I had read many articles and watched many videos that showed how a piece dramatically comes to life when finish is applied to it. So I was really exited about this step in the process. When I was done, what had started as a dry, white plank of pine had transformed in to something I was really happy with as my first project.
Getting your head around the plethora of options present in wood finishing can be daunting for any new woodworker. For a new Indian woodworker what complicates matters more is that the local terminology for these things is nothing like what you'll read on the internet. The lack of proper (or any, in many cases) labelling on the products that are available locally does not help either. Overall this can be rather frustrating for an inexperienced person like me.
After much confusion and hunting around I stumbled upon a ready to use shellac product on the internet, and perhaps because of my good deeds in a past life I actually found it in a local hardware store. It was marketed as a clear shellac finish so I assumed that it would be one of those blonde shellac varieties that have a minimal amber tint that's otherwise characteristic of shellac. And that's the kind I wanted.
Now while I was still working on the jewellery box build, it so happened one day that we needed to organize some kitchen space. So I took this opportunity to knock together a simple plywood rack and decided to try out my chosen shellac product on it. Lucky I did, because the turmeric yellow tint that it produced was not at all to my taste.
So it was back to square one for choosing a finish. This time I decided to waste no more time and picked up the first Polyurethane (PU) based wood finish I found on shop shelves. I chose one that said Golden Brown on the box, as I wished to give the white pine a slightly darker hue.
I prepared the finish by diluting it 50-50 with mineral spirit for easier application. Now if you doubt whether the plastic can in the above photo indeed contains mineral spirit that just shows how amateur and silly you are. It obviously is mineral spirit. Er... no matter there no label any kind. But hey, what else can it possibly be.
I removed the hardware from my box so as not to get any finish on it. This turned out to be a bad idea as when I subsequently installed it back once the finish was applied and done, the screws did not go in that tightly and one of the screws in fact caused a minor split. Not sure if this was due to pine being such a soft wood, but henceforth I'll always install the hardware last.
Once the box and the lid were separate, I sanded their surface down with #120 grit sandpaper followed by #220 grit. I cleaned off the dust with a damp rag. I then sprayed water on the whole thing and left it to dry. This resulted in raising the grain of the wood slightly, which I then sanded back down with some #220 sandpaper. This step prevents the wood-grain raising from happening on application of the first coat of your finish.
I got a 1" synthetic bristle brush and used it to apply the first coat of the diluted PU finish. It went on quite easily and dried completely in about 6 hours. Although I did leave it overnight for good measure.
Once dry I sanded it lightly with #400 grit sandpaper. I then repeated the process to put on a second coat. Finally I applied the third coat and by now the wood grains had really started coming in to their own. I even got a hint of chatoyancy in some parts. Although advised, I did not do a final round of sanding after the third coat had dried. The surface at the point was already quite smooth.
With the hardware back in place I was almost done. The one thing that was left was to install the glass. I got a piece of 4mm glass cut to size. I had to sand its edges with #80 grit sandpaper in places to get it to fit. I then cut two little 3/4" squares, 1/4" thick out of some scrap. I cut them further in half to get 4 little triangles that I then shaped using a file to create little stops to hold the glass in place. I simply stuck these on to the inner edge of the lid frame to fix the glass between them and the 1/4" lip I had already had on the lid.
To finish the box off I bought some maroon velvet cloth and stuck it to the inside bottom of the box.
The end result had come out all right. The process had taught me many things and was a delight to go through. Here are some more photos of the finished box.
My journey with kaath has begun on a great note!
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| My finished Jewellery Box! (Click for more photos) |
Selecting a finish
Getting your head around the plethora of options present in wood finishing can be daunting for any new woodworker. For a new Indian woodworker what complicates matters more is that the local terminology for these things is nothing like what you'll read on the internet. The lack of proper (or any, in many cases) labelling on the products that are available locally does not help either. Overall this can be rather frustrating for an inexperienced person like me.
After much confusion and hunting around I stumbled upon a ready to use shellac product on the internet, and perhaps because of my good deeds in a past life I actually found it in a local hardware store. It was marketed as a clear shellac finish so I assumed that it would be one of those blonde shellac varieties that have a minimal amber tint that's otherwise characteristic of shellac. And that's the kind I wanted.
Now while I was still working on the jewellery box build, it so happened one day that we needed to organize some kitchen space. So I took this opportunity to knock together a simple plywood rack and decided to try out my chosen shellac product on it. Lucky I did, because the turmeric yellow tint that it produced was not at all to my taste.
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| My plywood rack finished with a ready to use Shellac finish. |
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| No! I did not rip off the label on that mineral spirit can. That's how it came from the shop! Sigh! |
I prepared the finish by diluting it 50-50 with mineral spirit for easier application. Now if you doubt whether the plastic can in the above photo indeed contains mineral spirit that just shows how amateur and silly you are. It obviously is mineral spirit. Er... no matter there no label any kind. But hey, what else can it possibly be.
Applying the finish
I removed the hardware from my box so as not to get any finish on it. This turned out to be a bad idea as when I subsequently installed it back once the finish was applied and done, the screws did not go in that tightly and one of the screws in fact caused a minor split. Not sure if this was due to pine being such a soft wood, but henceforth I'll always install the hardware last.
Once the box and the lid were separate, I sanded their surface down with #120 grit sandpaper followed by #220 grit. I cleaned off the dust with a damp rag. I then sprayed water on the whole thing and left it to dry. This resulted in raising the grain of the wood slightly, which I then sanded back down with some #220 sandpaper. This step prevents the wood-grain raising from happening on application of the first coat of your finish.
I got a 1" synthetic bristle brush and used it to apply the first coat of the diluted PU finish. It went on quite easily and dried completely in about 6 hours. Although I did leave it overnight for good measure.
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| The box after the first coat of the Golden Brown PU Finish. |
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| Third and final coat applied and drying. |
With the hardware back in place I was almost done. The one thing that was left was to install the glass. I got a piece of 4mm glass cut to size. I had to sand its edges with #80 grit sandpaper in places to get it to fit. I then cut two little 3/4" squares, 1/4" thick out of some scrap. I cut them further in half to get 4 little triangles that I then shaped using a file to create little stops to hold the glass in place. I simply stuck these on to the inner edge of the lid frame to fix the glass between them and the 1/4" lip I had already had on the lid.
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| The little triangular pieces glued and held in place with some wedging action using two pieces of scrap. |
To finish the box off I bought some maroon velvet cloth and stuck it to the inside bottom of the box.
The end of a beginning
The end result had come out all right. The process had taught me many things and was a delight to go through. Here are some more photos of the finished box.
My journey with kaath has begun on a great note!
Good job Avinash - the finished product looks nice - clean cut and smooth joints. Esp the alignment for hinges and the lock. If not, they easily can spoil the looks of a well made box. And an extra point for mentioning Mrs's support and patience. Hope to see more of your projects.
ReplyDeleteThanks Snehal. You seem to have a keen eye for woodworking. I guess it's just the keen eye of a creative person that you yourself are.
DeleteLoved reading your blog!