Hi All,
I gonna put down my 22oz framing hammer for a little while (I usually lurk over at Breaktime) and try to make something pretty 😉
Actually, I do have a little woodworking experience and all the tools I should need but I’ve never used anything like wenge.
It seems I can easily find it in ply, veneer and 4/4. I’m leaning toward the solid wood.
I have done a fair amount of HPL, but I would have to learn to veneer. Learning to veneer is something I’m looking forward to, but this project needs to get done quickly and a whole sheet of ply is much more than I need, so why not solid wood?
Does the fact that it’s a bathroom vanity influence anyone’s recommendation for one method over the other?
Any suggestions for finishing wenge in a bathroom?
As you can see from the attachments, the design is simple, but if anyone has any suggestions in that department, I would love to hear them as well.
Thanks,
Jerry
Replies
Solid lumber would be much easier to build. If you do it with veneered plywood, you'd need to cover the fronts, tops, and bottoms of each apparent board. Solid lumber gets you the top and bottom surfaces automatically.
One small design thought... You might consider beveling the top edge of each board so that water drips off instead of pooling. In a bathroom, spills are inevitable. And if you're beveling the top, maybe bevel the bottom to match?
Jamie, Dusty,I like the bevel idea; I may use that. When I was think of doing it in ply, I had considered edge banding the drawers in a contrasting 1/8" wood (maybe birch or similar) to set them off. That seemed risky though (design wise) for a noob. The Hardwood supplier by me does have wenge edgeband to match the ply.I still think solid is the way to go. How does wenge end grain finish? BTW, those are all drawers. I've got the trap arm as high as possible, but I'll still need to make some U shaped drawers or maybe two drawers with one face.I intend to build the case and drawers out of plywood, then attach the wenge.Also notice that this is a wall hung cabinet.Thanks,
Jerry
Oh yeah, any comment regarding flat cut vs. quartersawn. Is it just a matter of aesthetics or are there other concerns?Recommended finish in a bathroom?Jerry
Jerry .
Well now that you asked ,,,, To my eye your sketch picture sort of looks like a chest of drawers screwed to the wall , rather heavy on top , at least to my eye .
Perhaps you could taper the cabinet making it shallower towards the bottom.
Maybe like 21" at the top and 14" or so at the bottom end , it would add some interest and lighten the look .
you asked and I said ,I do not mean to offend you
dusty
No offense taken - I'm looking for as much advice/ideas as possible. I can build almost anything, but I know I'm lacking in the creativity department.That's one of the reasons I'm here, the things I see done on this forum are incredible. I'm hoping a tiny bit of creativity will rub off :-)I'm going to play with that idea a bit. I'd love to hear more.Thanks,
Jerry
I did this kinda quickly, but is this what you meant, or did you mean to taper the sides?
J ,
Yes that is the direction of taper I was thinking of just to lighten it up a bit.
Instead of making it look stair stepped , if you are up for a challenge and like the look , imagine the drawers still sliding the same but the faces canted on an angle as well to give a more smooth look .
I'm just tossing ideas out , if the first way you showed it is what you have your heart set on then , by all means do it .It's all good .
what sketch program do you use ? , it is very cool .
dusty
I actually wanted to cant the drawer faces. I thought it would look a lot less 'clunky'. I'm still learning the program and I was having a hard time modifying my original in that way, so I just roughed it out quickly. I could draw it that way if I started from scratch. It's not a limitation of the program, BTW, it's the operator!The program is SketchUp 6, which is free from Google. I highly recommend it and you can find it here:http://sketchup.google.com/product_suf.htmlJerry
Still wondering if there is a recommended finish for wenge in the bathroom?
I'd treat as if it were a boat - use spar varnish.
I've used oil on wenge, and wipe-on varnish. They both work well. However, I'd be cautious about using them for a vanity front. They don't provide as much water protection as a brushed or sprayed finish. I've used a sprayed-on varnish on wenge, and was not very happy with the result. Wenge has big pores, and the varnish emphasized them. Also, the varnish seemed to obscure the subtle color variations of the wood. Whatever finish you consider, I'd suggest testing it on scrap, not the real thing.
