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Alder and Purpleheart Knife Block WIP

larry merlau said:
ryan that first home project will never be outmatched by anything else you make for her.. thought makes more value than attempted perfection anytime.
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Youre absolutely right. As a matter of fact the first home project i did for her was a folding laptop/tablet stand made of dark stained poplar which looked pretty bad to me but she loves it. I told her id make another one for her now that ive learned how to do it right but she insisted on keeping the original. :)
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The knot on the top kills me everytime i see it. It just wouldt stain!

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I decided to use this box for kitchen utensils instead as it just wasnt right as a knife block. Its not the right size for this job either but it works.

She wanted a center divider, and a riser in one section for the shorter stuff.
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Because it was originally intended as a knife block, the inside was a mess. I had just slopped some shellac in there for protection and left the squeeze out and layout marks. When we decided to repurpose it i had to clean it up a bit. Ugh! What a chore.

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After a few coats i decided i suck at brushing shellac (first time using it) so i rubbed it out with some dark paste wax. It definitely rescued the finish. You can still see the PH bleed in some spots but it looks much better. I kinda half-assed the rubbing out but i can see the appeal of that type of finish. Glossy without looking like veneer or plastic. Ill have to make a genuine attempt at that some time. I like what it did for the purpleheart.

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It changed the red brick blah into a warm red/amber.

Threw some silicone cabinet bumpers on the bottom and voila!
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All in all im happy. Lots of errors, lots of lessons. But thats half the fun right! Thanks for watching.
 
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Paul its my pleasure. I find it helps me keep a clear head about the project when i document it. It also makes it available for people to criticize and comment which in this case was very helpful with the corner strips.

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i think i see that knot you was concerned with on that table but am not sure its a knot??? but i can say your staining job on that popular was great, that stuff loves to blotch, and you got great uniformity on it.. sometimes those bad spots can be helped with some shellac.
 
Re: Alder and Purpleheart Knife Block WIPAlder and Purpleheart Knife Block WIP

larry merlau said:
i think i see that knot you was concerned with on that table but am not sure its a knot??? but i can say your staining job on that popular was great, that stuff loves to blotch, and you got great uniformity on it.. sometimes those bad spots can be helped with some shellac.
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Its actually 2 very small knots. The area between and around them wouldnt take stain. I messed with it (probably too much) and i guess it got a little better.

As for the shellac that exactly what i did. A thinned sealer coat went on before the gel stain. A friend and i decided to spend an afternoon experimenting because i get poplar leftovers from work all the time and id love to be able to make it stain dark. What we found is that almost any type of precoat followed by gel stain was the best bet, and that medium colors are much easier to achieve rather than dark walnut.
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We tried various combinations of pre coats, different stains, different methods. The best result came from some ridiculous method we tried at the end of the day just for kicks. I think it was something like... o/b stain, prestain conditioner, gel stain, shellac, gel stain again, and maybe a few more steps lol. Wasnt worth the hassle though, Shellac precoat with gel was a close second.


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