It's A Wrap

the big island is in its new home ... after a month or so of awaiting finish sample approvals and then actually doing the finishing, delivery and assembly, we're done ... it was nip and tuck getting it out the front door, but we got it, and, it looks great on site, perfectly proportioned to it's new room, which is, actually, quite a bit larger and at present, emptier than our shop ... it was a challenging and engaging project on a lot of levels and i look forward to seeing it with the appliances, sink and granite as well as the rest of the furnishings for the room in place ... onward ...

click the photos to enlarge them ...
from the dining room side ...
the piece is lightly distressed at the early stages of the finishing and we sanded the broken edges a little more aggressively than usual as the finishing progressed, creating highlights on the corners and a 'softness' than is often found on well used antiques.
carry it in ... set it down ... perfectly level over the entire 16', both ways ... we jacked the shop floor up to all level before we started because, having worked with this builder for almost ever, we knew it would be this way ... with the design as it was, there was no place for shimming anyway ... all good ....
here trevor is installing the steel granite overhang support. it's 1 x 3 x 1/4" rectangular tubing stiffened with the box beam cross pieces visible in the photo below.
the finish schedule was a variation of our typical finish process using lockwood dyes, minwax fast dry polys, gel stains and wiping polys. see more finishing posts here ...
we made a couple different sample boards before we got what we wanted ... i can't remember the last time we used stained quartered white oak for a piece and i'm pretty sure we haven't ever done a distressed, stained version of it before ... i'm happy with the results. on the sample we gel stained before the seal coat which, in my opinion, requires a longer dry time before the top coats and is slightly harder to manipulate on the unsealed wood ... next time i would do as we regularly do and seal the second coat of stain in before applying the gel layer. it was a big finishing project and took a long time but as in cooking, what step/ingredient would you leave out? in my 30+ years of experience and research, there are no shortcuts to a deep rich finish, only many, many steps ... ask the experts ...

there are a few earlier related posts for this project at the links below ...
turning the columns
getting it all together, attaching the columns and cornice support structure
finish process and delivery photos

A 'Distressing' Post

Sometimes clients ask us to 'distress' or 'antique' a piece of furniture. At first I was hesitant, but now, I often get downright enthusiastic about it. It's a real 'arty' process. My enthusiasm usually depends on the, what I would call, 'countryness' of the piece. I don't recommend it on high shine or formal pieces, but it seems to age new pieces that have a certain country flair nicely. Mainly we use a bunch of homeless keys on a strong string and a broken brick. Occasionally if we want to mimic old nail holes, we'll heat a piece of sharpened 1/8" round steel in the forge or with a torch and poke/burn some holes in the wood. That works best if we're already using recycled wood and have to add some additional character or (ahem, cough) repair a mistake ... 'Whatever works' is more or less our motto ... Fear is your main enemy here .... sandpaper's your friend ... Have at it ... Make some samples .... Work in layers ... distress a little, sand a little, finish a little, distress some more ... Click the photos for better viewing ...

Close up of a piece we made for the Greenbriar Hotel

The whole deal ...

Birds eye view of an oval side table

The process below and the tools above .. keys on a string and a broken brick

Distress then apply your first coat of stain

sand aggressively then apply your second coat of stain

We often apply the first coat of finish to see what's up, whack it some more and then add a darker gel stain .. then topcoat over that, polish it up and ship it ... It usually works out ..

The 'Birds Eye View' of the oval table above is a finished view of the piece in the process pictures above ...

New Skill ... Tin Punching

A client recently requested that we add a pair of punched tin panels to her new kitchen cabinets. Since we had already installed most of the kitchen, time was short. We took some copper scraps and a nail to make some test panels, did a little Googling and decided to have at it. After making a cad line drawing inspired by a piece in the client's house, we picked up some steel, fastened it temporarily to a thick piece of plywood, taped on the pattern and started punching, spacing the holes by eye. Before starting the real panels we sharpened a nail set to a point. Will had to take a couple of breaks, as it was a lot of hammering and punching, and I only heard a few swear words, as he moved through them in pretty short order. We found some spray primer rated for galvanized, and after letting that cure a few days, we sprayed a couple of thin coats of latex paint on both sides. They will now be brushed out by the painter on site to matched the rest of the kitchen. I'm very pleased with the way they came out and think that it was a great addtion to the design of the kitchen .... more photos of the finished kitchen later ... Click to enlarge ...

A photo of the panel from which we drew inspiration... we added outside borders ...

Raw panel before priming

The backing panel and CAD drawing

The doors with the painted panels