Staining Completed

I had planned to get the three bottle stopper display racks for Dave and Dave completed over the weekend , and Marie and I got quite a bit done on them Saturday, but my plan to finish them up Sunday got scuttled so I had to push that off to Monday. Promises were made as to their delivery date so they could be used in a show. The mission was accomplished and all three racks are on their way.

This morning I lacquered the panels that I stained last time then began assembling the case for the final time. Once the case was all glued together I took it into the finishing room and stained the rails and stiles. No worries about getting stain on the already stained parts because the lacquer allows me to wipe it right off if I drip.

The stain needs to set up overnight. So I finished out the afternoon by “antiquing” the brass library pulls. This is done by immersing the pulls in a bath of an acid solution, waiting until the proper color has been attained, then transferring them to a bath of water and baking soda to neutralize the acid, then drying them with a soft cloth.

After they dry completely I shot them with a light coat of gloss lacquer to protect the finish. Here you can see the antiqued pulls, one of the Antique Brass shelf pins I’ll be using is below them for color comparison, and a raw, bright brass pull is in the bag at the top. I’m pleased with the results… and yes, I remembered to antique the screws too!

Time to clean up and head home for some supper. See you tomorrow!

Doug