Kyle is making some frame and panel doors using solid wood and is wondering whether or not he should pre-finish the panels.
Jason wants to know if its safe to use Tried & True Varnish without wearing a respirator.
Richard is trying to make a hollow column and needs some construction suggestions.
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4 replies on “Board Meetings #2”
Thanks for doing these. I find them great to listen to and they get me thinking about different projects I could do. I wanted to call in last night but didn’t get off work in time so I will have to get in on the next one. Keep them coming 🙂
On Richard’s question on making a column, if he wants to make a round one, there’s another method that he could do. He had mentioned drilling a hole through the center of a round column, which is going to be tricky to do accurately if the column is three feet long. But another way to go about this is to drill the center hole through an oversized blank first, and then use the drilled hole as a reference for mounting the blank on a lathe, and then turn the outside to the diameter/profile needed. This way, instead of trying to center the hole down the middle of the column, you’re centering the outside on the center hole. This will lead to less error, and if the lathe has a locking indexing head, making fluted hollows becomes super easy.
Very interesting, I’ve been using Tried & True Varnish oil on a few projects now (two coffee table’s and my entertainment center). I actually finished all of those projects in my basement which has incredibly poor ventilation. I use a respirator for sanding, but I opted not to use it when using the varnish oil and I never got a headache. I kinda like the smell of the varnish oil to be honest. That said, I do have two suggestions to others who want to try using the stuff:
-I warm the entire can of varnish oil to up 120 F in a water bath. I basically bought a small cheap slow cooker, stuck the can in a plastic bag (to try to avoid getting the can wet, only works ok), then use a small meat thermometer to check the temperature of the contents of the can. It usually takes a good 10-15 mintues to get the oil up to temp. Once it’s warm it goes on real easy, not like honey at all. I read about thinning it like this somewhere online before I ever tried it out so I’ve never run into the problems Janson was mentioning regarding getting tired.
-while T&T varnish oil seems pretty green I still use nitrile gloves while applying it. Sure makes cleaning up afterwards easier and also makes it more comfortable to work with the 120 F warm oil.
good idea about warming the oil will. i’ll have to give that a shot on my next project. i was finishing a bunch of large (9’x3.5′) panels and my muscles were screaming a bit by the end of a good night’s work.
sure like the way it looks and you’re right, the smell is kind of pleasant.