In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2)

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Monday, September 7, 2026 11:50
VIEWED: 338648
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6IXSTRINGJACK

Saturday, July 25, 2026 11:38 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
That's beautiful wood! No wonder you don't want to paint it! Really fine grained and pretty figured. It might be birch, beech, or maple.

You're the expert.

I really wouldn't know, and that's a shame. My step-dad would have taught me all of that stuff if I wasn't too busy dicking around when I was younger. I knew it wasn't pine because it wasn't fun to sand.

Quote:
Very pretty!

Yeah. Thanks. I'm very pleased with the results so far and didn't really know how it was going to go. I haven't even looked at that thing since I stacked it up and had the chests covered with bed linens. I think in my mind it was worse than reality.

It was only after I posted pics here and looked at them that I realized just how much detail went into this piece originally. Obviously I knew the dovetails were there, but I took the top off immediately and didn't ever have the pieces together while I was working on it today.

I had no idea how nice those dovetails line up from top to bottom when the lid is on, and they also used the same piece of wood for the sides of the box and the side of the lid, so all that grain pattern matches up.

What a cool little box.

Yeah... You're right about this one. There are certain pieces you just don't put paint on. This is one of 'em.

And to think... It almost got thrown out.

My aunt made it sound for months like she wanted it, and then just about last minute she decided against it. She never told me why, but made it look like a painful choice to leave it behind. I think it was because it was so beat up. And she has no idea to this day that it wasn't thrown away.

Quote:
One of these days I should put up a picture of a maple table I refinished about 45 years ago. It had this dark gunky stuff on it that I removed with methylene chloride paint stripper and sandpaper, and replaced with polyurethane. The coating is getting a little porous now. At some point it'll need refinishing again.

I'd love to see it. You just need to resurface the top, or the whole table needs work? My grandma's cats made sure you'd have to do EVERYTHING.

Quote:
I was a bit under the weather for a few days. Not majorly, but I had a sinus infection and my stuffy nose kept me from sleeping well, and I'm at the age where if I don't get enuf sleep I wind up spinning my wheels half the time the day following. But today I made up for all the wheel spinning, and managed to declutter/ dejunk more of the spare bedroom in addition to catching up on kitchen chores.

I thought you were mad at me. Maybe you are. I deserve it. I'm never going to change my mind on that issue, regardless of how I came to that conclusion. I'm sorry that this keeps happening.

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Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.

SIGNYM

Saturday, July 25, 2026 2:16 PM

I get mad at you, SIX, but I don't stay mad!

I think you're incredibly ignorant about some things and people, but you're not innately malicious like some (AHEM!) people around here!

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger

BRENDA

Saturday, July 25, 2026 11:34 PM

That cabinet or whatever will look good once you do what you are going to do to it. But don't take this the wrong way but it sorta looks like an old coffin.

BRENDA

Saturday, July 25, 2026 11:35 PM

Laundry today to take it easy on my hands and also I have a secret about next weekend. I just hope nothing scuttles my plans.

Later an library return and something else small to do.

SIGNYM

Sunday, July 26, 2026 12:32 AM

Oh SIX, I thought I should warn you about staining maple. Because the grain runs in different directions, it comes out BLOTCHY. REALLY blotchy.

I discovered that when I had to stain some maple legs to match the chest they were going to be added to. For me, in the end it didn't matter bc the wood I was staining wouldn't darken enough if I used the stain as a stain (i.e. wipe off) so I had to leave it on and use it as a glaze.

But it might come out BLOTCHY.

I also tried staining a scrap of birch plywood to see if I could color match a mahogany chest of drawers, and while the blotchiness wasn't as extreme, it was still there.

There are all kinds of tips and tricks to eliminate the blotchiness. The one that came out best, for me, was pre-finishing the wood with tung oil, but it still wasn't good. If I had used a solvent-based stain and mixed it with tung oil to make a finishing stain, it might have come out better. But I didn't have a lot of time to experiment so I never really solved the problem.

Anyway, do your research on staining maple, which is apparently the most difficult wood to stain evenly. Maybe see if you can find some scrap maple to practice on. I know you had a lot of practice staining your floors, so if you can find a good technique for staining maple, tell me about it! In detail!

*****

You're right, BRENDA. Come to think of it, it DOES kinda look like a coffin!

When SIX said he had a chest, I imagined, yanno, maybe something half that length. I was surprised how BIG it is. That's a serious amount of storage space!

How about a hint about next weekend, hmmmm?

-----------

"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger

SIGNYM

Sunday, July 26, 2026 12:37 AM

Oh, BTW I had to do the whole table. There was a deep red wine stain in the wood from when someone put a drippy bottle on it. In the end, I had to leave it bc I didn't want to sand that far down. But I think it gives the table character.

-----------

"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger

BRENDA

Sunday, July 26, 2026 4:15 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Oh SIX, I thought I should warn you about staining maple. Because the grain runs in different directions, it comes out BLOTCHY. REALLY blotchy.

I discovered that when I had to stain some maple legs to match the chest they were going to be added to. For me, in the end it didn't matter bc the wood I was staining wouldn't darken enough if I used the stain as a stain (i.e. wipe off) so I had to leave it on and use it as a glaze.

But it might come out BLOTCHY.

I also tried staining a scrap of birch plywood to see if I could color match a mahogany chest of drawers, and while the blotchiness wasn't as extreme, it was still there.