Jerry ,
Thanks for the sketch up link , now I need to learn it .
As far as the finish , I'm assuming your bathroom has adequate ventilation ?? If so any normal finish you would use on a kitchen or household cabinetry will work without problems.
Personally I use pre cat lacquer and have never had a failure due to moisture, and I have built and installed a lot of cabinets in my time .
dusty
It's a great little program; I'm still surprised by how much you get for free. If you poke around where you downloaded it you will find some great video tutorials that will quickly get you started. They may be one version old, but they'll still tell you what you need to know.The ventilation in the bathroom is fine, but what about exposure to acetone or alcohols that might be used in the bathroom. Is this a concern? Even if it is, I've been reading that it is easy to repair (unlike poly, which I don't care for anyway).Does pre-cat lacquer need to be sprayed? I have an Apollo gravity feed HVLP conversion gun that I use to spray auto paint. Will this do?Anything specifically about wenge I might need to know as far as finishing. Do I seal it first? What level of sheen might look good or is it just a matter of preference?Jerry
I just read where someone suggested that wenge was hard enough to take a polish without any finish. Any comments on that idea?
"I just read where someone suggested that wenge was hard enough to take a polish without any finish."
Under normal conditions, yes. And I think it looks best that way. But a bathroom is hardly "normal conditions." At the very least, it's going to be exposed to droplets of standing water, day in and day out. That's hard on any wood.
-Steve
Steve,I think I going to play around with it just to see how it looks polished, but I agree, I'd feel better with some protection in a bathroom.As suggested by Dusty, I'll probably try my hand at spraying pre-cat lacquer and see how that goes.Jerry
I don't want to drag this out too much; I've already gotten a lot of great advice, but this question may have been missed a few posts back:Any comment regarding flat cut vs. quartersawn wenge. Is it just a matter of aesthetics or are there other concerns?If it is just aesthetics, I'm interested what you prefer.Thanks,
Jerry
If it's got a finish on it, then it's mostly aesthetics. It really depends on the look you're after. If you want a minimalist look, then quartersawn is the way to go. If you want to make it clear that, hey, this is wood, then flatsawn with a nice left/right alternating cathedral pattern would work.
-Steve
As far as exposure to acetone or alcohol goes , typically you would use them on the countertop not the face of the cabinet , Lacquer is nowadays mar resistant and water resistant , that would cover a drip of alcohol as well imo .
If you let a puddle stand of acetone or fingernail polish remover all bets are off .
Few finishes will stand up to abuse or neglect.
I have no data to share on Wenge , but even though it is very hard and you heard it can take a polish without an actual finish my fear would be lets say you spilled grape jelly or the likes on polished but raw wood , me thinks it may stain and be absorbed, imo some film type finish should be used to protect and seal the wood .
I only spray my finishes , and I believe it is the recommended method , follow the product specs of what ever brand you use . The lacquers are either self sealing or an actual sanding sealer or vinyl sealer may be used .
dusty
"Few finishes will stand up to abuse or neglect."Of course you're right - I probably think too much :-)I'll do some more reading, but I think I'll give the lacquer a try. Thanks very much for all your help.Jerry
Hi Jerry ,
One way to build it would be to build the box of plywood and cover it with the solid boards , you could either just glue or fasten them from inside.
Just out of curiosity are those drawers or doors or both ?
Some door access for the plumbing is good .
dusty
I am also considering a vanity out of wenge (or walnut but I'm gravitating to wenge).
1) spills should not be a problem, but you can lay a sheet of glass over the top because you are using a vessel basin. Easy to clean as well.
2) for a finish, I don't think you need to go to extremes because vanities are not submerged in water and spills are typically wiped up quickly. You could also shoot it with lacquer, that's what I'm considering.
Good luck, I like your design.
Thanks for the reply - you make some good points. In fact, this vanity will be covered with granite, (New Venetian Gold and I'm considering a chiseled edge for some contrast) so the top will be protected. I'm probably going to give lacquer a try as well.Jerry
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