Thread: My first tool cabinet

Originally Posted by auscab

It's not uncommon to walk into my workshop to see a complete table in flames.

I'm no expert on marketing, but probably keep that out of the brochure.
Cheers,
Paul

Maybe I could try that?
... ...

Maybe not.

Originally Posted by pmcgee

I'm no expert on marketing, but probably keep that out of the brochure.
Cheers,
Paul

Maybe I could try that?
... ...

Maybe not.

That would be very handy for me, I'm always looking for a light for my hand rolled cigs.

The heat gun is the safe way for the same effect, it's just a bit slower , same for the rollies Bill
Shellac bubbles and fries into some nice effects with heat.

Here is a pieced that is a week old , the heat gun is on the left near my vice.

Now I'm getting worried I mentioned the flames ..

I did know a young bloke [28 years old] who tried it and got it wrong and ended up in the burns ward at the Alfred hospital. He left my workshop where he only ever watched me do it and showed the boys in the new workplace what he knew. How to run around asking to be put out.

The heat gun is best.

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Any help? ... 128 – Shellac Under Polyurethane | The Wood Whisperer

I watched it again and he mentioned wax shellac and yes that won't stick.

I've used spirit based stain on pine where they said it couldn't be done of course with shellac as my sealer, the colours didn't appear as they were advertised and I take it it's because of the 2lb cut. If I thinned to maybe a 1b cut I believe the colours will be stronger but I run the risk of splotches, the dark areas you see are due to my own eagerness to start staining. I didn't prepare the wood properly just planed it so when they say after planing it's ready for a finish that is far from the truth. I will properly examine my work before staining in the future, having said that due to the inconsistencies in colours and the difficulties involved with staining as general I believe if one can afford to buy the real deal timbers and just lacquer or oil it you are much better off. Also I believe that spraying the stains on is a better alternative to hand applications, because of the shellac coating it is difficult not to leave a trail. Either way you sacrifice something. Btw those samples are raw, no poly or varnish on them as yet.

Nice comparison, thanks. Did you rob a hardware store?

No they robbed me F&W costs $5 more than wattyl, spirit stain is the same regardless of brand name no need to pay the extra.

That's a vastly better-looking result than anything I ever managed to achieve. I gave up trying to stain any sort of Pine many years ago, after trying all of the methods recommended at the time. It pays to go against conventional wisdom at times...!

Cheers,

Final day of testing in regards to finishes poly & lacquer I didn't include varnish as I expect the results to be in between the two in order to save money. Well what are they sorry I don't have any pics at this time as the timbers are drying.

All samples have a coat of dewaxed shellac except for one that has two coats, as mentioned earlier this is my sanding sealer to help prevent blotchiness when staining with spirit based stains. One coat is sufficient, two coats actually makes it difficult to apply the stain. It becomes tacky if you apply a second coat of stain. You can make this work in your favour if your a bit artistic you could make some nice grain with the same colour or go really wild and use another darker colour, that will be my newest trial in the near future.

Listed below are the different finishes I experimented with:

• Wipe on poly (Minwax) Gloss
• Wipe on poly (Minwax) Satin
• Fast drying poly semi gloss (Minwax) thinned 50% which is the same as the first two only realised after I done it.
• Fast drying poly semi gloss (Minwax) full strength
• Marine grade Varnish Gloss (blondall) spray
• Cabothane Clear poly (Cabot's) Spray

Lastly I just applied a laquer sanding sealer by brush and the stain reactivated and was slowing coming off on the brush.

Before I begin only one sample has the timber grain filler applied to it (wattyl) so here are the results in order from above:

• wipe on poly requires atleast 5 coats, it's a thin film with a more semi gloss look than glossy as it states. Also if put under the light you will see small pimples obviously from the rag.
• The satin same deal but actually is satin
• same results as the first
• This one is a little better but plastic looking, I applied it with a foam brush which I wasn't supposed to as it should of left air pockets but it didn't. With that, one should use a natural bristle brush
• Marine grade gave me a nice even medium film that was glossy
• Finally cabots gave me the same results as the first one in the list but with only one coat. I will apply a second and see the difference if any.
• Actually this is the final and the winner hands down. The sample piece with the timber grain filler applied with clear poly sprayed one coat of that gave me a perfect finish a film between thin and medium and glossy look.

