I thought I wuold put up a couple of pictures of a display table that I made for an auction thta is held as a fund raiser every 2 years. The nParent's association spend 2 years collecting items and every thing imaginable to auction off and raise funds for capital projects at our school. I usually volunteer to make something to be auctioned off. This year I had decided to make this display table. The legs, aprons and top frame are from african mahogany. The veneer top panel is a 4 way bookmatch of Pau Amarillo bordered with an ebony inlay. I am usually an "oil finish" kind of guy, but decided to attempt to use lacquer on this project. In the process I learned numerous things. 1) always find a grain filler that is appropriate and use it before beginng to build a high gloss, smooth finish I initially could not find a clear grain filler and did not want to use a filler that would muddy the veneer so I ended up putting way too many coats of lacquer to get to the end result.
2) I like the quick dry time of lacquer(although I negated it by needing to put on so many coats 3) I do not like dealing with the "smell/respiratory factor" of lacquer. The smell lingers forever.
I have since found some "lacquer like" water based products that I intend to try and see if they have the good qualities without the smell factor. I have also found a clear grain filler to use on the next veneer panel that needs filling.
Give me your likes and dislikes on the table. This was my first attempt at legs with curves on all 4 sides. They turned out OK even though it took forever. After doing these, I figure I could probably speed up that process next time.
Thanks for looking,
Jim
