Feel free to call me STUPID!!!!

[Royce Meritt]

When will I ever learn? There are no shortcuts! I finished my last bunch of wooden fly boxes using MANY, MANY coats of spar urethane diluted 50/50 with mineral spirits. They turned out very nice. Took A LOT of coats but built up nicely. Dried in about 2 hours so could put a couple coats on in an evening. (See attached picture).

Well, made another batch of boxes. Tried a spray on finish out of a can. Said I could re-coat in 1 hour. I thought, COOL, I can get a couple more coats on in an evening. That's true but the finish is TERRIBLE. No real depth to the finish. Looks AWFUL. I have no choice put to sand it off and start over with my original finish. Wasted last evening.

Anyone else as STUPID as me? :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Royce, I won't call you stupid! Thanks for posting this, hopefully your heartache won't be repeated because you had the guts to post it.

Congrats to you for re-finishing these and producing a high quality product!

[David Fried]

It's good to try new things. When it works out your a genius and when it doesn't ... your not. You learned something and hopefully we will learn from you. Like Jeff said, thanks for sharing.

Not meaning to get too far off topic but how do you make the inside of the boxes where the flies go?

the boxes in the picture look great to me!

[Royce Meritt]

Not meaning to get too far off topic but how do you make the inside of the boxes where the flies go?

the boxes in the picture look great to me!

The inside of the boxes are routed out to accept the foam insert that holds the flies. (You can get them at many sporting goods stores with a good stock of fly fishing stuff or order them from most of the mail order sporting goods catalogs.)

[Dave Anderson NH]

OK Stupid, join the club. Every time I've tried a finishing shortcut on my tools it's come back and bit me in the posterior. However, I still consider it a valuable experience. Some times things do work out and new approaches will work after a bit of a learning curve and some adjustment of technique. If you don't experiment, you won't learn. The worst failure of all is the failure to attempt using new materials, techniques, or designs. You'll never know if you don't give it a shot. Striving for efficiency in the long run sometimes means losing it for the short term. Don't give up, keep experimenting.

From your fellow stupid buddy Dave

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Royce, I can't call you stupid because I've done something very similar. Its called a learning experience. Sometimes I have several in a day.

[JayStPeter]

Dang, I was looking forward to calling you stupid :) . No such luck.

No matter how many times you hear people tell you to try finishes on scrap first, we all see to have to learn the hard way. Sometimes we even have to learn that lesson again. :rolleyes:
The temptation of "I can get it done quicker if I just ..." is tough to resist.

Jay

[Steve Cox]

Royce, I certainly won't be one to call you stupid because of my own similar mistakes. I will throw this out there though, when I'm doing boat finishing (mahogany mostly) the first coat is a split coat (50/50 thinner/varnish) and the rest are full strength. It gives you a faster build. Also, try this, put on a second full strength coat of varnish before the second one has had time to fully dry. It gives you a good bond and you don't have to snad between coats. This method usually results in great depth after about 7-9 coats. Should take 4 days of evenings to complete.

[Per Swenson]

I do not know of any stupid people that are
capable of turning out boxs like that.
Very nice.
I would like one.
I shall PM you.

Per.

[Tyler Howell]

Royce, you did it again! Very nice:cool:

[Dale Thompson]

Royce,
OK, Royce, YOU ARE STUPID! Does that make you feel any better? :confused:

One question, though, how does a STUPID person like you make such beautiful boxes? :) It is probably because of a bunch of STUPID cuts and routings that just HAPPENED to turn out right! Not only that, but you made the same STUPID cuts on numerous boxes. MAN! Are you lucky - or what?

Royce, if you are trying to claim the top rung on the STUPID ladder on SMC, you will have to stand in a very long line. :cool: :) I'm probably the only person in woodworking history who has NEVER done anything STUPID! :rolleyes:

I control the top rung because it requires MORONIC accomplishments! If I wasn't such an incredibly humble guy, I would have a hard time dealing with the fame. :cool:

Those STUPID boxes STILL look great to me!! :)

Dale T.

[Martin Shupe]

Royce,

I would have called you stupid, but you weren't. You tried something that you thought might work better, but it didn't. You learned a lesson, and won't buy that product again. I am still experimenting with finishing myself, and sometimes it takes awhile to find the right combination of finishing products and techniques to get the look you want. Just because you tried something that didn't work, doesn't make you stupid.

Besides, you can't be stupid, you make boxes that are too beautiful.

[Bill Arnold]

Yep, I'm a member in bad standing of the Stupid Club also! :o

Finishing is my worst nightmare, but I'm trying to get a grip on it. I've tried a number of things over the years (mostly polyurethane like most hobbiests). Since I've been getting more serious about building fine furniture pieces in recent years, I've spent a lot of time studying finishing processes and attending seminars. Hope I'm headed the right direction now. Well, any direction is better than the one I was on! :D

Regards,

[Dale Rodabaugh]

When I finished the bed floor in my old Chevy pickup,I brushed on about 4 coats of spar urethane.Then sprayed the final coat,worked great.:rolleyes: :cool:

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Not Stupid to try and save some time...it just doesn't always work out the way we want it to. I sprayed a whole table once of the same stuff and it came out ok. That said I'll never do it again.

[Dale Rodabaugh]

Told ya about my truck bed but forgot to mention.Man those fly boxes are beautiful.Great work.:D :D