I am making two additonal shelves for a spice cabinet tht is built into the side of our kitchen island. The shelves are being made out of Popular and measure 3-1/2″ x 18″.
Tonight I finished sanding out the planer chatter marks that came with lumber at no additional charge from the local lumber yard. The sanding with my palm sander started at 60 grit, then 80, moving to 100, and finishing at 150. Upon which I hand sanded (as Stephen recommended to me on another recent post) the shelves with 150 grit. The last step that I did tonight was wipe the boards down with mineral spirits in addition to my work area after vacuming. The boards were brought into the house so they would not get dusty between now and the time I stain them.
The stain that I will be using is Zar Teak Natural (#120).
Now that I got everyone grounded here are the questions.
1) Are there any issue with using cheese cloth to apply the stain?
2) After the stain drys should I sand them again with 220 or higher grit or leave them be?
3) Are there any other coatings besides using Polyurethane that you would recommend to protect the stain? Or would you use Polyurethane?
Thanks everyone!!
Replies
I suppose cheese cloth will work, if you have it. Old t-shirts etc, are fine, as are the blue shop paper towels.
I wouldn't sand the stain but would wait for the first coat of finish before sanding. And, for between coat sanding I would use 320 grit. 220 grit is a little agressive and will cut through more easily. This is hand sanding country as well.
I presume, since you are staining the shelves, that this is an open cabinet with no drawers. If so you can use polyurethane varnish, though I would prefer a varnish that doesn't have polyurethane as being more clear and a bit harder. Waterlox works well as a wipe on varnish. Other good varnishes include Pratt & Lambert 38, McCloskey Heirloom if still on shelves, and Cabot Varnish (8000 series, not the polyurethane.
Now, if this is a closed cabinet, you do not want to use any oil based stain or finish. The odor could linger for quite some time, not a good thing in a spice cabinet. Shellac would be the choice, or a waterborne acyrlic top coat.
An old t-shirt will work better than cheesecloth, IMHO. Cheesecloth is very porous.
What is the finish of the surrounding cabinetry? Are you trying to match what is there ir are you wanting to have a strong surface because of exposure to a sink (or wet hands groping for the key ingredients to your favorite dish)?
Attached is a photo of the island that the shelves are going into...see the door under the butcher block. Most of the spices are on the other side of the island. This side is going to catch the over flow and whatever else ends up in there.
The island was built by English Country Pine in San Rafael, CA; http://www.englishcountrypine.com/
Yeah..that is my dear wife hamming it up a bit.
(P.S. I accidently uploaded the same photo twice and there was no way to remove the second one...sorry.)
Let me make a couple of observations and comments on your process so far. It's really not necessary to take extraordinary measures in dust clean up before you are applying the final coat.
What most will do is just vacuum the project well and then go ahead and stain. When you wipe the stain, you will end up removing any dust that you picked up.
Every time you scuff sand between coats you will remove any dust nibs that you picked up in the prior coat so you really don't need to worry about dust excessively.
The time to be excessive and compulsive is just before your final coat. Do your final scuff sanding and then do a complete vacuuming of your project and the surrounding area. Get your finishing materials ready and then get out of the area for a couple of hours. Turn on your air filter if you have one. After a couple of hours, change you clothes and go gently back into the area. Get your materials ready and then give the surface of your project a wipe down with a rag dampened with mineral spirits. This will pick up any dust that fell out of the air. Now carefully apply your finish and again leave the area for a few hours.
Most the the dust that gets onto a finish comes from dust that is floating in the air or is on your clothing. You have to let the dust settle and then change your cloths to have the most dust free environment.
In summary, the last thing you want to do is to do your finishing right after using the shop and/or doing any sanding.
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