Over the weekend Blake & Marilyn made their selection of colors – went for the red-brown – and so I am ready to proceed. 
I started by treating the glass retainer strips with wood conditioner. This is done by flowing on a heavy coat with a brush and working it for a few minutes to be sure the thirsty spots get all they can take in. Then, before the conditioner dries, all the excess is wiped off with a rag. The wood is to be wiped as dry as it can be, then left to cure for 30 minutes before staining.
While the retainer strips dried I put down plastic in the assembly room and got the cabinet back up on stands and vacuumed it to remove any dust that had settled. Then I began applying the conditioner. I worked in sections to be sure the solution did not dry out before I got back to rub it off. If it dries on the surface, it will leave a gummy mess that has to be stripped away with solvents and begun again.
Treating the cabinet took most of the afternoon because of having to work the wiping rag into all the small grooves and corners of the moldings to remove the conditioner. Then I went back to the glass retainer strips and stained them.
Because this is being done in my assembly room, which is not isolated from the rest of the shop, no other woodworking can go on while the stain is tacky. We dealt with this problem all the time in the old (smaller) workshop (which is now a lumber shed) by doing the woodworking in the morning, then cleaning everything up well and doing the staining in the afternoon so it would have all night to dry. We’ll do that again for this cabinet because there is still extraneous stuff in the area that is designated to be our finishing room. While I do have space to work on smaller things in there, the cabinet is too large to fit. Once that room has been stripped out completely it will offer plenty of room to work, even on pieces as large as Blake & Marilyn’s curio.
I got the crown section of the cabinet stained before being summoned to supper. Afterward I came back and finished the job. I don’t like leaving stain to cure out on a job that is partially done – it leaves lap marks. So I worked until about 9:00 to finish the case. Tomorrow I’ll do the doors.
So far the color is looking very good with just one coat applied; a very nice “antique cherry” color.
I started by treating the glass retainer strips with wood conditioner. This is done by flowing on a heavy coat with a brush and working it for a few minutes to be sure the thirsty spots get all they can take in. Then, before the conditioner dries, all the excess is wiped off with a rag. The wood is to be wiped as dry as it can be, then left to cure for 30 minutes before staining.
While the retainer strips dried I put down plastic in the assembly room and got the cabinet back up on stands and vacuumed it to remove any dust that had settled. Then I began applying the conditioner. I worked in sections to be sure the solution did not dry out before I got back to rub it off. If it dries on the surface, it will leave a gummy mess that has to be stripped away with solvents and begun again.
Treating the cabinet took most of the afternoon because of having to work the wiping rag into all the small grooves and corners of the moldings to remove the conditioner. Then I went back to the glass retainer strips and stained them.Because this is being done in my assembly room, which is not isolated from the rest of the shop, no other woodworking can go on while the stain is tacky. We dealt with this problem all the time in the old (smaller) workshop (which is now a lumber shed) by doing the woodworking in the morning, then cleaning everything up well and doing the staining in the afternoon so it would have all night to dry. We’ll do that again for this cabinet because there is still extraneous stuff in the area that is designated to be our finishing room. While I do have space to work on smaller things in there, the cabinet is too large to fit. Once that room has been stripped out completely it will offer plenty of room to work, even on pieces as large as Blake & Marilyn’s curio.
I got the crown section of the cabinet stained before being summoned to supper. Afterward I came back and finished the job. I don’t like leaving stain to cure out on a job that is partially done – it leaves lap marks. So I worked until about 9:00 to finish the case. Tomorrow I’ll do the doors.
So far the color is looking very good with just one coat applied; a very nice “antique cherry” color. Point of interest: I am planning to NOT stain the back of the cabinet. I normally don't unless the client asks me to do so because the cabinet will be standing out in a room. As long as it will me backed up to a wall, staining the back is a waste of time and money.
Blake, Marilyn, let me know if you disagree.
Doug
Doug
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