Walnut Buffet

[Rob Price]

Long time lurker, I finally signed up, I figured I would post my latest project. Don't look too close, I still have a lot to learn, but I've really enjoyed this piece.

The design is my own, my wife found several buffets she liked and I came up with this. I use Google Sketchup for everything, it's almost as fun as building the real thing. The doors/panels were done with new bit sets from Rockler, I am very pleased with the fit from the rail/stile set. The panels were done with a vertical bit, my 1 3/4 router isn't ready for a big panel but.

Except for the inner plywood guts, the whole thing is solid walnut. The top pieces are from the same tree, I don't think they are a perfect sequential book match, but they are close. The rest of the wood came from another tree. The drawers on top are all from the same board, you can see the flow across.

The flash on the camera makes it look more yellow than it is, but the finish is a very nice, deep brown. It looks great in direct light. I used BLO and Deft lacquer. A very simple finish but I love the results.

[John Keeton]

Rob, that is a great looking design - and walnut is my favorite wood! The top is beautiful, and probably shows more of the true color I would say.

Don't see any problems here - and I looked closely;) You should be very proud of this one.

[Mark Ball]

Very nice. That one should certainly earn you some points.

[Dewey Torres]

I think it came out great...keep it up and thanks for posting.

[Jim Becker]

A fine looking piece!

[Stephan Postmus]

Very nice. Always like projects made with walnut. Looks like that will be used for years to come.

Stephan

[John Thompson]

It looks great, Rob..

Sarge..

[Norman Pyles]

Very nice!!

[GERALD HARGROVE]

Welcome to the creek. Very nice looking buffet, no problems from this vantage point.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Rob, glad to see you finally signed up and started showing off your work. You did a really nice job of getting the grain right. Looks great!

[Cody Crisp]

I agree with the others, you can't go wrong with walnut and the buffet looks great. When I first started out I didn't like darker wood, probably because my parents had so much dark oak paneling in the house growing up. Last year I was looking for some cherry for a project and came across a pretty good deal on some walnut. Now I want to put walnut in everything I do.

[Prashun Patel]

Rob, really beautiful work. I'm working on a walnut coffee table right now. I was thinking to BLO and spray lacquer it as you have. A couple questions:

- What did you use for yr sealer between the BLO and the lacquer?
- I'm assuming you used Deft BRUSHING Lacquer. When you sprayed, did you thin it? How many coats did you use?
- What sheen of lacquer did you use? I was thinking satin, but I like the high gloss of yr piece.
- Any other tips? I guess u didn't fill the grain.

[Rob Price]

I didn't seal the BLO, I let it. I let it cure for a week and then sprayed it. I thinned the lacquer 3:1. I tried 4:1 but got some cotton blushing and decided I needed more thinner.

I've used satin before, but I really feel like it keeps the light from getting into the grain. I use gloss, spray on two light coats at a time, to get four coats. Then sand with 220, 300, 400, 600. One more coat of gloss then rub with 0000 steel wool to cut down on the gloss until I get the sheen I want. I do sand with mineral oil to try and cut down on the corns that collect on the sandpaper.

I've found the sanding seems to cut the edges of the pores down, and levels the finish where a filler usually isn't needed.

[Chris Padilla]

Walnut so rocks. There is walnut...and there is is 'other wood' :D Superb craftmanship!

[guy knight]

nice i like the design and wood

[Rob Price]

Oh yea, the flash makes it look more gloss than it is

[Tim Malyszko]

Your Buffet is fantastic. I personally love Walnut. Excellent work and I look forward to seeing more from you.