Sleighbed finally done!

[Jim Knauss]

Hello all,
Finally done with my Nephews Cherry Sleighbed, it was a trying experiance finishing it though. It was such a big project I thought I'd try some new finishing techniques. (big mistake!) I started with a coat of BLO, waited a week and sprayed with water based McCloskey's varnish. Fisrt coat, no problem, second coat got some runs. Waited till next day to sand out and thats when it went bad. Sanded through the finish unknowingly and removed the BLO. Now I had light spots because water base wont pop the grain. I was sick. Took me two weekends to strip and resand the thing. So now I'm back to the old " Wipe on 5 coats of MinWax poly trick". Any way its done doesnt look TOO bad and gets delievered this weekend to Conneticut.

Thanks for looking,
Jim Knauss

[Frank Pellow]

The bed looks really good Jim. Sorry about the finishing problems, but in the end, you obviously did the right thing.

Finishing is almost always my greatest source of problems as well and about the only technique I appear to get right is hand rubbing.

[Tim Farrell]

Jim - this looks amazing. Great work. I did the same thing recently (sanded through) on a bookcase. Great recovery.

[Jim W. White]

Wow!! ...that bed is beautiful. I'm sure that's going to become a family heirloom for your nephew's legacy.

The size of those raised panels just blow me away. The coloring across your project is very impressive. Did you have to cull out a lot of sapwood, or did you simply tap into a very nice stash of cherry?!

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Beautiful work Jim. Love the color.

[Jim Becker]

Looks great, Jim. Every project has it's challenges and you've overcome the finishing issues nicely on this one!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Jim,

I love that bed! That bed is destined to become an heirloom. You did the right thing in starting over.

If you like the look of BLO and the durability of poly you may want to look into "witches brew". It is a home based recipie of 1/3 blo, 1/3 poly and 1/3 Mineral Spirits. It goes on super easy and runs are basically non existant (Because it is so thin). The BLO really pops the grain and in later coats seems to "soften" the feel of the finish.

No matter how you finished it, that bed looks magnificent!

[Mike Ramsey]

Jeff, what is the procedure for using the Witches brew?


Jim,

I love that bed! That bed is destined to become an heirloom. You did the right thing in starting over.

If you like the look of BLO and the durability of poly you may want to look into "witches brew". It is a home based recipie of 1/3 blo, 1/3 poly and 1/3 Mineral Spirits. It goes on super easy and runs are basically non existant (Because it is so thin). The BLO really pops the grain and in later coats seems to "soften" the feel of the finish.

No matter how you finished it, that bed looks magnificent!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Mike,

Rather than detract from Jim's wonderful bed, I will direct you to a previous post that discussed the ins and outs of Witches brew :)

Previous Thread on Witches Brew (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=18907&highlight=witches+brew)

Thanks!

[Jim Knauss]

Thanks for all the kind words about the bed, there were a lot of (firsts) involved. First time using Cherry, first time making raised panels on table saw, first time spraying. (which didnt turn out) The Cherry comes from a tree a friend gave me along with a ten wheeler load of Red Oak. Free. Had a friend haul it.Free, although I sent a $100 gift card. Had it all sawn for $500.00. I still have tons of Cherry and will NEVER run out of Red Oak. Jeff, actually the first coat I applied after stripping was Witches Brew. Then I got scared. Went to town, bought the Wipable MinWax and finished it. I am definatly going to do more with the Brew after this.

Again, thank you all for the kind words, makes a beginner feel good,
Jim Knauss

[Jim Becker]

The "witches brew" is essentially the same thing as the MinWax wiping product with just a variation in the proportions of the varnish and thinner along with some extra oil. Same easy application. By varying the proportions of the mix, you can vary it's properties. Less oil makes for a "harder" finish, for example, although that's relative to the varnish that is used in the mix. And it's always less expensive to make your own wiping products...companies like MinWax charge you more per unit for the same varnish that has merely been thinned for wiping.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Jim, very nice looking project. It might have been a trying experience, but the finish looks great. I'm sure your nephew is going love it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jim........A lot of firsts!.......Including 1st Rate! Nice recovery! I hope I am able to do the same on my current project!

[John Miliunas]

Jim, that is 1st Class, all the way!:) You went through an awful lot of work on that piece and it shows!:) Great job!:cool:

[Pete Lamberty]

Jim, you did a fabulous job on that bed. You can be very proud and no doubt your nephew will love it. Did you have any trouble with the cherry getting blotchy when you applied your finish? If it did, what did you do to fix the problem?

[Jerry Olexa]

Jim, very nice work. I love the raised panels, the cherry and your finishing. In spite of your challenges, it ended up looking outstanding! You should be proud!! I could take some of that cherry off your hands!!:D It's my favorite for furniture..Again, great job!!

[Mike Vermeil]

Jim, another finish you may want to try out is the oil/poly combo from General Finishes, and available through Rockler and Woodcraft. Application is very similar to a wipe-on poly or witches brew, but the extra oil seems to pop the grain a little better than wipe-on poly.

Try not to get discouraged with spraying. It takes some practice and trial & error, but once you get it going, you can't beat it for speed on large projects like the bed - especially when you want to finish both sides of a headboard at the same time! There have been lots of discussions here about what type of spray equipment is most effective, but I'm very happy with my HVLP conversion gun run by my regular air compressor.

Nice work.

[Jim Stastny]

Jim, That's a beauty plus. Sleeping in that ought to produce some sweet dreams.

[lou sansone]

very nice. I hate finishing

lou

[Ted Shrader]

Wow! Jim, that looks great! Exceptional job - the old stand by finish technique does work. :) Are there any plans for additional pieces to go along with it?

Regards,
Ted

[Jim Knauss]

Again, thanks for the nice comments. Pete, if you look in the finishing forum, you will see I had a blotching problem BEFOR finishing. I left the bed upstair all winter and it darkened like Cherry will do. Then when I sanded it it turned blotchy. It got better the second sanding and scraping tho... :) Ted, I may make them a nightstand to go with it for X-mas.

Jim Knauss

[John Hart]

I'm envious of the bed Jim...it is really beautiful. Finishing is a pain and you've done a great job.