Very Very Newbie

Kane Wilson

Member
Messages
10
Location
Fenton, MI
Well, I've been trolling for a little while now and for my first post, I'll request some help:eek:. Hopefully in the future I can contribute something to the site.
I recently purchased an old craftsman table saw and jointer. Got some hand tools and a small bandsaw.
I have learned quite a bit from just reading the forums and appreciate this site immensley. However, my first project is to finish a cedar chest that I made back in high school, 30 years ago :eek: It's been sitting in my Mom and Dad's basement all these years. My question's for you is, what finish should I put on it? Can I even put a finish on it after all these years? I'll be picking it up tomorrow and I'll post a pic of it then. Thanks for the help.
 
Do you know what is on there now? Maybe give it a good sanding and then wipe it down with minerail spirts. After that a nice coat of oil will look nice.
 
Welcome to the Family Kane!

Look forward to seeing you 30 year old project, I think you have most of us beat on the "I will get it finished....." time clock for projects :D :thumb:

Does the wood have any finish on it at all?

If not, a good cleanings and some light sanding should set you up for any finish you like.

Oh yeah, let's see some pics of the old C-man tools, the old ones were usually fairly good, to real good!

Cheers!
 
First off, welcome. Second, if your cedar has no finish you are pretty free to do as you like. Cedar comes in many flavors but I'm going to bet you have eastern red cedar. If you are after a warm natural look, get yourself some good sandpaper (Norton 3X or better quality) about 220 grit and give your piece a "cleaning off". This assumes it may be a bit weathered and was not stored in a plastic bag inside a box for the last 30 years.

I prefer a 1 pound cut of shellac as a pre-stain treatment if I am going to oil softwoods. If shellac will be the final finish, use a 2 pound cut. As a point of reference; Zinsser's Seal Coat is a 2 pound cut right out of the can (about $7 a quart at the big box stores). This can be hit 1:1 with denatured alcohol if it is to be a sealer as opposed to a final coat.

You could also go straight to an oil with no sealer. This can sometimes give a blotchy finish on softer woods depending on the wood itself. Boiled Linseed Oil will darken more than a Tung or Walnut oil and take longer to dry (as in days). Tung oil 'blends' offer a warm look and a good drying time (Waterlox is popular).

All this info is given with no idea as to the type or condition of the cedar. If you would like to post a pic once you have the box in your hot little hands we can probably help more-better ;-)
 
Last edited:
Welcome, Kane. Look forward to seeing your project, (and the old tools). I still have the old Craftsman TS and Jointer I gave my dad back in the 50's, (along with my newer High dollar tools), and wouldn't think of getting rid of them. (Shouldn't have traded off the Lathe that went with them that I made a lot of Lamps on when I was in HS).
 
Welcome Kane
Was at one time a neighbor of yours. Born raised in Howell.
Now live in Fort Wayne,

PS
"The coffee Pot is on"
 
tried for pics

Well I got the cedar chest home and took pics but I can't upload them here using the "mangage attachment" paper clip thingy. It keeps popping up that the upload failed. They are only 601kb ea. The link on Stuart's sticky about posting pics doesn't work anymore. Any ideas. Thanks.
 
Kane, the pics are way too large, the limit is 107.4 Kb and 800 x 800 pixels.

You need to downsize them a bit.

Looks forward to seeing the pics.

Cheers!
 
First off, welcome aboard, Kane. :wave: The cedar chest sounds like a fun project to get your woodworking juices flowing again.
Well I got the cedar chest home and took pics but I can't upload them here using the "mangage attachment" paper clip thingy. It keeps popping up that the upload failed. They are only 601kb ea. The link on Stuart's sticky about posting pics doesn't work anymore. Any ideas. Thanks.
Sorry about that...the tutorial got moved in a recent web host change, and the old link didn't work. I just fixed it, but to save you having to hunt it down, here it is.

The size limit of 107 KB will still provide a decent 800 x 600 pixel picture if you save the picture at "Medium" quality in your photo handling software. The tutorial will help walk you through the steps.

Don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any. ;)
 
thanks

First off, welcome aboard, Kane. :wave: The cedar chest sounds like a fun project to get your woodworking juices flowing again.

Sorry about that...the tutorial got moved in a recent web host change, and the old link didn't work. I just fixed it, but to save you having to hunt it down, here it is.

The size limit of 107 KB will still provide a decent 800 x 600 pixel picture if you save the picture at "Medium" quality in your photo handling software. The tutorial will help walk you through the steps.

Don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any. ;)

That helps. I've got the pics on my home computer. I'll post them after work.
Thanks again.
 
OK let's try it

Here is the table saw top midway into the cleaning of it. I figured I'd better get a pic of it before I got it cleaned up. I really need to start at the beginning of projects...After I cleaned and waxed the top, tracks and miter gauge and rewired the motor with mc cable and switch (it was wired directly with an extension cord), I decided to check why it was so hard to raise and lower the blade. I continued on and removed the motor, flipped the saw upside down and removed the guts to the whole thing. Replaced the bearing and removed and cleaned up the pivot pin. Will be putting it back together this w/e. Anyway, heres the pics:
Table saw small pic.jpg

The chest came out OK after 30 years sitting in a basement w/o any finish on it.
cedar chest small pic1.jpg

cedar chest angle pic small.jpg

Thanks guys for your patience, Kane
 
The chest looks good, AND the saw is looking good too. I think you made a good choice to go the whole way on the refurb of the saw from the beginning and eliminate the nagging little problems that would have cropped up as you used it.:thumb: It should work real nice now and make the projects more fun. Just curiosity, what is the Model # of the saw. The partial pic of the fence looks like the fence on the one I still have, (which is a Model #113.29991).
 
Last edited:
Top