A little bit of Scotland

  Not much about furniture here but we have some nice pictures from Scotland.
My daughter Alex took these while visiting family in Scotland last month. She also ventured over to London, England to visit with more family. Click on the pictures for a  good look.

Here is the Forth railway bridge, first opened in March 1890. Must be a full time job painting that bridge.

 

The old and the new

What's that in the water just left of centre. Nessy?

Quaint

 

 Lauriston Castle

 

 Nice back yard

Nice conservatory, every gardener's dream I imagine.

Japanese friendship garden

Lovely view

The drawing room?

I hope you enjoyed this little tour.

Thanks for reading
Ken

Buffet on the Way Today

Just a couple of pics of the buffet before we take it to it's new home.

Outta sight

And we are off.

Thanks for reading

Ken

How to chase a Rainbow

So, I am trying to finish the buffet cabinet in order to deliver it this weekend. Just have the finish on the top and finish up the two doors with the glass panels in them. Well really it was last weekend that I wanted to deliver it.

  The pleasant weather has construction going into high gear early this year which in turn keeps me busy during the day. Everyone is pouring concrete and I am on the run to wherever and whenever.

  Should be simple to finish this job up.

  Let's go back to last week. The long arm of Murphy's law reached out and left me a little trouble with the top. The two part stain wasn't working out so I was sentenced to scrape it down to the bare wood and start again. After a short time the stain was back on and looking good. I say short time but I really mean the few hours in between my day jobs. Now for this week. 

  On Sunday I am confident the cabinet will be ready for this coming weekend. Monday must be a magicians favorite day because it vanished before my very eyes. Tuesday almost vaporized as well but I managed to get in just enough time at the end to work on staining the two doors. Wednesday, no concrete for me today. All shop time baby. I put some shellac on the doors, one coat of clear finish on the top so it would be ready to attach to the cabinet that afternoon. The afternoon came and with top attached and doors nearly ready for glass I was feeling real good. I'll give the top coat some time to sit and put on the last coat tomorrow after work.

  Thursday morning, poured concrete, late afternoon I'm back home laying the last coat on the top. Ahhh yesss, looking real nice, all finished on top.

  Looks like a delivery this weekend. Just load in the trailer and go..... I suddenly remember that the wiring harness from the truck that hooks up to the trailer for the lights needs to be repaired. I'll do that while it is nice out and still daylight.
Wow, that old wiring harness is junk. I think I have another around here somewhere. After about half an hour I had everything attached and backed the truck over to the trailer to test my lights. Just plug them into each other and .... oh no..... the plugs on each end are the same. Crap that was a harness for a trailer not the vehicle. A short time and I am back from the auto parts store rewire things and hook up and all is working.

 My thoughts returned to the cabinet so back in to have a look at it. I walked over to the cabinet and there on the top gazing up at me were fish eyes, many many fish eyes. Fish eyes are little round blooms in the surface of the finish caused by contamination from silicone or wax. "Awww, come on". Must have been something on the brush I used.
What the heck do I do now? Try to rescue it I guess. Out comes the mineral spirits and the rags and I rubbed that layer off. Good thing I let the first coat sit for a day. I'll let that air out and try again later. Well back to those doors. I'll go out and machine up some strips of wood that will hold the glazing in them.

  My eyes search the wood rack above the chop saw looking for just the right piece to make those strips from. I see one just behind that short piece of oak. I pull out the short piece and rest it on the bench below. As I reach up for the maple board my leg knocks the short piece off the bench. I try to catch the short board but I am too late. Now we must travel back in time so come along won't you?

  Three weeks ago, Doug, owner of our local hardware store had cut for me two pieces of glass to fit into those two doors that I have been working on as of late. When I returned to the shop I lent the glass up against the leg of the cutting bench. Seems like a good spot. Hold tight as we fast forward to Thursday afternoon.


  Yes, there they were, cracked by the board that had fallen. The cracks looked like broad smiles, leering at me. I smiled back at the glass as I put it into the recycling bin. I'm feeling like Mr. Bean. Guess I'll have to see Doug on Friday, hope he is in. I'll tell him all about it. He likes a good laugh and so do I.

  I'm sure we have all been there. Feeling like were chasing rainbows. Fortunately the cabinet isn't one and it will be completed. Just not sure when but persistence always wins out.

Thanks for reading
Ken

Put another coat on this morning and the fish eyes are not there. Yippee.

Buffet Nearly Complete

  The buffet is coming along. There have been some interruptions in the work flow. Lots of stuff going on around here. Places to go people to see.

  Our daughter Alex, took a nice trip to visit with relatives in Scotland and England recently. She also took the good camera so I missed making a chronology on drawer building. Alex had a great time and took lots of nice shots of her visit and I will post a few of the real interesting ones on this blog at another time.

   Brent's table has taken a back seat for the moment. I am waiting for some more inspiration on the trestle section. Most of it is built in my mind just working out a few details.

 I did get some fuzzy pictures of the work completed recently.

Small shelf for the ends of the cabinet.

Larger shelf for the middle section

Fitting the door parts. This one will have glass in it for the center section.

Glue up time, keep them square with a diagonal clamp.

Here are the drawers minus there front faces. I am using shellac over the stain, that should keep the odor down inside the cabinet. Shellac doesn't off gas like polyurethane or varnish once it is dry.

Shelves are getting coats of shellac too.

In this view I have just finished a light sanding of the first coat of mixed dye and pigment stain. Where did I leave that tack cloth? Oh, there it is, stuck to my shoe.

   For this cabinet and its shelving I am using a multiple layer finish. It is a 2:1 mix of red dye stain and brown pigment stain for the first coat. Then that coat is sealed in with a coat of shellac followed by a light sanding with 400 grit paper. Next a coat of brown pigment stain goes on and is wiped off leaving a dark brown with red highlights showing through. Shellac on top of the brown coat for the interior and sides should handle the low abuse level.

And here it is with the dark pigment stain followed by a coat of shellac. The drawers are waiting for the fronts and we still have to hang the doors. Don't mind the shine it is caused by the flash from the camera.

  Sometimes with large projects the living room doubles as a finishing room. Shannon charges a steep rent but I a willing to pay.

I think I am going to go with polyurethane on the top instead of shellac though. A warm bowl or frosty beer lands on it you will most certainly have a white ring.

Hmmmm... it's Saturday and a frosty beer would be nice. Gotta go.

As always, thanks for reading.
Ken