Twin bed - dye/shellac/polycrylic

[Brendan Guyot]

Hi Everyone,
I needed a bed for my son, so I decided to build one (of course!).
Not wanting to spend much on expensive hardwoods (darn economy, hey?), I decided to try something different for a change: I used good ol' construction lumber!
To give credit where due, the concept of the design was not mine, but rather something I found on the web here:
http://woodgears.ca/bed/twin_plan/index.html
I adapted it for my needs; namely lowering it to the ground (in case my two year old falls out), and rounding the headboard/footboard, and round-over all edges, and a few other minor tweaks.
Okay, okay - onto finishing:
I finished it with water based honeytone amber aniline dye, one coat of orange shellac, then two coats of gloss minwax polycrylic.
Check out the attached pictures - not bad for $50 a few days of work, hey? I think it has a unique rustic look; something you'd expect to see at a cottage.
Anyone else try interesting finishes for cheap wood like this?
Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised with how this turned out since, so I thought I'd share it here.
Brendan

[Danny Thompson]

Reminiscent of furniture you would find in a lodge or log cabin. Nice effect, Brendan.

[Doug Hobkirk]

1. I like the bed, nice details.
2. I think the head/foot board rounding and extra protrusion of the posts are very good.
3. Did you use 1x4's for the slats and if so do they seem strong enough to support 225# body?
4. What brand alanine dye (or does it matter)? It looks darker than I would expect for a color called "honeytone amber."
5. Did you scuff sand or use steel wool between coats?

[Prashun Patel]

Very nice work. It's hard to get an even tone on grainy pine like that. Hats off.

Also, kudos on making the Polycrylic work.

Did you rub yr piece out, bkz it looks more semigloss than gloss (I like the sheen)

[Brendan Guyot]

Hi All, thanks for the comments and compliments.
To answer a few questions:
1. Yes, I used 1x4's for the slats. It is strong enough for me at 200lbs, so it'll be good enough for my 25lb son for a long time! The slats flex, but that's what they're supposed to do.
2. The aniline dye was from Lee Valley. I mixed it from a powder according to the directions (1 oz powder to 1L water, I think), however I applied it quite heavily with a soaked rag since I wanted it a bit darker than true 'honeytone amber'. This soft wood was quite thirsty, so it absorbed it like crazy! A bit blotchy, but ah well. Rustic, right?
3. Between coats of the polycrylic, I lightly sanded with 320 grit paper. No steel wool on water based finishes! Not that it would have mattered much on this project...
4. I didn't rub out the polycrylic, I just applied with a paint brush and left it. I have also used satin polycrylic in the past, but it turns nice wood into plastic-looking cheap furniture (in my opinion). Interestingly, the paint brush was bleeding color into the polycrylic can; presumably from the orange shellac? Not sure why; maybe I didn't let the shellac cure long enough (a few hours), or maybe my shellac was cut too thick (probably 2-3 lb cut since I ran out of DNA, oops). I have tried polycrylic directly over the dye, and discovered that the polycrylic (water-based) dissolves the dye (also WB) and causes nasty streaking in the dye. Hence, the shellac to seal in the dye first.
I should point out that the reason I've chosen these finishes is that I do all my finishing in my house, so I avoid using oil-based stains, mineral spirits, ployurethane (yuck), and other nasty chemicals. I only use water-based dyes, BLO, shellac, and WB polycrylic if I really need to.
Brendan