Woodworking

[Rooster]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

I just finished this one for my sister in law tonight, my fifth one.

Is that purple heart wood? It looks great.

How you do get such a good finish?

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Rooster

Is that purple heart wood? It looks great.

How you do get such a good finish?

It is cedar from the nasty cedar trees that grow around here. We have a mill about 10 miles away.

I sand it with 40 and 80 (belt sander),100,150,220 (orbital sander) then put on sanding sealer and sand it with 220 again prior to applying polyurethane. Thanks for the compliment, like jspchief, it is my least favorite part.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

It is cedar from the nasty cedar trees that grow around here. We have a mill about 10 miles away.

I sand it with 40 and 80 (belt sander),100,150,220 (orbital sander) then put on sanding sealer and sand it with 220 again prior to applying polyurethane. Thanks for the compliment, like jspchief, it is my least favorite part.

Good old random orbit sanders - easily my favorite 'discovery' of the last 5 years or so. I've all but retired my belt-sander and will just hit things with a hand plane before taking some 80 grit on a random orbit sander to smooth things out.

I realized after several years of hating everything that I stained/finished that the reason I didn't like it is that I just don't care for hand-rubbed finishes. They pull out way too much grain and give that colonial look that I don't like. Once I went to harbor freight and got myself a cheap little $10 gravity fed sprayer, I found that I enjoyed my finishes much much more.

May I recommend General Finishes products? I think they make the best stuff out there and their prices are reasonable. Their high performance topcoat has never disappointed me.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Good old random orbit sanders - easily my favorite 'discovery' of the last 5 years or so. I've all but retired my belt-sander and will just hit things with a hand plane before taking some 80 grit on a random orbit sander to smooth things out.

I realized after several years of hating everything that I stained/finished that the reason I didn't like it is that I just don't care for hand-rubbed finishes. They pull out way too much grain and give that colonial look that I don't like. Once I went to harbor freight and got myself a cheap little $10 gravity fed sprayer, I found that I enjoyed my finishes much much more.

May I recommend General Finishes products? I think they make the best stuff out there and their prices are reasonable. Their high performance topcoat has never disappointed me.

I have had two of the orbitals burn up on me in the last two months. I was just out on the Rigid from HD because I didn't have any paperwork and they have discontinued them.. I found a great one at the new Menards and they are guaranteed for two years no hassle. I have already done that once I use it so much.

My planer is max 12 inch and after gluing you end up with 16, 20 and 24 inch wide pieces. I hand block planed the first one after gluing but this new Belt sander with 40 does a better job and grabs the dust real well.

Sure, I will check out the finish recommendation, thanks. I just bought another gallon of the minwax polyurethane from HD last week.

Thanks for bringing the knowledge.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

My planer is max 12 inch and after gluing you end up with 16, 20 and 24 inch wide pieces. I hand block planed the first one after gluing but this new Belt sander with 40 does a better job and grabs the dust real well.

That's really what's kept me from doing any kind of involved hardwood work.

I'm just not good at 'merging' stock. I'm sure it has a name, but when it's time to glue some 2x6s together to form a table-top and then smooth it all out to give it a finished look, I always end up with something with too many high spots or grooves or just an otherwise sloppy look.

Part of the problem is a lack of good bar clamps. Jet makes the top of the line ones and on Black Friday you can find the rare discount on them, but man alive they're expensive. So I make due with mediocre pipe clamps and they just don't hold the pieces together well enough. My planer's a 12 inch Porter Cable and it's a nice machine but I was an idiot and ran a piece with nails in it through there without realizing it and took chunks out of my blades so invariably, when I need it, it's not an option. I guess I could just loosen and offset the blades to cover for the chunks but again, lazy and stupid.

So I'm pretty much incapable of anything approaching furniture grade at this point because anything with a top on it or even a wide side either requires that I buy ridiculously expensive wide stock or somehow affix a plywood (see: shitty) top.

It's like golf and hitting a baseball - I know what I should do, I just don't seem to be able to actually do it.

As for dust collection, I'm kicking myself for not integrating a downdraft table into my bench. Those are miracle workers for sanding. I think I'm going to try a 'hinged' one with legs I can flip down to use and then hook into my dust collection ducts when in use. But again, that goes on the list behind 5 different projects for my daughter that haven't been made in a year, which is to say it will never actually get done.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

That's really what's kept me from doing any kind of involved hardwood work.

I'm just not good at 'merging' stock. I'm sure it has a name, but when it's time to glue some 2x6s together to form a table-top and then smooth it all out to give it a finished look, I always end up with something with too many high spots or grooves or just an otherwise sloppy look.

Part of the problem is a lack of good bar clamps. Jet makes the top of the line ones and on Black Friday you can find the rare discount on them, but man alive they're expensive. So I make due with mediocre pipe clamps and they just don't hold the pieces together well enough. My planer's a 12 inch Porter Cable and it's a nice machine but I was an idiot and ran a piece with nails in it through there without realizing it and took chunks out of my blades so invariably, when I need it, it's not an option. I guess I could just loosen and offset the blades to cover for the chunks but again, lazy and stupid.

