Testing stain...

Just a quick update.  I hand sanded the shaker table and took a leftover piece of ash and did some test staining.  I drew a line down the middle of the board and shellaced one side.  After the shellac dried I sanded with 400 grit and applied a cherry stain to both sides.  On the back, I applied pecan stain to half, and golden maple to the other half.  I plan on checking it tomorrow to see how it all looks.  One of those stains will go on the table I'm sure.

Busy day today...

I got an early start this morning and it payed off. I started out doing the quick 220 light sanding on the cabinet. I was sanding the seal coat in preparation for the dye. Once I had everything sanded I mixed up the dye. I'm using W.D. Lockwood Oil Dye (Brown Walnut). The instructions on the Tools For Working Wood web site said to mix it with a little bit of denatured alcohol and some oil. So I mixed it with a little alcohol and some mineral oil. Luckily, I was smart enough to to test it out on the back of the cabinet. It took a little while to get used to how quick it dried. Once I got it down, though, it was a breeze to use. I know everyone one says if you're using an oil dye you're supposed to spray it. But I don't have a sprayer, and I didn't want to use a water based dye. So I took a chance on wiping it using a rag. All in all, I think it turned out much better than the gel stain. Still not perfect, but I like to think it would've been twice as good if i had not gel stained it first. It looks similar to the gel stain, but it's different some how. If/when I get a camera I'll be sure to post pics.

While the cabinet was drying, I decided to work on the tack box a little. I got the front and back panel glued up. I got to use the mitre box my grandfather gave me. I'm still amazed at how accurate and easy that thing is to use. So, at this point the dye & glue are drying.

While I'm still waiting on something to dry. I decided to clean up my table saw. There were a couple of rust spots starting. I used 600 grit to sand off the surface rust, and made sure the entire top was clean. I then applied a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax. Guess what, I had to let it dry too.

So now, I have dye, glue, and was drying. What to do? I used some 220 & 600 grit to clean up 3 of the hand saws my grandfather gave me. The cleaned up really nice. Took me a while because some were pitted, but for the most part they came out good.

By this time the paste wax had dried so I buffed it out. Now the table saw is ready for duty.

All day sand fest...

I spent most of the day sanding. By hand. I started around 8 am using 220 grit to put a mild round over on all the corners of the legs & apron. I cleaned up the glue squeeze-out as I went along. When I got the corners like I wanted I took a double-cut file and rounded over the tops of the legs. Then I sanded those too. Once the legs and apron were acceptable I started working on the stand-offs that attach the base to the cabinet. I ended up make three because I split one when drilling out the holes. I like the idea of having the base separated from the cabinet with the stand-offs. I don't think wifey cared for them too much, though. Maybe she'll change her mind when it's all finished.

Two observations:
1. Hand sanding detail is tedious and makes you sore.
2. The result of hand sanding detail is worth the time.


Oh yeah, and I don't absolutely hate the legs anymore.