This is my project for this weekend build is done, now time for stain and finish. 

Pat, nice project. So what do we have here, Doug Fir?

How about your joinery techniques, pocket screws, counter sunk screws, nails, traditional hand joinery?

Thanks for letting us in to see this!

sweet!!!

23 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Pat, nice project. So what do we have here, Doug Fir?

How about your joinery techniques, pocket screws, counter sunk screws, nails, traditional hand joinery?

Thanks for letting us in to see this!

Most is southern yellow pine, with some doug fir mixed in. The stretchers are mortised and tenoned into the legs and the skirts are pocket screwed. The drawer was build with lock rabbit joints and added a piece of 3/8 bead board ply into the 1/4 groove for the bottom. Added runner and kicker to keep it tracking nicely. 

Just now, Pat Meeuwissen said:

Most is southern yellow pine, with some doug fir mixed in. The stretchers are mortised and tenoned into the legs and the skirts are pocket screwed. The drawer was build with lock rabbit joints and added a piece of 3/8 bead board ply into the 1/4 groove for the bottom. Added runner and kicker to keep it tracking nicely. 

Now that is a table fully locked in place within itself, great work Pat. Joinery that will out last us all for sure. I'd be tempted to finish with traditional oil based varnish and let the patina form on its own. That'll darken to a nice rich tone without any stain, IMHO.

Stain can be a headache on SYP, be sure to try your plan out on some scrap first.....I'd be inclined to do what John suggested, skip the stain. Nicely done.

Edited October 15, 20178 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr

I like the way you tied the top and drawer front angled details together.

 

Nice Table!

Nice Pat.  What is the intended use?

1 hour ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Stain can be a headache on SYP, be sure to try your plan out on some scrap first.....I'd be inclined to do what John suggested, skip the stain. Nicely done.

Fred why is that? I have to say working with it it almost felt like it was wet. This was some old tongue groove boards that I reclaimed from an addition that was rehabbed. Wood was at least 40 years old.

13 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

Nice Pat.  What is the intended use?

Its going at the end of a couch. Lamp drinks and knick knacks. 

SYP just doesn't take stain uniformly...and the resulting appearance is often quite different than with other woods. Blotching is part of the problem, but try staining a piece that has grain similar to what you have on the legs and see what you think. I think the contrast in the grain you will see will be significant. If you really want to ad color, there are a couple of alternatives. You could seal the thing first and apply a gel stain, the sealer assures the grain doesn't absorb the color unevenly. Or you could try using a dye, they give a much more uniform color to woods like this/

Edited October 15, 20178 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr

Test color on a scrap piece as suggested. Depending on how you sanded the piece will determine the overall finish. Stain alone will not determine the end result alone. Is your finish yellowing or crystal clear?

 

Lots to know and can take years to develop a system with high percentage results..

 

There are so many different finishes that different pieces may require different techniques to get the finish intended...

 

Looks nice...Now the hard part...

Very nice work on that table. Great looking. Impressive, for sure.

Guys, I got two coats of stain and started with a sanding sealer before that. Am happy with the color but I screwed up and supported the top with painters triangles which have now dug into the top, I'm thinking after the second coat of stain dries I'll try the iron trick to get them out? does that sound doable? 

use playing jacks instead of painters triangles...

they have ball ended points instead of sharp points...

The ironing trick will not do the new finish any good. The ironing trick is using a hot iron and a damp cloth to let the hot steam raise wood that has been crushed. 

  Next time if you have lots of different woods of many different colors like what I see in the table, if you mix a stain in with clear lacquer, spraying a toner more or less, you can get a more even color and then only  do the spraying in a few light coats and not all at once in one spraying.......This is not learned over night so lots of practice on a bird house or something small to get an idea of what the heck is happening.

   Like was mentioned, when using lots of different woods of different colors, a clear coat is far better than trying to come up with the almost impossible... 

 

If you use the ironing trick, you will get the best results to sand off the finish on the spot you are trying to raise first. The idea is to steam the indent out and the sealer that is now on the indent will not allow the steam to work.

Just a suggestion.

Herb

Use 18 gauge  staples through boards to support finishing. No stapler ,use nails... Never stain on staples...

Am I the only one that actually thinks those gouges look really, really, really cool!

If there are many,  it's cool. One spot and it's an error.....