Thread: Advice needed for some new projects

Looking great!

Coming on nicely Dave!
Just back from an icy trip to Melbourne, so must get stuck into my projects before heading of again later this week!

Sounds good Lawry, look forward to reading re more progress re your projects. Havn't done much on the dresser top this week. A little more paint stripping but not worthy of a pic. Off to NZ tomorrow at lunchtime for a week of skiing. Can't wait, it should be really excellent as the snow cover looks superb. Will catchup with you all when back and have done some more hard graft on the woody project.

Happy hbolidays Dave!! Until our next series of installments then..... Lawry

Dave..all quiet here from you since your trip. You didnt break a leg or something crazy like that I hope?? Get cracking sunshine...let's go, let's go, let's go!!!

Originally Posted by Lawry01

Dave..all quiet here from you since your trip. You didnt break a leg or something crazy like that I hope?? Get cracking sunshine...let's go, let's go, let's go!!!

Hi Lawry and all, sorry guys I have been kind of busy of late since returning from the ski trip (all legs etc are in place, no damage ), and yes I have even managed a little more paint muck stripping off. But no pics yet. I tried this new paint stripper, out. It seems less nasty in terms of fumes, and kinder to my hands, when I get a little muck on them, but it also seems to be really slow to do its job. Thats a little frustrating. Hopefully over the next few days I will achieve some progress to the point where it is worth taking some more pics for all to see.

Welcome back Dave....lookig forward to your next steps.
I'm going to do a little bit of upholstery repairs next (no wood finishing involved here) on my 1890's granfather/ granmother chairs & chaise. The piano stoll work was a good primer on upholstering.

Cheers,
Lawry

Hi all, been a bit quiet of late here, re my various projects. But finally I have over last weekend and today managed to get some more progress achieved on the kauri dresser top restoration. Paint stripping by hand is basically a crappy job to do, messy, tiring and just not very enjoyable. It is worse still when you think you are doing the right thing by buying some environmentally friendly biodegradable paintstripper, and it simply doesn't cut the mustard !! I know, should have known better, even though I work as an environmental manager for the EPA, you really do need to the tough stuff which will get the job done. Hence partly the reason for being quiet of late, it was just so bloody frustrating.

I will post some pics of where I am up to on Monday, but to fill in the gaps in the meantime, given that it is a large dresser top means there is quite a bit of work to do. Teasing the paint out of the joints, out of the regency mouldings between each backing board etc. To the best of my experience, if doing by hand there is no other way. I suppose I could have deconstructed the top, but given it is so solid, to me that made little sense. Anyway, I now only have one and a bit of the undersides of the shelves to complete, and then finally this part of the project will be completed.

Next I need to give the whole top a sanding using 220/240 and then 400 grade and finally shellacing can begin. I have already done some trial areas and the grain and colour looks like it will come up superbly. Don't worry guys, I won't be sanding it hard, as there is plenty of stains, bumps, scratches etc, markings which are both a part of its history, and were nicely preserved under the layers of paint.

Right have just run out of paint stripper, so more is needed to finish up , . Looking forward to this.

Good to see some progress, keep it up and looking forward to seeing some results of all this hard work!

Originally Posted by Chief012

Good to see some progress, keep it up and looking forward to seeing some results of all this hard work!

Thanks Chief, it felt good to get on with some progress at last. I actually ended up sanding back and shellacing the bottom two shelf areas. Now all I need to do is get the photos to work. I tried earlier on but they didn't seem to post. We do have a new computer system here at work so perhaps that is the problem, that and I just noticed the way you add photos has changed on the forum. I think I may have managed now to get two onto the system, and will keep trying to get some more shown

It definitely doesn't seem to be as simple as it used to be, I seem to be having problems when you go into the manage files section to upload an image file, sometimes it seems to allow you to do so, other times you get a message saying clear list, but I don't wish to, but rather add more images and upload them. I also seem to be having trouble sometimes saving files onto the forum ?? It didn't use to do this. Anyway, hopefully the images I have managed to attach show where I am up to. If I can I will try and add at least one more image showing what I need to complete in terms of residual paint muck, plus the little repair section I will need to get onto shortly.

Originally Posted by Horsecroft88

It definitely doesn't seem to be as simple as it used to be, I seem to be having problems when you go into the manage files section to upload an image file, sometimes it seems to allow you to do so, other times you get a message saying clear list, but I don't wish to, but rather add more images and upload them. I also seem to be having trouble sometimes saving files onto the forum ?? It didn't use to do this. Anyway, hopefully the images I have managed to attach show where I am up to. If I can I will try and add at least one more image showing what I need to complete in terms of residual paint muck, plus the little repair section I will need to get onto shortly.

Dave...good to see you back on the saddle (or the sandpaper!) Looking like a nice piece already, and yes, I have also had major issues with replies/ photos on the forum of late. In posting on the piano stool, I had to re-post a number of times, as the forum woudlnt load properly , etc., thereby loosing my supposedly uploaded pics etc. frustrating for me as I am really a technophobe!! Lawry

That's looking great,...how many thousand scrubs to get to that point!?!

Hi Lawry, thanks mate, yes good to be back into it and posting progress. The hiatus was a little longer than intended. Anyway, good to see I am not the only one having some issues since the obvious upgrades to the forum format, I also lost a posting I had been drafting, The forum website seemed to lock and then it simply jumped out back to Google. Why does this thing always seem to occur, when software is upgraded. I too am a technophobe, albeit I do like my iphone and laptop, but don't ask me how to use such gear to its capacity. No clues at all re this sort of thing.

Re: Chief's question, the first part of the answer could be it all depends, especially when using the rubbish paint stripper, and for sure I am reckoning on many thousands, well it felt like that. But with the good stuff, the first coating seems to get most of the residual paint scum off, with normally one to two more scrubs to complete the process. I then wash the surface with water, detergent and/or sometimes metho with a further scrub. I could use oxalic acid but I can't be bothered spending the dosh. Obviously, sometimes I also need to apply a little extra paint stripper to problem areas, eg. the regency moulding strips between boards and also corners etc. In some instances, depending on what paints people have used in the past, it may mean even more work. It is a slow process, but dipping is in my experience less preferable, in terms of the colour I get afterwards, when shellacing. Commercial dipping seems to bleach pines, and I would never dip cedar. I have seen the results of this and it is horrid (splits, with all colour bleached out ending up looking grey).