Wood Working Plan: almost

Showing posts with label almost. Show all posts

Friday, January 24, 2014

The Mallet is almost done! Finally

I was finally able to work a little bit more on the mallet this past weekend. All I need to do now is cut off the excess wood from the wedges and give it a final sanding and then apply some boiled linseed oil and it will be finished!

I made a quick jig to cut the slots for the wedges to go into.

I cut the wedges for the top of the handle at 5 degrees. Next time I think that I will try 3 or 4 degrees.
5 ended up being just a little too big.

I bought enough wood to make 2 mallets so this is the piece that I am going to
use to make the head of the 2nd mallet. It is the same species that I used for the handle of
my current mallet.

I bought a drum sander kit at Lowes to shape the handle. It is amazing what 50 grit sandpaper can do!
I shaped it with the 50 and then smoothed it with 80 and then 120.

It fits in my hand nicely!

I filed the shoulder down a little so that the head would fit snugly and then sanded everything with
the orbital sander with 120 grit sandpaper.

I glued the head onto the handle and then the wedges into the slots.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Eames Update Almost done!

The Eames chairs are finally almost done! After many hours of sanding they are looking worlds different!

If you follow me on instagram @sarahmdorseydesigns you probably saw how close we were

First we sanded with 120 grit with the orbital sander, then 220 grit, and finally with 320 grit (by hand) Respirator and eye protection is a must!!

At the second sanding, it was already looking so much better!

After doing a lot of research it seemed that short of getting the chairs professionally sealed, using Pentrol was a good solution. After going to a few store and seeing the spot on the shelf, but no product we were told that it is illegal to sell in CA because of the vocs ... whoops! So onto, plan B. We stopped by a fiberglass shop that specializes in making and repairing surfboards. We asked them if they could seal it or recommend a product. They recommend a patio sealer that they use on their surfboards from Home Depot.

Behr Wet-Look sealer. Since it is for a patio, they only had it in a gallon size, so it was a little pricey at $27, but Pentrol is about the same. We figured if they use it on surfboards, it has to be durable!

Here it is with the first coat (still wet so looking very shiny). They recommended 4 coats, so we are going to let it dry for about a day and wet sand with a fine grit sand paper in between coats. We are hoping that it itll be about this glossy when finished.

Our journey (on the first chair) is almost complete! Just a little more sanding/sealer and a cushion for the bottom and well be done!

This process is has definitely not been easy or quick, so I could only recommend attempting if you have a love for original Eames chairs (we both do!) and lots of patience (luckily David does!)

Ill give a full break down on our process once we have finished photos, but for now click here, here, and here to see other posts.

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This week I have a very exciting Humpday giveaway planned with two prizes, check back on Wednesday to enter!

and also check back throughout the week for project updates, our new statement piece for the gallery wall, new stencil design, and hopefully more!