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coffee table
Jun. 4th, 2006 12:50 amMy dad made us a coffee table, as a wedding present. He made it to match our dining room set, but he didn't stain and varnish it because I've got better resources. Not only did I used to do that sort of thing for a living, a friend of mine has a cabinet shop and a professional finishing facility.
It was tricky trying to match the color. The new table is pine, but the old table is... not. Some Asian thing, I guess. First, I put on some Minwax pre-stain conditioner to keep the stain from getting blotchy, keep the end grain fom getting too dark and to keep the grain from getting to contrasty (stripey). Then I stained it. The color seemed good, but it was way too light, so we decided to use "toner." This is pigment that is mixed with the varnish and sprayed on. It's an opaque pigment, but when it's mixed, the varnish is transparent so the wood grain and stain shows through. Bill didn't really know how to do this, but his normal finisher stopped by and helped him figure it out. So it's got two coats of brown, one of black, and two of clear varnish. The base coat of stain is a light reddish-brown.
This varnish is sprayed, which makes for a nice, smooth surface. And it was catalyzed, so it dries enough for sanding and another coat within about twenty minutes. I took it down there at 11:00, and I think we picked it up around 4:00 (and that's with a couple hours break. It's in the garage now, though. It takes a while for the varnish to dry completely, and it's producing vapors. The garage stinks. We'll bring it back in the house on Monday.
It was tricky trying to match the color. The new table is pine, but the old table is... not. Some Asian thing, I guess. First, I put on some Minwax pre-stain conditioner to keep the stain from getting blotchy, keep the end grain fom getting too dark and to keep the grain from getting to contrasty (stripey). Then I stained it. The color seemed good, but it was way too light, so we decided to use "toner." This is pigment that is mixed with the varnish and sprayed on. It's an opaque pigment, but when it's mixed, the varnish is transparent so the wood grain and stain shows through. Bill didn't really know how to do this, but his normal finisher stopped by and helped him figure it out. So it's got two coats of brown, one of black, and two of clear varnish. The base coat of stain is a light reddish-brown.
This varnish is sprayed, which makes for a nice, smooth surface. And it was catalyzed, so it dries enough for sanding and another coat within about twenty minutes. I took it down there at 11:00, and I think we picked it up around 4:00 (and that's with a couple hours break. It's in the garage now, though. It takes a while for the varnish to dry completely, and it's producing vapors. The garage stinks. We'll bring it back in the house on Monday.
