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Oct. 24th, 2005 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI made some progress on the dresser project today.
Among other things, I got all the remnants of finish (edges of pieces, bendy parts, you know) off the body of the dresser that I'm going to get off the thing. I sanded out all that was going to get sanded out, first with 200-grit paper and then with medium steel wool. It was pretty smooth and I thought it looked good. However, on the advice of the internet, I'd bought some 4-ought steel wool. Since I had it anyway, I took it and sanded the body of the dresser all over. Fuck. I thought it was smooth before. It felt smooth. I was wrong. I did not know from my ass. Now it's smooth and damn near shiny without any finish on it. And, y'know, if it does this on shit no-name wood with assorted dings and scratches that are a bit too deep to sand out, I am having difficulty imagining what it would to to actual pretty wood, wood with a name and a purpose and some fucking aesthetics.
I also glued the last drawer back together and glued in half of my drawer slider rail thingies that I made the other day. The other half will wait a day or so until I can flip the dresser over to its other side and glue them down. (You're supposed to "clamp" stuff. I put bricks on the stuff I'm gluing because I do not have clamps but I do have bricks.) I really like the tip on the squeeze bottle of Elmer's Wood Glue. It's nice for laying a decent sized bead of glue. The bottle also comes with a lid, which I think is a good idea. I wish they made lids for caulk. (Caulk is a fairly major feature in my workplace.)
To reward myself for doing a good job sanding (I hate sanding), I took out my (came in the mail today) tung oil (real) and citrus solvent (real) and mixed 'em half-and-half as per the suggestions of the manufacturer (for the first coat, that's what they tell you to do. Subsequent coats of tung oil will not need to be thinned.) and I oiled the body of the dresser as per the instructions. Couple of things worth noting here.
1. Citrus oil smells like citrus. It's yummy.
2. Applying a coat of tung oil is really easy and fast.
3. Holy fuck is it pretty.
4. Not kidding about the pretty thing.
5. Cleanup is a snap.
6. My house smells like oranges.
7. Still really pretty. And I DID wipe off the extra like the bottle says to do.
8. It evened out the color well enough that I'm happy. (I was worried that the worst of the water stains were going to be really obvious. They're not. I know where they are, but I know where to look.)
9. Did I mention the totally 100% non-toxic part? Howzabout the no-petrochemicals-part?
10. Also. The pretty. Smells like oranges.
I've got more sanding and more coats to do, of course, and the eventual owner is going to have to get a maintaining-the-finish tutorial and supplies, but I don't think that either of those will be a problem. More of a problem is going to be not eating the dresser. So pretty! Smells so good!
Among other things, I got all the remnants of finish (edges of pieces, bendy parts, you know) off the body of the dresser that I'm going to get off the thing. I sanded out all that was going to get sanded out, first with 200-grit paper and then with medium steel wool. It was pretty smooth and I thought it looked good. However, on the advice of the internet, I'd bought some 4-ought steel wool. Since I had it anyway, I took it and sanded the body of the dresser all over. Fuck. I thought it was smooth before. It felt smooth. I was wrong. I did not know from my ass. Now it's smooth and damn near shiny without any finish on it. And, y'know, if it does this on shit no-name wood with assorted dings and scratches that are a bit too deep to sand out, I am having difficulty imagining what it would to to actual pretty wood, wood with a name and a purpose and some fucking aesthetics.
I also glued the last drawer back together and glued in half of my drawer slider rail thingies that I made the other day. The other half will wait a day or so until I can flip the dresser over to its other side and glue them down. (You're supposed to "clamp" stuff. I put bricks on the stuff I'm gluing because I do not have clamps but I do have bricks.) I really like the tip on the squeeze bottle of Elmer's Wood Glue. It's nice for laying a decent sized bead of glue. The bottle also comes with a lid, which I think is a good idea. I wish they made lids for caulk. (Caulk is a fairly major feature in my workplace.)
To reward myself for doing a good job sanding (I hate sanding), I took out my (came in the mail today) tung oil (real) and citrus solvent (real) and mixed 'em half-and-half as per the suggestions of the manufacturer (for the first coat, that's what they tell you to do. Subsequent coats of tung oil will not need to be thinned.) and I oiled the body of the dresser as per the instructions. Couple of things worth noting here.
1. Citrus oil smells like citrus. It's yummy.
2. Applying a coat of tung oil is really easy and fast.
3. Holy fuck is it pretty.
4. Not kidding about the pretty thing.
5. Cleanup is a snap.
6. My house smells like oranges.
7. Still really pretty. And I DID wipe off the extra like the bottle says to do.
8. It evened out the color well enough that I'm happy. (I was worried that the worst of the water stains were going to be really obvious. They're not. I know where they are, but I know where to look.)
9. Did I mention the totally 100% non-toxic part? Howzabout the no-petrochemicals-part?
10. Also. The pretty. Smells like oranges.
I've got more sanding and more coats to do, of course, and the eventual owner is going to have to get a maintaining-the-finish tutorial and supplies, but I don't think that either of those will be a problem. More of a problem is going to be not eating the dresser. So pretty! Smells so good!
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-25 04:06 am (UTC)*smile* tung oil is one of my favorite things and can turn even the crappiest wood furniture into something amazing.
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Date: 2005-10-25 05:33 pm (UTC)It makes it look like poured gold. The Ark of the Freaking Covenant. Knotless hardwood, carefully sanded and treated, looks like it belongs in the court of the Sun King.
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Date: 2005-10-26 12:49 am (UTC)Any furniture photos, then to show off your hard work?
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Date: 2005-10-26 12:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-26 01:20 am (UTC)Before:
Now:
This is not the exact same piece of the furniture because I am not going to scrutinize every single handle (there are ten) to make sure that I get the proper one. It's sufficient for the general idea, though. The "now" picture doesn't have a handle on it because I took them off for ease of refinishing.