I came in early this morning (5:30) to get a head start on the book keeper stuff that has been piling up on the desk so that would not take time away from the woodworking because I have a good deal to accomplish today and will not have an after-supper shift to fall back on.
I started by lacquering the drawer fronts. The color sample boards came back from Nance (thank you for your diligence in this) so I took the opportunity to test the color of the parts I’d already stained. 
This may not look to be the right color on your monitor, but by laying the sample on top of the drawer front you can see that they are the exact same color. I love it when that happens.
The entire day was spent sanding and staining the case parts. I started with the top plate, which has been sitting around here for weeks now, having gone through periods of dry weather and very wet weather and it has not curled up any corners or bowed. It should be good and reliable as long as you don’t do anything silly like sitting it in front of a window where the sun will blaze in on it or on top of a heat vent. At least don’t do these things for a couple of weeks to give it a chance to adjust to it’s new home.
I sand each component through all the grits then tack it off and take it into the finishing room for staining. 
The casework framing I sand as a unit to be sure the joint faces are even and smooth then take the case apart to sand the narrow inside faces of the rails and stiles where they snuggle up around the panels. The panels get sanded separately and will be stained AND get 1 coat of lacquer before I put them back into the casework for final assembly.
I’m using the power sander on these larger parts and assemblies because… well... because I’m lazy. But the final sanding on all parts is done by going back with the final grit to sand it again by hand and with the grain to make sure there are no swirls left by the sander.
By close to days end I have all the panels, the front grid and all rail and stile interior edges sanded and stained. These will now have to set up for a minimum of 8 hours before I can do anything more with them.
I started by lacquering the drawer fronts. The color sample boards came back from Nance (thank you for your diligence in this) so I took the opportunity to test the color of the parts I’d already stained. 
This may not look to be the right color on your monitor, but by laying the sample on top of the drawer front you can see that they are the exact same color. I love it when that happens.
The entire day was spent sanding and staining the case parts. I started with the top plate, which has been sitting around here for weeks now, having gone through periods of dry weather and very wet weather and it has not curled up any corners or bowed. It should be good and reliable as long as you don’t do anything silly like sitting it in front of a window where the sun will blaze in on it or on top of a heat vent. At least don’t do these things for a couple of weeks to give it a chance to adjust to it’s new home.
I sand each component through all the grits then tack it off and take it into the finishing room for staining. 
The casework framing I sand as a unit to be sure the joint faces are even and smooth then take the case apart to sand the narrow inside faces of the rails and stiles where they snuggle up around the panels. The panels get sanded separately and will be stained AND get 1 coat of lacquer before I put them back into the casework for final assembly.I’m using the power sander on these larger parts and assemblies because… well... because I’m lazy. But the final sanding on all parts is done by going back with the final grit to sand it again by hand and with the grain to make sure there are no swirls left by the sander.
By close to days end I have all the panels, the front grid and all rail and stile interior edges sanded and stained. These will now have to set up for a minimum of 8 hours before I can do anything more with them. The drawers are done except to mount the library pulls, but since I need to "make" them I'll wait on that for just a bit -- until the finishing room is not so crowded The chemicals used to 'antique' the brass pulls can be rather noxious and I'll be wanting to keep that contained and away from the general work space.
So, I’m going to call it quits a little early this evening so I can get this place cleaned up and I’ll be ready to go when my sweetie comes to fetch me.
Have a great weekend!
Doug
Have a great weekend!
Doug
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