Woodworking: Thank you for showing me the weird saw

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Woodworking: Thank you for showing me the weird saw

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

PokeJoe posted:

Yowza

# ¿ Aug 10, 2023 21:31

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 07:01

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

I'm venting here. I am not having a good time with polyurethane.

My last project was a desk. I used a nice maple veneer ply for the top. I sanded, stained, then coated in shellac to seal it. I sanded between coats. It was an exceedingly frustrating process. I used foam brushes. Each coat had nibs, etc. I sanded too much. I was trying for perfection. I sanded through coats. I sanded through the finish and had to paint on a faux wood grain to hidr it. It looked good in the end.

After that I did research. What should I do? Higher quality poly. Strain the poly into a separate container before application. Thoroughly vacuum the room where you're applying the finish. Wait to let the dust settle. Run a kettle before applying finish to let the steam take particles out of the air. Don't have ventilation running while the finish dries- ventilation pulls dust over the piece. Don't sand in the room where you apply the finish!

Ok, so I applied all these lessons. I'm refinishing some cabinet doors. I shellacked em no problem. Tonight I applied my old masters semi gloss. I strained it into a separate container with IIRC a 70 micron filter. I applied it with a clean purdy brush. It's been drying a couple hours and I peeked. It looks like its either covered in bubbles or dust nibs. Like way worse than anything I had to deal with on the first project. Argh! Maybe it'll look less bad tomorrow. At this point I'm wondering if brush poly isn't a fools errand and I just need to do a spray setup. But I'd have to spray outside, I'm not doing that indoors.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2023 03:53

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

The offending pieces:

# ¿ Aug 27, 2023 03:54

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

For the record they were sanded, vacuumed, and tack clothed outside. Then I brought them in and tack clothed them again.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2023 03:57

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

I inspected the pieces this morning. It's lots of tiny bubbles in an otherwise very acceptable finish.

I don't think it's a temperature issue. I finished in my basement in the evening. It was 72 degrees.

I'm gonna say it was an issue with the brush, the product, and my application. I didn't shake the poly. I stirred it. But I'm using old masters, which is a much thicker product than the Varathane I used on my last project. I bought the old masters because it's supposed to be higher quality. Which it probably is.

The brush was clean. I saturated the bristles and brushed it on. I didn't see bubbles during the initial application. But obviously they were in there somewhere.

The shellac is dewaxed shellac. I use it to seal after the stain to prevent uneven application of the poly and to prevent the first coat of poly raising the woodgrain. I don't think the shellac is the problem.

My plan is to hand sand out the bubbles. Ideally not go through to the stain. I'll see if 220 does it, if not I'll drop down into the 100s. Then I'll thin the poly to a wiping mixture and apply it that way. That should, as you say, avoid bubbling and give dust less time to settle.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2023 16:11

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

The junk collector posted:

I just want to go on the record to say that I continue to hate Polyurethane.

# ¿ Aug 30, 2023 18:50

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

Hah! seems like a light hand sand with 220grit is taking the bubbles out.

Gonna do every panel then apply the next coats thinned out with mineral spirits

# ¿ Sep 3, 2023 21:25

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

I am so pleased with how easy that step was! Next coat goes on tomorrow.

# ¿ Sep 4, 2023 00:38

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

Woodworking: Gathering of the Juglone

# ¿ Sep 5, 2023 20:09

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

1. Doesn't matter
4. One if it gives sufficient coverage for your topcoat. You said the topcoat is white, that usually covers very nicely.

Are you concerned about woodgrain/texture showing through? That's a separate thing from getting good adhesion and color coverage IMO.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2023 02:26

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

Schiavona posted:

A little concerned about woodgrain (poplar is new to me) as well as wood fill that I used on screw holds showing through. I've messed up pine enough times to just be wary.

I'd use rustoleum filler primer (easy to get and cheap) and sand before topcoating.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2023 17:28

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

CommonShore posted:

That exchange right there might be one of the most remarkable posting exchanges I have ever seen in my 30+ years of being online: I have an extremely specific request about the interactions between a particular wood finish and an uncommon but sensitive pet. The woodworking thread replies within five minutes with a first-hand experience breakdown for that exact situation with those specific factors. Why settle for less?

This thread lol. It's amazing that it's not the most bookmarked thread on the whole internet.

It reminds me of the guy that lurked for 20 years until he got his 4x4 stuck in the mountains and then posted for help, which he got within like 15 minutes

# ¿ Sep 12, 2023 19:48

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

I'm thinking of making a record cabinet out of this old tabletop.

I think it's cherry, but it has this horrific gel stain on it:

My plan is to sand it all off before I cut it up into pieces for the project. I'm gonna start with 80 grit in the orbital. Does that sound like the right approach?

# ¿ Dec 9, 2023 03:51

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

Hmm yeah. It definitely has 1/4 inch edge banding

I suppose it could be ply and veneered on both sides

Here's the unstained side:

# ¿ Dec 9, 2023 04:33

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

Hah, not that married to this! Given it's not solid wood I'll just use it for scrap in projects. Maybe I can use a chunk of the unstained part for something. I'm glad I asked!

# ¿ Dec 9, 2023 09:19

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

Pics or it didn't happen

# ¿ Dec 20, 2023 05:58

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

Grumio posted:

When you walnut but she keeps routing

# ¿ Jan 2, 2024 23:52

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

Meow Meow Meow posted:

bubinga!

# ¿ Jan 5, 2024 06:25

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

I use imgbb for uploading images on mobile.
https://imgbb.com/upload

# ¿ Jan 9, 2024 00:06

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

# ¿ Jan 31, 2024 06:08

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

Back to the drawering, bored.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2024 05:53

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; Ultra Carp

I posted this piece of wood a while back

Vim Fuego posted:

I'm thinking of making a record cabinet out of this old tabletop.

I think it's cherry, but it has this horrific gel stain on it:

My plan is to sand it all off before I cut it up into pieces for the project. I'm gonna start with 80 grit in the orbital. Does that sound like the right approach?

And I finally finished the cabinet. It's gonna hold the record collection, amp, preamp and the record player.

I decided to lean in to the messed up finish on the piece. It's crazed, scratched, and stained which gives it a used look. I made the side panels and legs out of steel. I decided to rust the steel to give it a distressed look that goes with the old damaged wood finish. The sides are louvered panels for ventilation. I painted the inner surfaces and rusted the outer surfaces with a mixture of vinegar, salt, and hydrogen peroxide. The rust is coated with two coats of paste wax to stop it rubbing off on incidental contact. The front legs are intentionally rusted through to give the piece some dramatic tension.