Welcome to Woodworker++

This blog is intended to be a journal of my progress as a woodworker. Grab a drink, maybe some popcorn, sit back and enjoy a glimpse into my woodworking projects, both failed and successful. Why should you care what I do, or what I have to say? You shouldn't, but just maybe I can keep you from making the same mistakes that I had to learn the hard way.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Cabinet legs...



I got all of the leg blanks glued up for the cabinet too. In the first pic you can see 2 leg glue-ups after they were sanded. The second pic shows one leg that just came out of the clamps and the second one clamped up.

Visit to the sawmill...


I went to the local sawyer this morning too. He hasn't been able to saw because it's been so cold lately. Water is used to cool the saw blade as it cuts, ans since it's been so cold the water freezes and the blade can't be cooled. Ironic isn't it? So, I still don't have my workbench legs, but I did pick up some very nice poplar for the legs of the cabinet.

Lesson learned...


The stain job on the back of my cabinet didn't come out quite as well as I had hoped. It seems my sanding job was, well... it sucked. Notice all the scratches down the center line of the board? (The center line runs left to right). Apparently, in my haste I bore down on the ROS and gouged it the wood. So, now I'm making a "distressed" Krenov Cabinet.

Drying.




I made a drying table so the finish could cure. The fist pic is my drying table. In the second picture you can see the contrast between the stained poplar, on the left, and the natural shellac'd, on the right. The last pic is all of the pieces drying.

A lot done.

I hand sanded the last coat of shellac with 220 grit. Then I popped the top on a can of walnut gel stain. The staining process was a little easier than I thought it would be. It took a about 45 minutes to stain all the inside pieces.
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Friday, February 1, 2008

Forcast looks good...

So far, the forecast for this weekend looks good for woodworking. The highs are supposed to be in the mid 50s. I hope I'll finally be able to get the stain on the inside pieces of the cabinet. If not, I can at least work on the legs and base some more. I may have to go to the local lumber guy and pick up some clear poplar for the legs. I have about 30 bdft, but it's knotted pretty good and I would like clear legs at least.

Not only that, I can check on the legs for my workbench. He never called to tell me the walnut was done. Maybe he just hasn't gotten to it yet, but we'll see tomorrow.