Shameless Festool Sander Plug

[Per Swenson]

Or , how Festools rotex, 150-3, inline sander, and little palm
sander, Mr. Bob M. and Mr. Lucas (woodshop demos) made my life
easier. Uncle Bob guided us through our sandpaper and sander selection,
Mr. Lucas, through his website, made us aware of Menzerna polish.
I am sharing this to take some of the mystery out of that final
finish. There is not a person who reads this board regularly ,that could (with
a little patience) duplicate this on one of your own projects.
O.K. here comes the plug, I can do this by hand, but never
as flat and or as fast then with these tools and products. Yes I have owned
every major brand of ros. I have even used automotive air powered jitterbugs,
wet trying for just this look. Hand planes,scraper planes and rotten stone slurry.
For me, I am convinced. This is the way to go.
Time is money so, I use Zinnsser seal coat, This is a true 2lb cut shellac
premixed in a can. I flood the surface with two coats using a rag.
Then sand it all off using the 150-3 with 150 brilliant paper.
Another coat of sealer, this time sanding lightly with 220 brilliant.
What's actually happening is I am using shellac as a neutral filler.
Well, with a little amber tint. I know this is getting boring, but do it again and sand it using 400 brilliant. At this point you should have a respectable top,
just unprotected for everyday drinking.
Now the fun begins, We use behlens rock hard table top varnish.
4 coats 24 to 36 hours apart. Sanded in between with the 150-3
and 220 brilliant paper. After the last coat is applied, we walk away for a week or two. Really. The top has to cure. The longer the better.
Yes its tough when you are waiting on a check but.....at this point a
vacation is usually in order.
Back to work. Knock the top down with 800 grit brilliant then 1200.
again with the 150-3.
Time to whip out the Menzerna polish. We use all 4 grades with the
rotex 150 in aggressive polishing mode. Progressively using the hard felt applicator, soft felt, sponge, then lambswool bonnet.
This product is available from Target coatings, and there is lots of
well written information on Mr. Lucas's woodshopdemos.
I am the redneck with his arms in the air, if I can do this, you can too.

[Bill Neely]

Beautiful.

[Karl Laustrup]

That is absolutely beautiful. The bar top that is!!

[Bryan Nuss]

Drop dead georgeous! A masterpiece!

[Mike Cutler]

Per. That is absolutely stunning. It's going to be a crying shame the first time it gets marred during use.
I might have to check into the Rotex. I never really percieved any one particular sander to be that much better than another, but your post and picture certainley show it as such.
John Lucas is a class act. He is just as helpful in real life as he is on his website. I had the oppurtunity to meet John last summer at the Woodcraft in Warwick RI. He and Beth? were doing an demonstration on the Festool circular saw and guide. Nice guy, very unassuming.
Once again Per, thanks for the excellent post on the technique, and for sharing the pic's with us.

P.S. Don't try that "Redneck" stuff on us. Terry Hatfield and Dennis Peacock have already tried it.

[Dave Avery]

Per. That is absolutely stunning. It's going to be a crying shame the first time it gets marred during use.
I might have to check into the Rotex. I never really percieved any one particular sander to be that much better than another, but your post and picture certainley show it as such.
John Lucas is a class act. He is just as helpful in real life as he is on his website. I had the oppurtunity to meet John last summer at the Woodcraft in Warwick RI. He and Beth? were doing an demonstration on the Festool circular saw and guide. Nice guy, very unassuming.
Once again Per, thanks for the excellent post on the technique, and for sharing the pic's with us.

Mike.....

I have the Rotex and have gotten similar results with shellac, then General Finishes Arm-R-Seal, then the Beall polishing system. The Rotex has turned sanding and rubbling out finishes from drudgery to something that's ALMOST fun. Dave.

[Per Swenson]

Per. That is absolutely stunning. It's going to be a crying shame the first time it gets marred during use.

Thank you all for you kindness. Mike, not only is Behlens rock hard table
top varnish, rock hard ,it is darn near indestructible. It has been used
for at least 120 years for fine tables and bartops.
But! if disaster should happen. It is super easy to repair. Its only
shellac and varnish. No stain matching,no filler problems. No sweat.
Just a hefty fee. O.k. Mercenary Redneck.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Wow that is an amazing looking bar! I am sure the customer absolutely loved it!

[John Renzetti]

Hi Per, That work is absolutely stunning. The sander helped but you the craftsman are the one to got it to do exactly what you wanted.
take care,
John

[Mark Riegsecker]

That's an amazing project. Simply outstanding! I've often wanted to ask why some Creekers were so adamant with their Festool purchase. Especially since the brand has only come to my attention about 6 to 8 months ago. Now I've at least got a hint.

Thanks for the pics, Mark

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Now that's a bar!!! Gorgeous work Per!

[John Keane]

Per, the appearance of that bar is the results I would buy any tool for.
Beautifully done. Congratulations.

[Rob Blaustein]

YEs it really is impressive. Not to mention that wine glass inlay--how did you do that, it looks so realistic. Like there was actually a glass of red wine there...I don't remember that part from woodshopdemos.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Beautiful work, Per. About how many hours to you suppose you have in the project?

- Vaughn

[Michael Gabbay]

Not bad for a redneck!

It is really beautiful. The glass is floating! Very cool.