New bandsaw owner and first bandsawn box

[JaD]

Ev'nin all,
I am just so happy to tell folks I am now the proud owner of a bandsaw:D :D :D At Last...And what a beauty it is...2nd hand, but obviously very well maintained by the previous owner and hardly used 14" Carbetec Deluxe.
So to justify the spend to SWMBO:o and I had always wanted to attempt a bandsawn box:rolleyes: I attacked a lubbily piece of Camphor Laurel I found in the back shed and the images are what I now have....A little beauty I reckon:p :D
I came on tonite to ask what finish any more experienced guys might suggest to me, and I did read Sir Stinky's thread and I was thinking of Danish oil too:rolleyes:
I did try some Organoil Hard Burnishing oil on the 2 flats I first cut before I did the drawers, but I found it seemed to take away a lot of the different colours in the grain and brought out a lot of black/grey effect and it looked preety drab:( ......So now i've sanded it down again, I really want it to retain the colours.
So any suggestions and methods for Camphor Laurel?????? Please..

Thanks in advance

JD

And another thing:o Hows a bloke s'posed to get time in the shed when he has to keep up to date on this forum, when he has a triton, a lathe, loves handplanes:) :D and general woodwork and now a you beaut bandsaw to learn about :eek:

[ss_11000]

very nice box. lovely peice of camphor as you said.

cheers

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I am just so happy to tell folks I am now the proud owner of a bandsaw:D :D :D

Congrats. Long may it saw. :)


I attacked a lubbily piece of Camphor Laurel I found in the back shed and the images are what I now have....A little beauty I reckon:p :D
I came on tonite to ask what finish any more experienced guys might suggest to me, and I did read Sir Stinky's thread and I was thinking of Danish oil too:rolleyes:

Good job! I gotta agree: Danish will bring it up a treat.


Hows a bloke s'posed to get time in the shed when he has to keep up to date on this forum, when he has a triton, a lathe, loves handplanes:) :D and general woodwork and now a you beaut bandsaw to learn about :eek:

To halve the amount of threads to read, simply ignore any & every thread with "Friday" in the title. :rolleyes:

[JaD]

Danish will bring it up a treat.

Thanks Skew;) I haven't had much to do with Danish Oil...But Danish women:rolleyes: Nahhh, unfortunately, not much to do with them, either:D So, is there any secrets to using it???? I think I read in Sir Stinkys thread that it should be applied and left for 4-6 weeks:eek: :eek: CRIKEYS (crocs rule, Steve) I never had a project that I wait 4-6 'hours for:p :o

AND THEN.....does one wax it after????:D

JD

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I'm far from being an expert on finishes, but I've been playing with Danish & Tung Oils for a long time and this is how they work best for me...

I wipe it on with a cloth, the first time fairly heavily, giving it about 15 mins to soak in and then wipe off the excess. Leave overnight to dry, then rub back (I use about 400grit) to remove the raised nap. Ditto for a second coat, except you should be able to rub back with a finer grit, say 600.

For subsequent coats I also wipe it on with a cloth, but just enough to "wet" the wood, before leaving overnight to dry. The first few coats I'll use fine grit paper (anywhere between 800 - 1200, depending on how "dust-free" my shed is at the time. :rolleyes: ) to rub back between coats, after that I'll sometimes switch to 0000 steel wool. I don't use steel wool earlier 'cos I don't want steel fibres caught in the grain :eek: and whether I use it at the end depends on if I want a full-gloss or a satin finish.

With enough coats you won't need wax, but there's nothing to stop you from waxing just to add one more protective coat. However, once you start waxing, it'll be an ongoing process... wax picks up fingerprints quite quickly and although it only takes a few minutes of buffing to bring it back to a shine, you'll need to do this as part of the "household chores" for as long as you want the box to stay shiny. ;)

Our hosts, UBeaut, have released a book which most finishers here seem to refer to as the Bible of finishing. I gather it is that good. 'Tis on my "to buy" list but at the moment I'm still working on simply convincing the timber to do what I want; finishing, as such, is still an area I've yet to spend any serious time on trying to improve. :o

BTW... the 4-6 weeks is how long it takes for the DO to achieve its' maximum strength. ie. Take a bit of care with the box before then, don't let the kiddies play with it.

[JaD]

THANK YOU, SKEW.......
Plenty of great info there to start me orf.....
I'm off to da shed to get a coat on tonite
I'll go with the dansih, I think it will give me that look of clear depth, like coats and coats of laquer!!!!! and hopefully keep the colours of the camphor

Thanks again

[JaD]

:D :D :D
WOW....Doesn't that look nice:) Thats gunna be just what I wanted when I've finished the coats...i.e. if the end product looks like the first heavy coat:rolleyes:
Ah well.....can't set the bar tooo high on the first one:p ;) :D

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Don't forget to post pix when it's finished. :)

A good Danish is, IMHO, an excellent finish to start with. It richens and enhances the colour and is very forgiving to apply. Got a scratch? Lightly sand it out and then just apply another coat or three. With some other finishes you need to strip right back to bare timber, but not with a good Tung/Danish.

