Page 3
As
you can see in the photo on the right, I've stained the fronts of those shelflike
sections of the carcase. These are where the drawers rest. The photo is a bit
misleading, since I've actually laid it on its back on the floor so I could
work with it more effectively. So this photo's been rotated.
You may notice some blotchiness on the undersides of the sections. That's fine for me: I'm only staining these so we don't see unstained wood when the drawers are open. I'll probably re-finished these a little before the final polyurethaning.
These dividers are also a problem because they're just not the same kind of wood as the rest. I think they're poplar: they have no real grain pattern, they're very smooth, and they're faintly greenish. Also, the gel stain doesn't seem to "stick" as much as it does on the mahogany. I'm hoping to create a stain that's darker than that of the drawers for a nice, heavy outline effect. (It occurs to me that a penetrating, water- or oil-based stain might've been better for poplar, but I'd rather not experiment with that at this stage.)
There are a few "problem" areas. The points where the sections meet the sides create these deep pockets in which the finish pooled. That big section in the middle has running beads on the top and bottom, and the thin groove is also where finish can pool up. And that smooth, vertical edge between the drawers and the side flutes? Well, they're going to need extra attention.
My current plan is to let this first stain coat dry, see how it looks, and decide tomorrow whether to stain it again or to apply polyurethane. And this weekend? Strip, stain, and finish the top. Amazingly, this may have taken me less than a month.
As you recall, I'd finished the flat areas beside the side flutes. But they're just a bit too close to the fronts, and I had to reapply finish, and then I had to sand down the poly, and... well, I screwed up a little Have a look at this close-up:
I know the spiral area looks rough. Frankly, it's a real bitch to sand in those nooks and crannies, and I don't trust myself with a Dremel to do it really surgically proper, like. But it's the flat area above that. Notice how the poly and the stain have eroded? My screwup. Right now, while the stain is drying, I've also applied blue painter's tape over the side flutes, so I can keep those flat areas exposed... because I'm going to have to take them back down to the wood and restain them. Then, I will lay down some polyurethane over the full front of the carcase.
The three photos below show the process I used to fix my mistake. First, I applied some methylene chloride.
Then, after giving it a moment to bubble the stain and previous poly from the wood, I scraped at it with a wire bristle brush.
Once I did that, I applied a layer of stain.
On August 20, I applied polyurethane to the entire front of the carcase. The stain still looks irregular, but I kind of like the look. (I haven't taken photos of this stage yet. It was too messy to bring the nice clean camera anywhere near the project.)
Now
it was time to strip the top of the carcase. I decided that I'd use a liberal
application of methylene chloride to take the paint off in one session, instead
of using Safest Stripper and letting it sit overnight. The moonscape at right
is what the methylene chloride did to the paint finish within thirty seconds
of the application. Sure looks effective as hell, doesn't it?
WRONG. I made several screwups at this stage, none of which I care to document with photos. But all the methylene chloride accomplished was to separate the layer of green paint from a layer of off-white paint underneath. And the green paint came off in flecks, many of which-- still with active methylenechloride on them-- attached themselves to the side of the carcase. Which damaged the finish I'd thought I'd finished days before. So, after some wiping, sanding, some spot-refinishing, and some re-poly-ing, I got that side to look passable. But boy, was THAT a bad idea.
So, here's what I finally did. I wrapped the carcase in plastic, taping it just under the top, to protect it from stray bits of stripper (or banging into it). Then, I covered the top with 3M Safest Stripper, which had been working just fine for me, and which I should've used right off the bat. Then I covered that with wax paper, and let it sit overnight.
On August 25, I started peeling the wax paper back, and scraping the runny paint off. Remember, at the top of this page, when I talked about the gorgeousness of the mahogany bureau's top when I stripped it as an experiment? Well. The Chest of Drawers revealed the same pleasures, and thanks to my having a camera nearby, here's what it looked like.
At far right is the wax paper, with the paint sticking to it. In the middle is the area I've just exposed, with some paint flecks and gummy finish-residue in need of a wiping-off. At left is the surface of the bureau's top, wiped clean with a rag and alcohol.
So, after a few reapplications of stripper, some cleaning with alcohol, here are three views of the semi-completed top.
