It's hot, humid and I'm in my underwear.   Must be time to stain something.  This piece took me 21 years to get it right.   This is one of the first piece of furniture the High Priestess and I bought when we first moved to IOWA.  It cam from a craftsman who had a shop called "The Loading Dock".  The man was an ex-grad student with a PhD. in Science Education, or at least that's what he said.  I should have seen that as an omen.  The chest of drawers was always going to be stained, but we could never agree on a color.  The HP wanted it to match our furniture, but at the time all we had was the random collection of odds and ends most couple and recently graduated students would have.   There was nothing to match.  Even now the bedroom furniture shades are just a little off.  The Nightstand tables match the bed, but the other chest of drawers (mine) comes from somewhere else.

The piece was already sanded and ready for whatever, but we just couldn't decided.  Personally I think the HP was convienced I would fuck it up and it took her 20 years before she trusted me enough with a brush.  She may have been right.  I've learned quite a deal from my other projects.  For you staining you need patience, time, hot weather, and underwear....lots and lots of underwear.

My technique is always the same: sand to open the wood, pre-conditioner helps the wood take the stain deep into the wood, three light coats of stain, then three coats of polyurethane.  The can of stain always say to wipe away the excess stain, but I find it work better if you use very little stain on the brush and work it into the wood until the brush it almost dry.  Let the piece sit for 3 to 6 hours to dry (NOT IN THE SUN), before adding another coat.  Keep repeating until you have the shade you want.  I always do at least two coats, because the first coat never quite takes evenly due to the difference in the wood itself.

The same goes for the polyurethane coats as well, but I don't brush until dry.  You should have enough on the brush so it flows evenly over the wood but does not run or drip.  You may need a very light touch on the side because gravity will make the coating try to run.  The coat should be thin enough so you can see the brush stroke trails as the poly goes on, but the track should disappear after 15 - 30 second after the stroke.  Let the coat dry completely, at least eight hours.  (Never let it dry in direct sunlight!)  The wood should have hard candy like coating.  Lightly sand with 220 grit sandpaper to remove uneven brushstrokes.  You should have a fine white dust that can brush wiped away easily, as if you were dusting a piece of furniture.  Now you should apply the second coat.  Following the same steps for the first.  afterward you should feel a smooth surface under your fingertips.  The surface should not snag or pull on a soft cloth if brushed over it.  You can stop here, but I always add a third coat.

Some side tips now:  Always use natural hair brushes.  Clean your brushes well after you are done, but don't expect the brush you used for poly to ever get clean.  You may use it for crappy jobs again, but next time you need to work on a show piece BUY A NEW BRUSH!  After cleaning your brushes or if you have to step away for short awhile (having to run to the store or something) wrap your brushes in plastic bags.  Make sure there is very little air in the bag and it's air tight.  This keeps your brushes nice and fresh.

The original piece didn't have handles.  You could open the drawers by pulling on the end of each drawer.  However that always annoyed the HP and it's her chest of drawers anyway.  Handles are highway robbery at any DIYS place: Lowe's, Menard's, Home Depot, etc...   I found mine at  Restore for fifty cent each.  The HP and I also found a lovely dining room set for a steal, but that another story.

I redid the handle in the same cherry wood stain I used on the dresser.  I think they came out great.  How does one add handles and make sure they are centered?  I find a great website for that.  Drilling Guide for Drawer Pulls

Shameless Plugs

DIYS Gardening Part III

As You may have figured out all this work I did last fall, but I'm writing about it now. After finishing the woods frame I wait until I could get wood planks on sale. I really want 2 by 12 planks, but I could swing the price and stay below $50 a week. These planks are 2 x 10 and they work just as well. The frames give me a nice solid brace for the plank and they raise the planks up just enough to give me an extra 2 inches of soil depth. The ground is uneven so there is some extra room to fill in with dirt. I've got 4 by 4 cedar post in each corner and the planks are attached to thoses. The post are cut at 12 inches so the box formed by the planks stand on stills which gives that extra two inches I was talking about. If you look closely you can see what I mean.

So that is 9 2x10 8 foot planks, and 2 4x4 8 foot cedar posts. Total was around $50. Add in a box of deck screws, and I spent a little over my budget for the week.

The next thing to do is just fill them with topsoil and I'll be ready to tuck theses beds down for the winter.

This is the kitchen table. The shade is "Golden Pecan". I like the color, but the High Priestess thinks the color has a little too yellow. Yeah, I can see that. I've had fresh paper-shell pecan in Georgia. The color is similar to the pecan shell in sunlight. So I have to darken the table. I got the table two shades darker and I just have to put on the polyeuthane.

Finally! The Desk is done. I had a bear of a time getting it upstairs and into my office. Technotaz had to help me get it in place. Just feet away from it's finally destination it won't fit through the door! We had to take the door off it's hinges and try again. Failure. Finally, we remove the top of the desk and slid the whole thing through the door.

I'm a victim of my own success. The High Priestess want me to refinish the kitchen table. The table has waterspots, heat damage and paint stains, such is the wear from three kids growing up.

