techniques I will need to build actual furniture in the future.
Kinda crazy but i never do anything half way and i always just jump into the deep end feet first. Being i have a background in carpentry its jot a huge deal. I will admit even though i still have had much to learn along with many tools need be acquired..
Billedis said:
Justin Michael
Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2014
- Messages
- 43
That's some beautiful wood. Did you sand in between coats to remove brush marks or plan to buff the final coat?
Iceclimber
Member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2014
- Messages
- 504
I did not sand between the first two coats as to allow it to build. I have however given a very light scuff since with 320 and 400.I will not claim to know much about Waterlox as this is my first time using the product. I do have a extensive background as a high end interior painter and wood finisher though so my opinion has got to be worth something.
The directions suggest no sanding is required between coats as the product not only seeps into the wood unlike most varnish but the coats actually melt together as you apply them. So the brush marks kind of just melt away with subsequent layers. I will say this the stuff produces a very very high gloss finish and it act like a magnifying glass to any surface imperfections that may lie under each coat or on the original wood surface. Like of you get a drop of it on the surface and dont get t with a brush it really shows. Or if it get thick on the edges of the board from putting it on to heavy it shows. And its really really hard to put this stuff on thin enough none of those things happen. You barely need to have a wet applicator for it to cover. Even the 320 that i used that i first made even less abrasive before use left sand marks i was very very unhappy to see. I then moved onto 400 again rubbed together first and still i see minor traces of the sanding done between the last coat. Now mind you the finish looks perfect unless you catch in in just the right light. You have to really try to find the imperfections but if you do look hard or catch it in the right light you will find them and at least me it makes go mad!
All i can say is i am glad i took the time i did with the initial sanding of the wood i did prior to finish. I started with the RO90 and 80 grit, i then sanded with the RO and 100 grit, then 120. I then move onto the DTS400 with 180, then 220. I followed that by a hand sand with 320 then 400. I vacuumed between each coat and blew the surface down with compressed air then then vacuumed again this time tacking the surface with the clean palm of my hand. Key to the palm tack method is vacuuming off your hand after every swipe of the surface. I would say for the three boards about 15BF each pass or grit of sanding took me 1 hour. The good news is it takes about 20 minutes to sand and apply additional coats. So as any good finish work the time is in the preperation.
As the finish builds i like it more and more. I am learning as i go. I started by applying with a white bristle brush. After the first two coats i tried a foam brush. After the foam brush i went back to the white bristle and i think i like it much more. I am confident that by the seventh coat i can get the finish virtually perfect. I hope not to polish with wax as once you wax you are pretty screwed as to finish with varnish again down the road. Also over time wax will leave almost little birdesye of its own in that nice varnish finish. Fixing them can be a laborus PITA. Although possible its something i would wNt to get paid to do and even them i really don't want to do it.
The directions suggest no sanding is required between coats as the product not only seeps into the wood unlike most varnish but the coats actually melt together as you apply them. So the brush marks kind of just melt away with subsequent layers. I will say this the stuff produces a very very high gloss finish and it act like a magnifying glass to any surface imperfections that may lie under each coat or on the original wood surface. Like of you get a drop of it on the surface and dont get t with a brush it really shows. Or if it get thick on the edges of the board from putting it on to heavy it shows. And its really really hard to put this stuff on thin enough none of those things happen. You barely need to have a wet applicator for it to cover. Even the 320 that i used that i first made even less abrasive before use left sand marks i was very very unhappy to see. I then moved onto 400 again rubbed together first and still i see minor traces of the sanding done between the last coat. Now mind you the finish looks perfect unless you catch in in just the right light. You have to really try to find the imperfections but if you do look hard or catch it in the right light you will find them and at least me it makes go mad!
All i can say is i am glad i took the time i did with the initial sanding of the wood i did prior to finish. I started with the RO90 and 80 grit, i then sanded with the RO and 100 grit, then 120. I then move onto the DTS400 with 180, then 220. I followed that by a hand sand with 320 then 400. I vacuumed between each coat and blew the surface down with compressed air then then vacuumed again this time tacking the surface with the clean palm of my hand. Key to the palm tack method is vacuuming off your hand after every swipe of the surface. I would say for the three boards about 15BF each pass or grit of sanding took me 1 hour. The good news is it takes about 20 minutes to sand and apply additional coats. So as any good finish work the time is in the preperation.
As the finish builds i like it more and more. I am learning as i go. I started by applying with a white bristle brush. After the first two coats i tried a foam brush. After the foam brush i went back to the white bristle and i think i like it much more. I am confident that by the seventh coat i can get the finish virtually perfect. I hope not to polish with wax as once you wax you are pretty screwed as to finish with varnish again down the road. Also over time wax will leave almost little birdesye of its own in that nice varnish finish. Fixing them can be a laborus PITA. Although possible its something i would wNt to get paid to do and even them i really don't want to do it.
Justin Michael said:
Justin Michael
Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2014
- Messages
- 43
Thanks for the information. I've never used waterlox before but you've inspired me to give it a try.
Similar threads
