Display Cabinet
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- This topic has 12 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 1 month ago by Marilyn Moreno.
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3 March 2016 at 4:32 am #135247
I was asked by some friends to build a display cabinet for their store. The carcass is baltic birch plywood edged with pine and the doors are pine. I did the joinery for the carcass on the table saw (about 70 dadoes) and the doors by hand.
The stain on the pine went a bit blotchy, but overall, it turned out ok.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.3 March 2016 at 4:42 am #135250Pine is difficult to stain you have to basically suffocate it to death and still it won’t be even coated. The good news is you can always make it look rustic like you did so well done.
3 March 2016 at 11:23 am #135309Nice work! I shudder at the thought of cutting all those housings by hand, I have a suspicion that the use of housings has multiplied greatly since the advent of the machine age. I must admit I rarely cut one by hand even in solid wood.
Wax is much-maligned as a finish but I like it for pine, more often than not the end result is supposed to look somewhat rustic or distressed and wax helps create that aged look. Also I find tinted waxes give a more even colour change than staining.
How long did it take?
Matt
3 March 2016 at 1:28 pm #135316@chemical_cake
The carcass took about 6 hours of shop time, the doors about another 3. The finishing took well over an hour per coat with a coat of stain and 3 coats of wipe on poly.If I did this again, I think I would do at least the staining before assembly.
9 March 2016 at 2:21 pm #135476That’s a nice cabinet. Good selection of hardware too.. Looks like it’s the full 8 feet tall..
The one thing I’ve used in the past before staining pine is a wood conditioner. It applies quickly and dries just as fast. Then you stain. I think it seals the pores on soft woods, minimizing blotches and steaks.9 March 2016 at 4:56 pm #135482Thanks Marilyn.
I’ve had succsess using water based dyes on pine. The trick was to wet it to raise the grain, lightly sand it, then wipe it down with alcohol before applying the dye. The idea was to remove any pitch etc. before dyeing it.
I think I will have to try the conditioner next time I used an oil based stain on pine.
10 March 2016 at 3:40 am #135489I missed this one – haven’t been checking in as regularly lately. That’s a really nice piece, Peter. I’ll bet it was nerve wracking getting all the parts to fit into the dadoes.
I once made a piece in poplar with raised panels in the side panels and the doors. The angled edges of the panels took stain poorly (especially the end grain) on the side panels, but great on the doors. The difference was that I sanded the door panels to a finer grit. I always wondered if that extra sanding filled the pores better with fine dust and so it took the stain better. So now I wonder if that would make any difference on your pine piece. Any idea?
10 March 2016 at 11:50 pm #135523@mattmcgrane
I was freaking out about the glue up until I realized I could do it in stages. The 3/8th parts all have a sliding fit (with a little percussive persuasion). So I glued up the main carcass. then added the 3/8th shelves, then added the vertical dividers. That allowed me to retain what little hair I have.I seem to recall that you should sand end grain at least one grit finer because of the way it absorbs stain. Your theory may be why.
I’ve been back to the store a few times since I delivered it and I must admit it looks quite good to me now. I think we get too close to our projects and are aware of everything that is short of perfection. A little time and distance allow us to look at it more objectively.
11 March 2016 at 2:08 am #135524You’re so right about that last comment, Peter. I just read an article about just that – how when we show (or give) a project to someone, we often tell them why it is not so great. The point of the article was that we should just keep our mouth closed and not tell them. We are typically the only ones who will see any flaw. The customer will love it.
11 March 2016 at 1:01 pm #135536BTW George, the wood conditioner works with oil based stains and the process you describe above may actually be similar to what this product does.
We tend to be our own worst critic. I guess it’s in our nature to seek perfection. And isn’t that the most frequently used word by P. Sellers: perfect!
We have to have something to aim for.. -
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