Thread: Complete - Farmhouse buffet table

so your a Kiwi.

welcome aboard you w3ill have fun and learn lots on this site,

Took my aussie bridge back home recently and we drove through Bulls.
I asked if she wanted to visit the next place waikik..................

So progress update ... adjustable shelves cut and ready to go, also made my first tenon and groove doors ever (actually, my first doors ever) and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out - though I might trim a smidgeon more off the bottoms of both to leave a shadow line between the bottom of the doors and kickboard. As they are, they do swing without impediment, but a bit more of a gap will give me peace of mind. Opted to go for adjustable shelves for all three sections, per the wife's instruction request; likely will only use two of the three shelves for the open middle section.

Next on the to-do is to add some inset moulding to the door faces, the backing board to the cabinet, and then my double-beaded profile skirt (?) along the front and sides - then I'll start work on the bench top.

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Basic cabinet body completed. Profiled the skirting around the base, added the inset moulding to the doors, added the backing board, filled in noticeable gaps (Yes. With Spakfilla. Don't @ me - it's what I had on hand!), etc. Ready for a light sanding and then painting.

Then onto making the bench top.

I feel a bit silly posting here seeing the awesome, very experienced work that others post, so thank you for your indulgence of my little project.

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We all start somewhere, waikikamukau. Your posts are always welcome here. Besides, the job looks fine to me.

I hope you learn as much from the more experienced folks here as I did.

Instalment update:

Cabinet portion now fully built and finished. Used an enamel paint for the finish, very light sanding to smooth it out a little and create some ever so slight distressing in places. I am not sure if I should coat it with a protective clear coat? It will mark easily I think but a coat will discolour it or potentially eat away the enamel?

Work already started on the bench top - you can see some of the shavings and dust on the floor from the Tassie Oak I'm working with.



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Is it an oil based enamel? They're reasonably robust so it's your call. Water based 'enamels' aren't as hard wearing so would benefit from a clear coat. In either case, surface prep is crucial since the poly will need something to adhere to. Any existing glossiness will need to be knocked off.

Wait a week or two (or three for oil based enamel) for the paint to fully cure. The sniff test is a good indicator, if it still smells of solvent then it hasn't finished curing. Sand by hand with 320 grit and dust off, then spray with water based poly. Could brush/roller on too but I find that water based poly gets tacky way too fast to brush smoothly on larger items, so I'd roll if I didn't have a spray gun. Water based doesn't have the yellow tinge that oil based poly has, so would be the poly of choice over white. Your base being white should also result in minimal colour change, it will make the surface look like it is wet is all.

I did this to drawer fronts for my laundry and have no regrets. The paint underneath is Porters Paints Yacht Race (if memory serves) and would be fine as a wall paint but far too delicate for drawers.

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Thanks, Alkahestic. I've used a water based enamel by Porters Paints; now I think of it, when I asked the specialist at the store (non-bunnings!) I believe she mentioned that I should consider a clear coat so I'll go back and grab some.

I sanded to 240grit for the enamel; too smooth for the polyurethane?

Love the colour you used on those drawers

Originally Posted by Waikikamukau

Love the colour you used on those drawers

Thanks, the laundry was a bit of a test, we like the color and knob combo so it's going to be replicated in the kitchen most likely, someday. Unless I've changed my mind by then!

240grit will be fine for the poly. From memory, I sanded with 320 or 400 grit and have had no problems with adhesion after just over a year of daily use. I used Cabot's satin water based poly because I had it. Sprayed four coats with 1.6mm tip, end result was nice and smooth . Water based poly does need to be stirred until every last chunky bit is mixed in without introducing air bubbles, so a broad flat paddle is recommended. If it's been sitting on a shelf for awhile, it could be 5 minutes of stirring by hand. If you're not spraying, a good quality foam brush or pad will do the job.

Ended up going with this by Porters Paints. Nearly done with the second coat for the cabinet, doors and shelves and am very happy with the finish. Gives a slight glisten to the enamel paint.

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Will be using some Osmo PolyX oil for the bench top. I have some swirling on the bench from my random orbital sander, sanded to 120grit. Not sure what I can do to lessen that? (Or prevent it to begin with!) Concerned it will stand out too much when oiled.

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Originally Posted by Waikikamukau

Will be using some Osmo PolyX oil for the bench top. I have some swirling on the bench from my random orbital sander, sanded to 120grit. Not sure what I can do to lessen that? (Or prevent it to begin with!) Concerned it will stand out too much when oiled.

That actually looks like a lot of scratches. Are you using the sander connected to dust extraction set at low speed? You may have to drop back to 80 grit and get all the previous marks out before doing 120 and 180. Scribbling pencil lines over the top then sanding will help determine when you've sanded enough - all the pencil lines have to be removed before moving to the next grit. Use a torch or light source across the surface to pickup all the defects.

And you're right, finishes will exacerbate any surface issues.

Yeah, I think I understand how I ended up with so many pigtails - largely inexperience in sanding and the fact that the store-bought boards I glued-up weren't perfectly flat (who knew?!), so I overcompensated by harshly sanding down the ridges. While the top is smooth you can feel the undulations I've created across the surface.

I'm otherwise using a shop-vac connected to my sander and there's a noticeable difference.

I'll be spending a good amount of time this weekend sanding and re-sanding to flatten the top.

Job done!

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I was able to flatten out most of the undulations in the bench top with a tonne of sanding, then sealed it off with two coats of Osmo PolyX oil. Love the finish and such an easy product to use.

Learned quite a lot on this project, making lots of mistakes and working around them. Not too much I would have done differently, but the backing board went on in three sections, tacked on with nails into rabbets - that ended up being more trouble than it was worth so would look to slot the backing boards into grooves for future projects. The white finish, while not a true white, was whiter than I would have liked, so maybe a shade or two darker would have been ideal. But looks sharp and not too much out of place given the rest of our decor in the living/dining area. My cabinet doors were a challenge; had to shave off the sides a few times so that they wouldn't stick and I think I may still need to take them back a little more. For the moment, they're unobstructed and open and close without issue. I surprisingly had trouble with the adjustable shelves; the left and right cabinets are a few millimetres out from each other so aren't equal; as a result, the shelves on one side fit too snugly in the cabinet on the other. Shows that my partitions aren't exactly mirrored despite using a the same spacer for both; the issue is they're not exactly square at the top so need to think about improving that in future projects.

All in all, very please with this as a DIY woodworking newbie. And the wife is happy, so that's a major bonus. If this didn't turn out that great it was going to be relegated to the garage as extra storage - guess that could be one of my next projects.

Mods: am I not able to change the thread title to remove "WIP" and change it to "Complete"?

That really is pretty good. You should be very happy. I reckon it’s a great sized project too. Not too big/complicated, so you get the satisfaction of completing something. Painted finish is very sensible choice too. You can really hide a lot that way. Smart move!

Well done. Can’t wait to see what you build next!