.

Do you use biscuits or dowels when merging the stock? I bought a dowel jig and use three spaced evenly and it seems to do the trick. I bought some pretty good long clamps, two 24s and two 36s that have been great. Believe it or not, Walmart has a pretty good little clamp for the small stuff for about three dollars and I have about a dozen of those. I will end up with 10 or so clamps on a piece once it is glued up. Here is a picture with a few clamps on but many more were put on.

My planer is a Dewalt and it says the blades can be reversed. I haven't had to do it yet but the white oak is sure making me think about it.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Do you use biscuits or dowels when merging the stock? I bought a dowel jig and use three spaced evenly and it seems to do the trick. I bought some pretty good long clamps, two 24s and two 36s that have been great. Believe it or not, Walmart has a pretty good little clamp for the small stuff for about three dollars and I have about a dozen of those. I will end up with 10 or so clamps on a piece once it is glued up. Here is a picture with a few clamps on but many more were put on.

My planer is a Dewalt and it says the blades can be reversed. I haven't had to do it yet but the white oak is sure making me think about it.

Dowels but I don't have a jig or anything; I put them on the press and put a stop in there for depth.

I should just spend a few bucks on a biscuit joiner; I've used one a handful of times and have always been impressed by the results.

Your clamp pattern is useful there, as is the idea of using scrap to form an 'edge' on the ends. I try to do something similar but it's more scattershot. I should probably just get more pipe clamps so I can get a better hold. I don't have a good reason not to; my new bench has a 4x6 work surface so I have plenty of room to operate, especially as my table saw has a nice extension table and my assembly table is my outfeed table so I can 'borrow' space from the cast-iron top on the saw or even the extension table as needed.

I have far more shop/tool than I have the skill for is the bottom line and all I can do to address that is keep failing forward. I was looking to make some mobile tool tables (want to build a new rolling table with folding sides for my slider, for instance) and my buddy just looks at me like I'm an idiot and says "guys with 800 sq foot workshops don't need mobile tools; design your space better".

Oh.

[Mike in SW-MO]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Good old random orbit sanders - easily my favorite 'discovery' of the last 5 years or so. I've all but retired my belt-sander and will just hit things with a hand plane before taking some 80 grit on a random orbit sander to smooth things out.

I realized after several years of hating everything that I stained/finished that the reason I didn't like it is that I just don't care for hand-rubbed finishes. They pull out way too much grain and give that colonial look that I don't like. Once I went to harbor freight and got myself a cheap little $10 gravity fed sprayer, I found that I enjoyed my finishes much much more.

May I recommend General Finishes products? I think they make the best stuff out there and their prices are reasonable. Their high performance topcoat has never disappointed me.

Any finish recommendations for hard wood floors?

I've just started sanding.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Mike in SW-MO

Any finish recommendations for hard wood floors?

I've just started sanding.

Water/Oil Emulsified - Glitza Infinity II

Oil - Primero Poloplaz. Stay the **** away from Minwax finish. Their stain is excellent, but finish is pure SHIT.

Water- Don't like any of it, but Pallman 96x is the best of the worst. Bona is okay, too.

Sealer- Pro Finisher Universal Sealer. Varathane makes it, and a normal dude can buy it at Menards


I don't know if you can find the pro finishes at a store.

[Mike in SW-MO]

Originally Posted by notorious

Water/Oil Emulsified - Glitza Infinity II

Oil - Primero Poloplaz. Stay the **** away from Minwax finish. Their stain is excellent, but finish is pure SHIT.

Water- Don't like any of it, but Pallman 96x is the best of the worst. Bona is okay, too.

Sealer- Pro Finisher Universal Sealer. Varathane makes it, and a normal dude can buy it at Menards


I don't know if you can find the pro finishes at a store.

Thanks. I knew somebody would have some experience.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

guarantee that is not you.

He is right, it's me.

Originally Posted by Buzz

Hey notorious, I need to rip out the carpet in the basement and replace, son ruined it when he moved down there before moving out. What's a good cheap replacement for DIY, laminate? and if so what would you recommend?

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

We've gotten the hell away from laminate in rentals and have started using that PVC tile that looks like woodgrain. I don't know what its called but water / moisture doesn't affect it like laminate.

I'll throw in a +1. Buddy of mine installed it in a big area of his house. It is the shit and WAAAAAAAAY cheaper than what I put in my kitchen. Snaps together like laminate. It was hell on his saw blade (all PVC is).

I wish I had done what he did. Christ.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Mike in SW-MO

Any finish recommendations for hard wood floors?

I've just started sanding.

Not a clue.

https://generalfinishes.com/waterbas...tains-topcoats

Can't offer any kind of recommendation either way as I've never done any kind of flooring. I kept some faux hardwood/laminate flooring for my kid's playhouse, but that's the extent of my flooring ability.

I've never gone wrong with General Finishes and it looks like they have a product but apart from that, I'm fairly worthless.

EDIT: See, Notorious is much more useful than I am.