There are all kinds of tips and tricks to eliminate the blotchiness. The one that came out best, for me, was pre-finishing the wood with tung oil, but it still wasn't good. If I had used a solvent-based stain and mixed it with tung oil to make a finishing stain, it might have come out better. But I didn't have a lot of time to experiment so I never really solved the problem.

Anyway, do your research on staining maple, which is apparently the most difficult wood to stain evenly. Maybe see if you can find some scrap maple to practice on. I know you had a lot of practice staining your floors, so if you can find a good technique for staining maple, tell me about it! In detail!

*****

You're right, BRENDA. Come to think of it, it DOES kinda look like a coffin!

When SIX said he had a chest, I imagined, yanno, maybe something half that length. I was surprised how BIG it is. That's a serious amount of storage space!

How about a hint about next weekend, hmmmm?

-----------

"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger

I know. Right. I was thinking of a chest something along the lines of the one I've got more modern.

Not a real big deal. I'm just hoping to hop over into Alberta for the long weekend. Only time my friends in Edmonton can squeeze me in.

I'm just concerned about the air line I take out there which is WestJet. Their attendants have decided to strike. If and that might be a big if, they wouldn't be able to do anything until August 2nd with 72hour strike notice. And that means that I might be able to get out there but getting back would be more difficult.

BRENDA

Sunday, July 26, 2026 4:18 AM

All done for today.

Got spat on when I went out and it tried again crossing from the library to the grocery store. Have to see if anything arrives to night.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Sunday, July 26, 2026 8:13 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
I get mad at you, SIX, but I don't stay mad!

I think you're incredibly ignorant about some things and people, but you're not innately malicious like some (AHEM!) people around here!

Yeah... I can be pretty mean though. I know that. And I like you and I know you don't deserve that. But this one issue is always going to end with that result any time we revisit it.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
That cabinet or whatever will look good once you do what you are going to do to it. But don't take this the wrong way but it sorta looks like an old coffin.

No worries, Brenda. When I was carrying it in the house today over my shoulder, I thought the same thing. I had the scene from Terminator 3 when he was carrying Sarah Conner's coffin on his shoulder with a gat in the other hand shooting people.

It won't look anything like a coffin when it's done.

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Oh SIX, I thought I should warn you about staining maple. Because the grain runs in different directions, it comes out BLOTCHY. REALLY blotchy.

I discovered that when I had to stain some maple legs to match the chest they were going to be added to. For me, in the end it didn't matter bc the wood I was staining wouldn't darken enough if I used the stain as a stain (i.e. wipe off) so I had to leave it on and use it as a glaze.

But it might come out BLOTCHY.

I also tried staining a scrap of birch plywood to see if I could color match a mahogany chest of drawers, and while the blotchiness wasn't as extreme, it was still there.

There are all kinds of tips and tricks to eliminate the blotchiness. The one that came out best, for me, was pre-finishing the wood with tung oil, but it still wasn't good. If I had used a solvent-based stain and mixed it with tung oil to make a finishing stain, it might have come out better. But I didn't have a lot of time to experiment so I never really solved the problem.

Anyway, do your research on staining maple, which is apparently the most difficult wood to stain evenly. Maybe see if you can find some scrap maple to practice on. I know you had a lot of practice staining your floors, so if you can find a good technique for staining maple, tell me about it! In detail!

Are we sure it's maple? Did you figure that out or ask your husband to verify?

Any testing I'll do on the bottom. That makes the decision to just start with the bottom easy.

I don't have much hardwood floor experience. I only ever did it the one time in my house, and it was one of the first things I did after gutting the basement and getting the awful smell out of the house. I just did it so well that it looks like I have a lot of experience.

Yeah.. the only staining I've ever done in my life was those floors and the shelves and poles I did for my closets.

I'll make sure to wipe it all down with a wet rag before I start too. That helps open up the grain a bit, and even though I used my horse hair brush to dust it off, I know there's still residue on there that needs to come off before I start anyhow.

Hopefully it goes well. I've already burned the better part of 2 days on this and it's not work that's getting my house finished.

*****

Quote:
You're right, BRENDA. Come to think of it, it DOES kinda look like a coffin!

When SIX said he had a chest, I imagined, yanno, maybe something half that length. I was surprised how BIG it is. That's a serious amount of storage space!

How about a hint about next weekend, hmmmm?

My Grams called them "Hope Chests". She had 2 of them. The one I'm going to restore for myself one day is much nicer and probably quite a bit older too, but I've got to either repair or replace the enti

6IXSTRINGJACK

Sunday, July 26, 2026 8:23 AM

Another LONG day. I spent a good 4 hours on the box again doing my best to get it sanded down without any sanding gouges. I also took out my exacto knife and dental picks so I could cut away the glue that had made its way in the corners and sanded all that down too. It's not perfect inside, but I don't want it to be. If somebody wants perfect, they can go buy a piece of cardboard with a perfect spraypaint job from IKEA and wonder why it looks like crap and is falling apart 5 years from now.

I'm having another issue with another sensor. I'm wondering if this was a bad batch or something. It was fine for a couple of days, then all the sudden I was at 150 while working and without eating for probably 12 or more hours. That's not totally abnormal by itself since if I'm sweating and not rehydrating myself, a raise of 30 without food isn't out of the question.

But then it started going over 250, and I took insulin. And 30 minutes later I felt like shit and was sweating all over the place again. This one has never gone up to 400 yet, but I'm sitting at 330 right now, and I know that's bullshit. I had to take glucose tabs twice today to combat the lows I was giving myself because my monitors are trying to kill me.

Once I get settled in for the night I'll have some pictures. I got quite a lot done today.

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Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.

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