Back in the Shop

[jteneyck]

Since I bought a bandsaw lumber mill a couple of years ago my woodworking has taken a nose dive during the warmer months of the year.  No complaints, I've had a lot of fun with it, but I really look forward to spending time again in the shop as the cold weather finally starts to arrive this year.  Months ago I had a friend ask me to build a little desk for him (as a gift to a "friend" I think), and I finally got around to building it.  Since it was a freebie project I used cutoffs and leftovers for as much of it as possible.  I think it turned out pretty well and hope he will be pleased.  







It's 32 x 16 x 8" on the deep end, 4" on the other.  It will sit on metal hairpin legs.  

John

[CStan]

I like it, and I'm not usually a fan of woods with that much contrast combined in a project. Beautiful work!

[dejongs]

Very nice. Always impressed with the skills I see on this site.

[Mr Eddie]

John,
Beautiful and a real eye catcher.  I like your selection of wood - two of my favorites. Please post when you get the legs on as I think they will give it the final touch.  Great job!

Lonnie

[Bill Holt]

Fella, you knocked that one out of the park!!!  Your friend may decide to keep that one and ask for another to give away.

[jteneyck]

Thanks for the kind words; much appreciated.  A couple of details about the finish.  It looks like solvent based lacquer doesn't it?  Well, it's actually a waterborne.  As I was trying out some different finish options I found that the WB I was thinking of using left the Birdseye maple with a yellow tint and that didn't look good next to the red tones of the Sapele.  Arm-R-Seal looked harmonious on both but I didn't want to take that long to finish it.  So I ended up dying the whole thing with a very dilute coat of Transtint Reddish Brown dye, 1 drop of dye to 15 ml of DNA.  I wiped it on with a staining pad.  Often I seal in dye with Sealcoat shellac but with this project I just sprayed 3 coats of Target Coatings EM-6000 in satin straight over the dye, carefully sanding in between coats.  The clarity of the EM-6000 is impressive, even in satin, and it has none of the bluish tint you get with some waterbornes.  It sprays great, too, and the price is lower than some of the products I normally use.  I'm a fan and plan to use it with more projects that don't need high chemical durability.  

John

[Mr Eddie]

Thanks for the kind words; much appreciated.  A couple of details about the finish.  It looks like solvent based lacquer doesn't it?  Well, it's actually a waterborne.  As I was trying out some different finish options I found that the WB I was thinking of using left the Birdseye maple with a yellow tint and that didn't look good next to the red tones of the Sapele.  Arm-R-Seal looked harmonious on both but I didn't want to take that long to finish it.  So I ended up dying the whole thing with a very dilute coat of Transtint Reddish Brown dye, 1 drop of dye to 15 ml of DNA.  I wiped it on with a staining pad.  Often I seal in dye with Sealcoat shellac but with this project I just sprayed 3 coats of Target Coatings EM-6000 in satin straight over the dye, carefully sanding in between coats.  The clarity of the EM-6000 is impressive, even in satin, and it has none of the bluish tint you get with some waterbornes.  It sprays great, too, and the price is lower than some of the products I normally use.  I'm a fan and plan to use it with more projects that don't need high chemical durability.  

John

John,
What grit do you use between coats?  And do you dry or wet sand?  Thanks.  I always appreciate learning about other finishing products and how to apply.

Lonnie

[jteneyck]

John,
What grit do you use between coats?  And do you dry or wet sand?  Thanks.  I always appreciate learning about other finishing products and how to apply.

Lonnie

Lonnie, now that you asked I'll admit to a boo-boo I had to correct.  After applying the first coat of finish I carefully, or so I thought, scuff sanded with 325 grit sandpaper on a soft pad, by hand.  I was just trying to take off the nibs but as soon as I wiped it clean I saw two small areas near the left edge where I had cut through the finish and I think the dye, too.  Target Coatings says to use 600 grit between coats; next time I will. 

Hmm, what to do.  I tried the simplest thing first; I got a small artist's brush and brushed on some of the dye, sort of like painting in the grain.  To my relief, it wet out on the finish at the transition between the raw wood and finish.  So I carefully filled in the bare spots finishing each stroke across the transition to the finish.  It took less than a minute to do both spots which were about 1/2" in diameter.  It dried almost instantly because the dye was DNA based.  I sprayed the next coat of finish in maybe 30 minutes and it looked perfect.  

The dye was very dilute and where I had cut through was on the Sapele, so I got lucky.  It might have been much harder had it happened on the side with the maple and had the dye concentration been higher.  Thinking back on it, I should have raised the grain prior to applying the dye.  Even though I used DNA as the solvent it still causes the grain to raise slightly.  I also should have followed TC's guidelines at used 600 grit.  Next time.  

John

[Hank Knight]

That's beautiful and interesting, John. Your friend is a lucky guy.

[Handplanesandmore]

Top skills seen throughout the piece.

Simon