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Thread: Chestnut Vanity

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Williamsburg, Virginia
    Posts
    112

    Chestnut Vanity

    I just completed and installed a new bathroom vanity for our log cabin. Much of our cabin furniture is made from wormy chestnut and our existing vanity lacked storage and counter space. I purchased a half pickup load of chestnut barnwood 2 x 4's last year and decided to test my resawing ability and construct a chestnut vanity. Most of the 2 x 4's were 8' long and I wanted the longest resawn pieces so I could defect and select best portion for specific parts.

    I found my best yield on the long pieces was to surface one edge and face on the jointer and mark a straight line at 15/16" from the jointed face for my saw line to provide pieces that would yield at least one board that would surface out to 3/4". Depending upon the rough thickness and volume removed to flatten the board the other piece ranged from 5/8" to 1". The thinner boards were needed for the drawer faces (s2s to 1/2") and the shaker style door panels (s2s 7/16"). After resawing several of the chestnut 2 x 4's I found that my chestnut yielded 3 distinct colors & textures - beige, dark brown and several reddish boards. I was hoping to use a light stain for the finish but discovered on some sample pieces that a natural tung oil finish highlighted the color variations. I ended up using the brown boards for the face frame and drawer fronts and the lighter beige boards for the vanity top. The few reddish boards that emerged from jointing went back into the lumber pile for another project. All boards were checked for metal using a newly purchased metal detecting wand and found 3 boards with embedded nails and one board with 2 jacketed rifle bullets.

    By the time I got to resawing for the vanity top I decided to resaw the boards against the short width which yielded 4 slices, 2 pair of book matched straight grained boards. After glueing the top panel, cutting to size (23" x 49"), cutting the sink cutout, edge profile on 3 edges and sanding I filled the remaining 130 worm and nail holes with clear epoxy using a toothpick to direct the glue. I decided to fill the holes so any spill on the counter top wouldn't end up in another compartment! I only filled the holes on the counter top.

    For the finish I used Watco dark walnut oil stain which did a great job of blending the color contrast of the chestnut and topped the finish with 4 coats of Waterlox Original High Gloss Finish, all applied by hand with pads.

    The design placed the sink bowl off center so it would be centered when the door is open and to align with the existing drain pipe. The door panels were finished prior to assembly to avoid any reveal of raw wood in case of panel movement.

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    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]If you first don't succeed, TRY, TRY AGAIN...

  2. #2
    Really nice! Looks a lot like butternut.

    I'm curious how you applied the Waterlox Gloss by hand. Did you have to thin it?

  3. #3
    Very nice Don! A whole lot better than what was there originally, too!
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Williamsburg, Virginia
    Posts
    112
    I used the Waterlox straight out of the can. I applied liberally to the vanity top and smoothed it out with a finishing pad I purchased at Lowes. I applied one coat per 24 hours as per the instructions. I've used the Waterlox on a second vanity here at my home which is made out of curly heart pine and had great results, making the figure just pop. (See attached)

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    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]If you first don't succeed, TRY, TRY AGAIN...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    State College, PA
    Posts
    376
    Very nice work! I love the chestnut.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Lewisville, NC
    Posts
    1,359
    Love the look of chestnut.....beautiful work!

    Jim

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Cincinnati, OH
    Posts
    924
    I will soon be installing a cherry vanity that has a carcass similar to yours. What finish did you apply to the interior of the cabinet? My plywood currently has 2 layers of shellac but I am considering a paint finish. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!
    Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    Totally beautiful!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    Looks a lot like butternut.
    Latest issue of Woodshop News has a blurb about butternut...and they mention that the more gnarly grades are sometimes used to mimic...chestnut.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Williamsburg, Virginia
    Posts
    112
    I used some birch plywood purchased @ Lowes which was primed on one side. I oriented the primed sides to the cabinet void under the sink and left it unfinished. I did put a coat of the Watco Dark Walnut stain on birch side on the far left where we are storing towels.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]If you first don't succeed, TRY, TRY AGAIN...

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