Pair of Dressers

[Mark Rainey]

Nice Glenn. Did you use seal coat thinned 50/50 X2? And what is your color mix?

[Michael Burnside]

That looks great. Looking forward to seeing the drawer fronts pull it together.

[glenn bradley]

Nice Glenn. Did you use seal coat thinned 50/50 X2? And what is your color mix?

Sorry for the delay in answering. Where I use shellac on the inside areas (to avoid off gas smells) I hit canned Seal Coat with DNA at 50:50. I use an oil varnish mix with some Transtint dye for color as a base coat on show areas. The cherry will color nicely on its own but I give it a jump start with a base coat of dye in McCloskey spar, BLO, and mineral spirits.

I don't usually use the word "thrilled" but I am thrilled to get back to work on these.
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I was happy to get the base color coat and sealer coat on before my hand surgery. I anticipated a couple of weeks recovery that turned into four. At any rate; I sand the sealer coat to eliminate any irregularities.
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I keep an eye out for clearance on shower curtains of a good weight. I have picked up quite a few for a couple of bucks over the years.
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They make good heavy drop cloths that last a surprisingly long time.
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The "arc wedges" I am using to give me ground clearance are actually the cut outs from my DC pipe hangers from years ago.
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I have tacked (a rag squirted with mineral spirits) all the parts and am ready to start in with the film coat. I am still not 100% so we will see how far I get. I plan to take the process in bite-sized chunks so I don't get myself into trouble .

[glenn bradley]

I had to do a repair on a surface defect that I missed. Whatever the process problem was I did it on one board of both tops before glue up. I stripped both tops and am in the process of refinishing them. I have a coat or two to go but since the latest coat is dry to the touch I can make some sawdust.

I got the final OK from SWMBO on the pulls. They will be very dark Peruvian walnut to strike a contrast with the cherry. I got the final OK on a form that I have used for other people's dressers but never for anything in our house. Here is one with walnut pulls from about 7 years ago.

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I think LOML was always unhappy that this one went to someone else. Maybe this is her way of getting some of that back .

The pulls will use 8-32 inserts for attachment. This also helps with the shaping of the pulls while making them. I use a sort of trammel rig at the edge sander. Then a fence at the spindle sander.
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The actual pulls will be quite dark. The one shown is just a mock up to make sure I remember the procedure from 7 years ago

[stephen thomas]

Neat!
I can see those in aluminum or stainless on a deco influenced piece!

[glenn bradley]

A little more work on the pulls. Second coat of dye will be darker.

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[Mike Allen1010]

Very, very nice! Glenn do you spray your finishes? if yes, why do you prefer that vs. brush on?

Thanks!

[glenn bradley]

Very, very nice! Glenn do you spray your finishes? if yes, why do you prefer that vs. brush on?

Thanks!

For small things that will get a lot of handling like drawer or door pulls I will top coat whatever else I do with a rattle can lacquer. For the main pieces I use an old school wipe-on oil varnish blend. I used to use Cabot's modified phenolic that was an early synthetic varnish. It has all but disappeared from California along with a few other decent, reliable products (a problem you can possibly relate to; I used to live in Vista and am now an hour or so north).

I tried a few General Finishes products and some others with results other than what I was after and have currently landed on McCloskey's SPAR 7509. I blend this with varying ratios of BLO, mineral spirits, and Japan Drier depending on what I am after. The gloss varnish component yields a satin / semi-gloss finish when wiped off.

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This is only useful if you are after the semi-gloss / satin finish I frequently use. For a gloss finish I currently brush as I have not yet gotten good enough at spraying to get a good consistent result.

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I am still working on the spraying skill but often fall back to "what I know" since I am getting older and lazier

[Mike Allen1010]

thanks Glenn- super helpful!

I also rely on wipe/brush on finishes primarily because I don't have the space for spraying set up etc.