Hi John,
| I am finishing up my first table. It is circular without the leaves and oval with the leaves installed (just over 7′ long with the 2 leaves installed). I have cut all of the parts at this point but have yet to put everything together. The first thing I’m going to to is install the pins and sleeves with a dowel centering jig. Then I can sand the top including the leaves, finish everything, and then install the extension slides and the curved aprons/legs using figure 8 fasteners. I plan on using Bartley’s Gel Varnish (probably 5-6 coats) and was wondering if you suggest putting any finish on the extension slides (Walter of Wabash wooden slides) before I screw them onto the underside of the table top? Also, I recently viewed a video on this site that talked about using a topcoat on top of varnish. The combination that was suggested was 1 part boiled linseed oil, 1/2 part quick drying varnish, and 1/2 part paste wood filler (natural color) made by Benjamin Moore. Any comments about using a topcoat on top of Bartley’s Gel Varnish. The wood is white ash. I appreciate any advice you could give me especially at this stage of putting my first table together. The attached pictures do not show the leaves of the table. |
Regards,
Buzzsaw
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Gil Bailie
Replies
Buzzsaw,
I wouldn't do anything with the slides, wood sliding on wood is fairly low friction, most finishes tend to make the sliding action worse or at least no better, and the cross sections of the sliding components are too small to be seriously affected by even rapid moisture content changes.
I would merely rub paraffin wax on the sliding surfaces before I installed the tracks but otherwise leave them alone. If you wanted to stain the tracks to match them to the overall color of the table, there wouldn't be any harm in that, but I wouldn't try to build up any kind of finish on them.
I am not knowledgeable enough about finishing to answer your question about using a topcoat. You might try posting that part of your question to Peter Gedrys.
Good luck with your project, it looks good.
John White
Thanks John for the info. I appreciate the information and will post pictures to Knots when complete. I did post the question about topcoats to Peter Gedrys.
Just wondering what type of finishes do you use on the furniture that you make?Regards,
Buzzsaw
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Buzzsaw,
I do primarily Shaker style furniture in pine and domestic hardwoods and keep my finishing simple. In the past I used a lot of wipe on oil finishes like Minwax Antique Oil, and have used the Tried and True finishes with good results but I know that other people have had problems with the Tried and True line.
When I need a quick finish with some surface film in a hurry for a magazine project, I use Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish, which is popular with several of our editors. I have no experience with spray on finishes, too high tech for me.
In the future, when I have my own shop again, I will restrict my finishes to those with the least toxicity, shellac, some oils, and water based paints for the most part. Dealing with the more toxic and environmentally dangerous finishing materials wears me out and seems counter to the basic spirit of cabinetmaking.
John W.
Edited 6/9/2006 8:37 am ET by JohnWW
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