Mind you, some manufacturers' so-called Danish Oils are more PolyUrethane than Tung Oil (Danish is basically a mix of the two) and shouldn't really be called Danish in the first place. You'll know the stuff if you ever encounter it, 'cos you will have to sand back to bare timber if you need to refinish later. :mad:

[ptc]

J D
welcome to the club.
If you use Ubeaut Trad Wax it does not show finger prints.

[RufflyRustic]

Hi JaD
Welcome!

Lovely first box you have there. Glad you are enjoying using your bandsaw.

Good luck with your future Bandsawn boxes. I, too, am looking forward to seeing this one finished and more of your work.

cheers
Wendy

[JaD]

Thanks for the welcomes, ptc:) and especially Wendy:):D What a privelege to be welcomed by such a fine upstanding, respected member of hte forum ;) :D
I can see this bandsaw and bandsawn boxes thingy are going to excite me for a while and take me off on another woody tangent:eek: :p :D

I have now applied 2 coats of danish and its looking great already, IMHO:o:D

These pics are only 2 coats, but I don't think they do it justice to real life!!!!
But it certainly has brought out the colours.....

Thanks for the application info Skew, too:) :D

And congratulations to Lowndsy:D :D Did ya see the passenger he had with him??? Finally got Brocky into a FORD:D :D :D :D

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I have now applied 2 coats of danish and its looking great already, IMHO:o:D

It's not just your opinion either. :) It looks like there's some nice chatoyance in the wood, too. Bonus!

You know you've done well when Ruffly drops in... she's our local, leather-clad connoisseur of "wow!" ;)

[JaD]

It's not just your opinion either. :) It looks like there's some nice chatoyance in the wood, too. Bonus!

You know you've done well when Ruffly drops in... she's our local, leather-clad connoisseur of "wow!" ;)

All i've ever wanted to do was to impress Ruffly:rolleyes: Maybe thats why my work is usually a bir "Ruff":p :D
WOW:D :D and Leather clad TOO:eek: :D :D

BTW...Whats this "chatoyance" :confused: sounds like someone who talks too much:p :D and gives ya the s*#ts

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

BTW...Whats this "chatoyance" :confused: sounds like someone who talks too much:p :D

:D

It's the "Cat's Eye" effect you get when you move the timber around in the light. In the first pic it's most obvious as the band across the RH drawer, with a couple of small spots around the knots in the LH one and in the second pic you can see a couple of highlights on the RH drawer's top edge and the band on the LH top of the box.

It makes the timber come alive... and not all wood shows it. It's often difficult to deliberately take a photo of, too. :rolleyes: Like I said: bonus!

[JaD]

WOW:) :D again....Learn sumfin new every day:rolleyes: :D

More ideas???:rolleyes: In relation to a method of opening the drawers, I was thinking of turning some small knobs out of camphor for the fronts.....

Other idea was a small length, sort of an arc shape, glued on, or cut a semi-circle out of the top lip...decisions, decisions:rolleyes: :confused: :D

[meerkat]

Nice box

[Norman Gallaher]

Great Looking Box. Have you thought of a drawer lining yet>

Norm:rolleyes:

[Don Nethercott]

Looks great JaD. Hope you make lots more BS boxes.

Re polishing, I was taught to sand while still wet. ie soak first up and sand with 400, When dry dip 600 into oil and sand. Each time it dries go up a grade in paper. The finer the paper the higher the gloss. I went up to 1200 on a silky oak table and it really shines.

Make sure you sand 100, 150, 240 and 360 before oiling, and use wet and dry after that.

One of the biggest problems with BS boxes is getting the best part of the timber showing at the front. My first BS box was English Plane - it had a beautiful pattern - but it ended up at the back of the box. You have some beautiful pattern in that camphor, but it has ended up in the draws, not on the front of the draws where everyone can see it.

For handles try and use some dark patterned wood to contrast with the paler drawer fronts. I'd make the knobs sort of oval, basically the same shape as the drawer itself.

My opinions anyway.

Don

[JaD]

Thanks for the tips and compliments.

I haven't progressed much more than the oiling up:rolleyes: :o (Too many projects on the go at once.) :rolleyes: It is looking great with the oil...only 3 coats and sanded with 400 W&D :) I've been carting it around with me to get plenty of advice on what I should do about the handle/knob situation.....:confused: And I mean "plenty" of advice...All good though, I must say....:)

I think I have settled on some jacaranda I have from a tree from my parents old home of 40yrs....bit of sentimental value and if me mum behaves herself:p she might just end up with it!!! :p :D I was going to cut them out in a long, tear shape sort of thing and fit them with a small dowel/pin. Something like Don mentioned following the shape of the drawer. The jacaranda is quite white in colour and should look good, as there is a fair bit of darkness about the box as is

I don't think I am going to line the inside of the drawers, as you say, there is plenty of great grain inside the drawers:D

[masoth]

Looks terrific, and to prove my ignorance, how are the drawers cut from the block?

soth:confused:

[ss_11000]

and to prove my ignorance, how are the drawers cut from the block?

soth:confused:
basically, the back is cut off the block of timber. then you cut the drawer out in what ever shape. then you get the block you just cut out, then cut both the front and the back off and cut out the inside. stick the front and back on with glue, and theres your drawer.
and you have to stick the back of the box back on.

that is how i understand it to be done. ( very basically )

[thefixer]

Great lookin' box.
I dunno why but it reminds me of the flintstones:D

Cheers
Shorty