“A New Look at An Old Finishing Technique” Shellac as an Alternative to Oil Based Finishes.

Up until a few months ago, I had one go-to finish. In a previous blog, I wrote about using a three even-part blend of polyurethane, mineral spirits, and boiled linseed oil. I apply it as a wiping varnish increasing the ratio of polyurethane with each additional coat. This is a great solution, and I’ll likely still rely on it for many projects, but I’m adding another option to my finishing solutions—shellac—primarily because it is fast, easy and reasonably priced. Waiting for each coat of my oil blend to dry takes days, so I started using shellac to speed up the process.  

According to Mario Rodriguez, “Shellac gets a bad rap for durability…” (Rodriguez 38). However, the great thing about shellac is it can act as a seal coat (dewaxed only) for any finish. Therefore, I can put an oil-based finish on top. Use only DEWAXED shellac as a seal coat. “Since dewaxed shellac bonds beautifully with every other finish, you can always follow it up with a wipe-on varnish to protect vulnerable surfaces” (Rodriguez 38).

Read more: 8 Apr 2018 Old Finishing Technique

“Loose Tenon Joinery"

Vs Traditional Mortise & Tenon.

Loose Tenons, a joint that uses a separate piece of wood as the tenon inserted into mortises cut into both pieces of wood to be joined, have gotten a lot of attention over the past several years particularly after Festool came out with the Domino in 2006, a tool that creates both mortises to receive a factory-made tenon known as a Domino. There are certainly a lot of opinions on the topic in the woodworking community. I guess it must be time for mine.

Many purists insist on sticking with the traditional mortise and tenon. It has been one of the most popular joints in furniture building since—well, pretty much since the beginning of furniture building. I’m clearly not a purist because I love loose tenon joinery. I first fell in love with it after I saved up enough money to buy a Festool Domino (yes, I saved for a long time). I couldn’t justify buying both the regular one and the XL, so I bought only the small one (it was cheaper).  With my largest tenon/Domino only being, 10x50x24mm (~3/8”x2”x1”), I often found myself in situations where the little Dominos weren’t going to provide the strength, necessary and safe for the piece of furniture I was building. But I wanted the ease and speed of the loose tenon joinery.

Read more: 15 March 2018 Loose Tenon Joinery

“Hickory & Walnut Kitchen Buffet"

With Barn Door Style Hardware.

My next project will be this kitchen buffet for the cabin. It will provide us with precious storage for kitchen items. Based on the SketchUp image displayed to the left, I plan to make the lighter color hickory and the darker color walnut to match the theme of all the other furniture I've built for the cabin. I had hoped to use a live edge piece for the top to match our kitchen bar, but a slab that large is way too expensive. I may use the Jimmy DiResta style I used for the dining room table to bring the pieces all together. Stay tuned as this project develops. I'll have plans available in the next few weeks as I complete the project.

Read more: 18 Feb 2018 Kitchen Buffet