Thread: My first ever wood project - a new desk for my study

Firstly welcome to the forum.

Personally I like using resin with a black tint but as this is your project you can do what ever you like. Try not to over fill the holes too much as it just a fair amount of work to get everything flat. Use masking tape on the underside just in case some of the holes come out the other side.

For a coffee table that I finished recently I used three coats of wipe on poly. The results are more of a dull satin look. I have used WOP on other pieces with 5 coats and gotten a shinny finish.

Normally when finishing a project you would use some offcuts as test pieces to see what finish looks good. I am guessing in this case you might not have that option unless you use the under side as a test piece?

Before I apply any finish like to sand to either 320 or 400 grit.

Welcome to the forum Jason.

Welcome. And it's a nice piece of wood that you have to work with.

Hey Christos,

Have you ever tried a scraper on resin ? Wondering if one of them would be beneficial to remove any bulk excess, particularly for a novice that might be prone to overfilling.

I use a card scraper on casting resin in preference to any other method of getting it flat. Then just sand the whole surface to be finished as per usual.

Originally Posted by Glenn.Visca

Hey Christos,

Have you ever tried a scraper on resin ? Wondering if one of them would be beneficial to remove any bulk excess, particularly for a novice that might be prone to overfilling.

Yep I have used a scraper on the larger holes and sometimes used the back of a chisel to flatten smaller holes before moving to sanding.

Well, it's been a while but I finally got around to sanding the wood this past weekend.

Two passes at 60, 80, 100, 150, 180 and 240 grit. It's pretty smooth right now

This coming weekend I hope to fill in the holes with either CA or casting resin. What would you guys recommend? I plan on leaving it clear so you can see into the holes.

Cheers,

Jason.

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Originally Posted by uneekwahn

Well, it's been a while but I finally got around to sanding the wood this past weekend.

Two passes at 60, 80, 100, 150, 180 and 240 grit. It's pretty smooth right now

This coming weekend I hope to fill in the holes with either CA or casting resin. What would you guys recommend? I plan on leaving it clear so you can see into the holes.

Cheers,

Jason.

Welcome!

I didn't think that it makes a big difference but it does - I would go to higher grit values - Having said that if you intend to use resin then it does not matter as much as if you had oiling in mind. I guess that means that I agree with Christos.

I never tried oiling a piece, It's on my bucket list. I've seen a dining table and a wall unit made of silver ash that was oiled and it was gorgeous! This piece looks like it would look wonderful if oiled. But resin will be good too - If you are oiling definitely go to 400 or even 800 grit paper. Oil penetrates the grain, whereas resin or PU sits on top of it, so the smoothess of oiled timber is much more dependent on how fine you sand.

What do you have in mind for the base?

I am thinking of building something like this for myself... That top would look stunning on something like this.

modern-wooden-home-office-desk.jpg

I have always used casting resin. Diggers brand. Can get at most hardware shops. It is water-clear.

I filled the voids in this with it: https://www.woodworkforums.com/album....hmentid=225016