Because the grain was filled and leveled flat after sanding the poly floats on top and slowly cures to a hard film. Poly isn't meant to be thick and this version of poly works alot better than minwax brands. So you can get the results from just one coat. Having said that I will wait until tomorrow allowing them all to dry before lightly sanding them again and giving them one more coat each, hopefully the non grained filled ones will look as good as the grain filled one.

I also want to try mixing danish oil with stain and see how that turns out and then spray a coat of poly on it, I can imagine how good that will look. This has turned into a time consuming money guzzling project but as equally important as strong joints as this is the finale piece that will make or break your hard work.

Hope my finds help.

Just looking at the samples as they're almost touch dry the grain filled sample is truly the best finish of them all with only one coat you can't beat that. But none the less this poses a problem filling th grain after staining due to running the risk of sanding through the stain which I believe is inevitable, so here we go again more blood experimenting. I need to find out if the stain will go over the filler, the problem with that is it's spirit based therefore will it dissovle the filler and defeat the purpose.

Another option I have to try is giving it another coat of shellac over the stain and I will have to rub it on very lightly as this will reactivate the stain due to the metho mix in the 2lb cut. But most definitely it will not fill the grain only seal to accept the finish better. Again having said even that open grained timber I'm referring to is oak but this is hoop pine so in this case I will not have to use the filler even though I believe it is advisable as there are always some imperfections that are not noticeable by eye that can be filled and should be filled. So maybe in this case a sanding sealer by F&W thinned down would be a better option as I could then lightly sand it without removing too much stain.

If your wondering what look am I after it's glass smooth coat not thick but between thin and medium which I have successfully done with the oak.

Voila I think I have just come up with a solution and that's danish oil mixed with stain, second coat just danish oil with light sanding to fill in the pours then lastly hit it with poly, I think that will definitely work. But I will try it on a test piece before I do it which will be long wait times before the oil properly cures.

For now I'm going to start the build again I have rails to cut, mortise and groove, tenons to make another frame and panel, drawers so I'm a long way away from finish. I'll post some progress pics when I have actually done some progress.

Here is a photo of the oak sample that is grain filled tinted with oak stain and one coat of poly, it will have to be sanded as some dust settled on it I suppose that's the price you pay when spraying in a woodworking environment. Instead of giving it another coat I will just use pumice and rotten stone to take away those nibs and really bring out the shine.
Whether or not that will work will be seen.

I thought I'd give you a small update it's not uch but then again I don't have many days off, maybe I should quit my job just to finish this cabinet if I was a millionaire.
I kind of stuffed up and forgot to plow the grooves before I slapped it together so I ended up plowing with a 1/8" chisel, it wasn't hard just tedious and time consuming. I have one day more day off then it's back to work and this project on the back burner again. If your wondering why it hasn't warped or cupped that's because I have stacked 50mm jarrahs on them which I'll probably never end up using since they're so friggin expensive to buy. Btw I got them for free in case you ask me then why did you buy it.

I'm in a bit of pickle right now I rightly don't know what to do, as you know the frame has tenons but there are three rails that go on the back of the cabinet and they also have tenons as you can see in the previous photographs. What I didn't realise at the start and I guess this is a learning curve for me is that I mortised through the mating tenons stuffing up the structural strength but I had to in order for the rails to fit. I can't chamfer the tenons to meet because the rail tenons are only half inch long and to make the tenons on the frame the same length wouldn't be long enough for any strength. The only solution to this I can think of without resorting to dowels is making a single shoulder tenon and offsetting them both please refer to the picture I drew to get a better idea of what I'm getting at.

I can't think of using any other method but if you guys do please let me know.

Finally it is over what a journey it has been with many lessons learned
Some of the white stuff you see is dust and others I purposely sanded through.
Why you may ask yourself because it's for the garage and being clumsy by nature I know I will end up knocking it and if I did a beautiful finish on it and then damaged it
it would eat me up for the rest of my life.

I realise the bottom part is all wrong but only after I put the drawers in. This was very difficult for me and working without a plan was also a challenge but I didn't give up
and saw it through. The next one shouldn't be so hard because I now know or atleast I think I know what to do.

Just to note guys yes I do own machinery and no I didn't use it in this project in fact I hardly use them at all except for the bandsaw but I will keep them around till I perfect my hand tool skills