Shaker Table completed

With the 3rd coat of polyurethane here's the completed shaker table. I used Minwax Satin Finish Polyurethane. The 3rd coat really made the table smooth to the touch. If the pictures look a little odd, it's because I used some Paint.Net magic to remove the background and only show the table.

About that craftsmanship...

Finishing a piece of furniture is an art form.  An art form, of which, I do not have a complete grasp. I stained the ash shaker table with Olympic Pecan stain.  It went on easy with a cheap styrofoam brush.  I used the blue Scott shop towels for wiping off the excess, a tip I learned from a Wood Whisperer interview with Michael Dresdner.  What I didn't expect was it to dry so fast.  Getting the excess stain off took some extra wiping. Overall, I'm happy with the result.  You'll notice I didn't take much care staining the inside.  There's a lot of glue spots & splotches. The legs are great, but...

Here is where my craftsmanship failed.  As you can see there's tool marks from the planer.  Hidden from the eye, that is until stain was applied.  Notice the undulating pattern is somewhat spread out, which is probably why I didn't feel it with my bare hand.  Next time, though, I know to do some extra hand planing before applying my stain.

Shellac and oiled...

Here's the finished piece, shellaced and oiled. I usually screw up a piece when I finish it, but this one turned out ok. I used a 1lb cut of shellac as a sealer, and did a fine sanding with 400 grit. As soon as the shellac went on the walnut really popped. Once the shellac coat was sanded, I applied a coat of Danish Oil. The walnut really came alive. I followed the Danish Oil directions from a Fine Woodworking article, wiping off the excess that seeped out. I ran out of time and had to let it set for a week. The next weekend I applied another coat, again following the Fine Woodworking article directions. This is the result of 1 coat of shellac as a sanding sealer, and 2 coats of Danish oil.

Now all that is left is to apply the shade. I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to do that yet. As of right now, my plan is to cut a piece of material to fit each of the "4 frames" and place the material in the frame without glue. If I have to use glue I will. Any ideas on what material to use or how to attach it would be appreciated.

As for the pictures, I'm no photographer. I do know that over a distance parallel lines will look somewhat curved because of the curvature of a camera lense. So, the curve effect in the full length picture is an optical illusion. Another optical illusion is the bottom stretchers. The angle in the picture is just weird. If there are any other mistakes in the piece, those are optical illusions as well :).

Finishing the cabinet...

I'm getting close to assembly for the cabinet, so it is time to start planning the finish. I know since the cabinet is poplar I want a dark finish to hide the green hues. I decided to finish the inside of the cabinet before assembly. I read an article in Fine Woodworking (membership required) about seal coating particular woods so they wouldn't blotch. Woods like, pine, poplar and cherry are notorious for blotching when stained. So, I used a 2lb cut of Zinsser Seal Coat (de-waxed shellac) for the inside of the cabinet. I got the first coat on, and it is ready for a light sanding before the second coat.

I also seal coated a piece of scrap poplar for testing stains. I applied 2 coats of the seal coat, with a light sanding after each coat. I then applied 3 different stains in 3 different sections of the board. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died. When I get batteries I'll post the test piece and let you know which one I chose.