Top picture is the before, bottom the after. Can you see the difference. I think the flash make the wood seem lighter than it's real color. Try clicking on the picture. The writing surface was cleaned with Armour-All.

Staining is a lot like 3D coloring for adult. Follow the rules: stay in the lines, choosing the right colors, and taking your time. The whole act of finishing or refinishing a piece is a lot like making love. Now, before you tune me out bare with me for a moment. (When sanding, staining, and varnishing I have a lot of time to think this stuff up. So you can at least read what the old fool has to say.)

Finishing takes only moments, but it also takes forever. It takes me three days to a week to refinish something. Most of that is wait time. Sanding is like foreplay. Paying attention to each detail makes the finish product so much more enjoyable. You can think of it as "I need to sand this whole desk, table, chair, or floor". Think of it as: "I just need to sand this leg, this drawer, this corner...I have all the time in the world to make this once small spot perfect, well loved, and cared for.."

Sanding makes the wood thirsty for the stain. Just like foreplay should make someone want to touched, caressed and more. In a way you are opening the wood, so the stain can't seep into every pore. It's is like you are bringing the skin alive as well, letting the object of your desire drink in the sensation of the experience.

When you stain, the wood should soak up everything. I know the instructions say I need to wipe the excess off with a cloth, but if I do this right I should not have to . Stain must be apply in coats, light coat, the wood need the chance to drink all that you give it: no more, no less. this is really important for vertical surface, otherwise your final product has runs that stay forever. The brush should be almost before you get more stain. Light even stokes over the entire surface, moving out form the center toward the edges. Blending the starting strokes together with the nearly dry brush so the whole surface is uniform. Always stroking with the grain of the whole. This hides and blends the brush strokes into the grain and make the stain going deep into the wood.

This is a lot like using massage oil on a woman's back. Most people use fair too much, and a sensual massage turns into a Slip'n Slide party at a frat house. Hold out your hand. DO IT! That little well in the palm of you hand should hold about two teaspoons to one tablespoon of oil. That should be enough to do an entire back. Unless the skin is extreme dry you should have no problem making that last. Same rules: Work out from the center, light firm even strokes, moving toward the edges (small of the back, and up toward the neck) Watch the ribs and the spine, no pressure there. Always work with the grain of the skin, that the direction the fine hairs grow out of the skin. Never pour oil directly on the skin, always into your hand first. This give the oil a chance to come to body temperature.

Finally we come to finishing. I use polyeuthane semi-gloss. This part is like foreplay and making love all over again. After the stain has dry for at least 8 hours, I apply a light thin coat of semi-gloss the same way I worked the stain into the wood. I let this dry for 8 to 12 hours (usually overnight), then lightly sand to remove the imperfections. The second coat seal the first, and I left that dry again for 8 to 10 hours. Sand once again and carefully apply a third and final coat. If I done everything correctly the wood should have a deep glow, almost a warmth to the wood. The color and glow should be deep as if the wood has depth and not just a surface. You should be able to see the grain as well.

Gentlemen the same care should be apply to the women you love. She should glow afterwards. Ideally, like the wood, each coat should be followed by her rapture. She should look glorious and well loved.

Guys it's not about you. It's about her, and you should be glad someone puts up with you enough to share something special with you.

Making Money

Sort of... My dresser sold for $25! After Houseworks takes there cut it's$12.50. Yeah I spent all of that on knobs and sandpaper, but it was fun. I can only hope someone is really enjoying my hard work. I almost did not want to sell it because i really liked the way it came out, but I have enough crap in the house. Which bring me to my next little project. Reducing the material possessions I have in my life. I got boxes of stuff I haven't touched in years: clothes, electronics, books, and odds and end that all still work but I never use. I would hold a Garage Sale but I'm too lazy the the High Priestess doesn't want to help. So it's pack a but and ship it off the to the local consignment store.

I fixed my Firestorm 3in1 Sander. I burned out an electrical connection in the unit. It amazes me how simple a lot of the tools we use everyday really are. My sander is nothing more than a motor. Five minutes of cleaning and some soldering and it came roaring back to life.

In reality, the first time I repaired the sander it work for about two hours then I smelled smoke. Ten minute after that I saw flames in the housing. The second time I repaired the unit, I had to replace a wiring connection. It seems the current was too much for the circuit board they were using.

Now my sander is fixed, but now it’s a little temperamental. Sometime you have to jiggle the sander a bit so the electrical connections fire.

Which bring me to my next ten-second item. The Dresser is coming along nicely. I finish sanding it. This weekend I’m working on the staining part. I’m not sure I want to spend the time cleaning the handles. I may just go buy new knobs and stain them, just depend on how cheap they are. So far I got about $40 into this project: $10 for sanding supplies, $10 for my Dremel tool attachments, $5 in stripping solvent, and $5 in sanding masks. This dresser maybe sold at a loss, but the next item should turn a profit because I didn’t exhaust my supplies.

Finally, Finished it doesn’t it look nice.