The staining process was completed last weekend, and the stain had all week to completely dry. Starting Saturday and finishing on Sunday morning I added three coats of Minwax water-based, semi-gloss poly. I think it turned out quite well, and will…
Getting close now… a coat of Minwax water-based wood conditioner on all surfaces. This will help eliminate the blotching that can happen with pine. It also prevents the stain from soaking into end-grain, which causes it to be darker. Great product, just…
The assembly phase of the desk has been completed. I added some corner braces that will serve two puroses: First, it wil stregthen the desk, and second it will provide a place to attache the top. The drawers were also…
Finally at a point where the glue-up can begin. Since I have already dry fit all the pieces prior to final sanding, this glue-up process was actually quite easy. All mortise and tenons were completely covered in yellow carpenter’s glue…
The two remaining side pieces that will enclose the drawers were finally completed. These will be held in place with pocket screws, as there is no way to drill mortises with the nails that would be in the way. …
The assembled blanks that I worked on yesterday are fully dry and ready to be assembled. First a few tenons have to be drilled in the desk legs and the front and back rails. This is the same routine as…
Temperature is dropping, just in the upper 40’s this morning. Have to work with the garage door down! I want to glue up the pieces needed to make the drawer rails and stiles. As with the previous glue-ups, I am…
With the tenons completed, the mortices were next. Same process as before, drill press and forstner bits. Once all that was completed, I dry fit the pieces together to make sure all was good. Since the sides are enclosed, I…
Work continued on the desk today, mortise and tenon work was on the agenda. Unfortunately I only got some of the tenon work done. Using a back-saw, I cut the tenons to length and then a…
Take two… as I previously mentioned, the rails I milled twisted like a curly fries. Time to try another method, so for each rail, I laminated three pieces of 3/4″ pine and let them dry all week. Today, I surface…