The top of the chest of drawers is not in perfect shape. Some of the veneer on the left rear corner has chipped away, and despite some glue work, there's still a loose bit there. Have a look: I've stuck a dental pick into the loose veneer point.
The first job was to get the veneer glued down. So I put some glue on a thin strip of paper, slid it into the gap, and clamped it shut while I went to work on another problem.
The
photo at left-- which has been enhanced a little-- shows the second moist noticeable
bit of damage on the top. It's a deep rut, pretty much like the scar left by
a ball-point pen on soft wood. Thankfully, it wasn't a gouge, which
would have penetrated the veneer. This was just a line where the wood fibers
underneath had been crushed a little.
I'd read about a fix for these dings in one of the woodworking magazines, and here was an opportunity to try it. The idea was that the wood fibers needed some water to expand back to their normal shape. So, I dribbled some water along the scar, rubbing my finger in to break up the beading. Then, I placed a paper towel on it, and applied a hot laundry iron for a short while. The idea was that the heat'd expand the water that had soaked into the ding.
It actually worked. The line is still visible, as it's also discolored, but it's now smooth and flush with the rest of the top's surface. I figure that the sanding I'll be doing tomorrow will reduce that line a bit. But I can't eliminate it entirely.
All
the paint has been removed. I've done as much repair work as I can to restore
the top, so the last job left is to patch the thing so it's smooth,
at least.
So, in the photo at right, you'll see that I applied dabs of wood filler (stainable wood filler, of course) to the small holes and gouges in the top. Most of them are extremely small, smaller than a match head. Perhaps one or two are bigger. But, I filled them in, and now I'll just wait until the filler dries before sanding the whole thing nice and smooth and flush.
But the patch job at the left rear is larger, of course. So, I filled those in. Below, you'll see what I have to sand away.
It can still look nice. But I'll have to see how it looks stained. If it stains to a nice, light color, than I can sort of "fake" the wood grain. There's several ways to do this. I could paint it in with darker stain and a fine brush. or, I could make fine cuts in the wood filler with an Xacto, and the stain would fill those cuts and remain dark. But, that will have to remain until tomorrow, I guess.
Today, I sanded the top. I sanded the filler areas flush with 100-grit sandpaper. Then, after all was nice and even, I sanded the entire surface flush with 220-grit paper, and I followed that with a sanding using a nice, brand new 320-grit sanding sponge. So the top is pretty durned smooth right now, and ready for staining.
I don't have any photos, but I can report that the attempt to pre-stain the filler'd areas to make them less obvious didn't go too well. The 'stainable filler' wasn't as permeable to a stain as I'd hoped, gel stain or water-based finish. So there are a few spots which look a little lighter than the rest of the top. Once again, I invoke the "charm of "character," and push forward to get this project done.
Again,
the gel stain dries very quickly, and if you don't wipe off the excess you can
get clumps here and there. I had this problem with the sides, but they didn't
show up very much. But the top... well, this is visible, flat, and practically
at eye level. I found that one way to even the stain out was to wipe it on,
and wipe off the excesses not with a cloth, but a cloth soaked in mineral
spirits. These are usually used to remove gel stains, but I found that,
after the stain started to dry, a small amount of mineral spirits softened it
and made it easier to spread around.
The lighting in the shop made a good photo damn near impossible, so the photo above has been enhanced a little. But, I'm letting it dry tonight, and tomorrow I'll start lathering on the polyurethane.
Oh,
and there's a little improvisation I'd like to pass along. As you may have noticed
in these photos, my basement workshop has a fair number of exposed pipes running
under the joists down the middle of the ceiling. This is one reason why my basement
isn't really "finished" with ceiling tiles: I'd greatly prefer being
able to fix my plumbing without the bother of working past a framework.
However, since I don't have a subflooring in my house (it's an old house), dust and debris filters through the cracks and drops right down onto any refinishing projects I have. So, I put up a temporary ceiling: a nice big sheet of Tyvek, which I staplegunned to the joists. Keeps the dust off the project, and it's easily removable if disaster strikes.
Copyright 2000-6 Brian Siano
(unless otherwise noted)