# Vanity Press - Finished!



## Chems (15 Mar 2009)




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## OPJ (15 Mar 2009)

Looking good, Chems. Your pine boards look to be of good quality too; I can't see many dead knots in your photo's.


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## Chems (15 Mar 2009)

Thanks! There isn't a single dead knot olly. There is a blemish in one of the boards but I haven't used that one yet but intend to make sure its an inwards facing board, it almost looks as if one of the planks was dropped and chipped before it was glued up more than anything. The boards are FixBoard Swedish pine and cost me about £22 a board.


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## shim20 (15 Mar 2009)

looking good, look forward to seeing the finished product.


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## Chems (16 Mar 2009)

Yeah me to shim! I'm not sure if I haven't made it too big. Its 6 foot wide by around 6 1/4 foot high. Nothing to do but carry on and see what it looks like in place.


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## neilyweely (16 Mar 2009)

Looks good to me too chems, but....


> Then it was time for assembly. I wanted to dovetail the front of the draw units rather, something I'd never done, so I cut the dovetails on my router table and cut the dovetail hole in the case sides with my small router hand held then cleaned it up with a chisels. Heres one:



I don't suppose you would elaborate on how you did this, please? I have been playing with the router table with a DT bit in for a coupla days, and keep messing it up. I do have a jig, but tbh am not at all keen on half blind DT's. Am gonna buy a Dakota jig, but till then would appreciate the help, if this is ok.

Thanks either way

Neil


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## Chems (18 Mar 2009)

I set up the fence on my table Neil so that it cut half the profile exactly so that when both sides were done the pine would be in the middle and exactly the width of my router bit at full cut (important later). That just took a bit of testing. Then I just ran these through using a block against the fence to help keep everything at 90 degrees to the fence so I got nice straight sides to the pin. Then for the sliding dovetail on the draw carcase I simply marked it out, then took me smaller 1/4 router with the same bit in it and free hand routed down my line. Cleaned it up with a sharp chisels and knocked it home. I have a Leigh D4 but I haven't used it yet so can't commend weather this would have been easier but I think it probably would have. Would also be fairly easy to cut by hand for only a few.


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## Chems (26 Apr 2009)




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## OPJ (27 Apr 2009)

Going back to your first set of photos, I've just noticed that you have the hose from your vacuum extractor suspended from the ceiling. I think this is a brilliant idea and I've been thinking of trying something similar for a while. One of the reasons I've become lazy and no longer use extraction with power tools is because the ribbed 32mm hose tends to get caught on the edge of your bench or whatever you're working and either affects your working or it keeps getting pulled out! :x :wink: 

Those dovetails are looking tidy - why didn't you use extraction with your dovetail jig?  What sort of lacquer are you using and how are you applying it?


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## Chems (27 Apr 2009)

Yes I suspended from the rafters my extension cable and the vacuum cleaner, that way when cutting up sheet material and bits I kept the place a bit tidy and wasn't for ever cutting up my own wires. 

I've just bought the Leigh Router attachment its not VRS but similar in that it attaches to the router via the parallel guide holes and catches the dust. See how it does for £15. After doing all those dovetails I looked like the sandman from Spiderman! 

I'm using the Chestnut Melamine Lacquer, I've applied the first coat with a brush and its gone on well so I may just keep using the brush to save me having to buy the thinner and using my spray gun. On my test piece a nice little bit of clear wax really gives it a nice shine.


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## kityuser (27 Apr 2009)

Chems":1t3u0tqb said:


>



interesting police outlines on the floor....... strange murder scene though 


Steve


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## Chems (27 Apr 2009)




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## OPJ (27 Apr 2009)

Chems, can I ask what you are using to spray your furniture with? Is it the Earlex, like the one Philly mentioned in another thread?


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## Chems (27 Apr 2009)

Its the cheapy from Aldi, PowerCraft or something. Its very good for the money, I honestly can't say it has any down sides that I've discovered.


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## Chems (7 Jun 2009)




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## Chems (16 Aug 2009)




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## OPJ (17 Aug 2009)

Looking good, James.  Clearly, you need some more machinery in your workshop - you shouldn't have the space to assemble something this big, in there!!  :wink:

By the way...







Those 'hands' on the right-hand side - is that a design feature?!


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## Chems (17 Aug 2009)

Some people have workshop dogs, I have workshop cat and workshop slave.


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## Chems (17 Aug 2009)




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## OPJ (17 Aug 2009)

That is looking very nice indeed... Now, how on Earth are you going to deliver it?! 

Have you considered adding a large mirror to fill that large gap in the middle? Just a thought.


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## Chems (17 Aug 2009)




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## Chems (21 Aug 2009)




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## DaveL (21 Aug 2009)

Chems":2vs5iww3 said:


> Don't know if anyone is reading this but I don't care I love my own build thread!



Of course there are people reading it, it's a great thread, I love seeing what the rest of you are making and this is very nice. 
I like the assembly platform, if I had more room I would make one, being able to turn the work round on it looks very useful.


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## NewtoWood (21 Aug 2009)

This is a great build Chems, but you guys are so good at what you do my SWMBO must be kept away from these pics, as she will start asking why I only produce large sacks of sawdust.


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## Chems (21 Aug 2009)

Thanks to both, nice to know theres people out there! 

Ready to disassemble, sand and stain now today. All going well using the water based dye then the chemical lacquer it could all be finished today.


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## woodbloke (21 Aug 2009)

Chems":219u6xa8 said:


> Some people have workshop dogs, I have workshop cat and workshop slave.


You too?...nice build btw - Rob


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## Lord Nibbo (21 Aug 2009)

Chems":1mcy9dpz said:


> Thanks to both, nice to know theres people out there!


 
Don't go off on one :wink: 

I've been watching intensely waiting to heap praise on you when I see the finish go on. :lol: It's seriously excellent workmanship and nothing I could have added to the thread would of helped in any way, so go and get on with it :lol:


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## Chems (21 Aug 2009)

I sort of thought no-one was intrested cause it was stinky old pine 

Its been taking apart as we speak ready for finish.


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## head clansman (21 Aug 2009)

Hi chems 

hmm interesting post , well made, be interesting to see the finish item , thing i like the most is the mobile platform to easily manoeuvre it about in the workshop , good idea . hc :wink:


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## Waka (21 Aug 2009)

Chems":v2hosm3u said:


> I sort of thought no-one was intrested cause it was stinky old pine
> 
> Its been taking apart as we speak ready for finish.



Chems

It doesn't matter what the wood is soft or hard wood the skill of making something is the same.

I do like what you've done but like LN I was waiting for the finish to go on.


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## Paul Chapman (21 Aug 2009)

Chems":3rokt5wk said:


> I sort of thought no-one was intrested cause it was stinky old pine



I often think pine is far more difficult to work with than most hard woods. It's come together very well, Chems.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## OPJ (21 Aug 2009)

I'm surprised you haven't learned this by now, Chems...

If there's one thing people on this forum do like, it's _plenty of photographs_!!  :wink:

Nice bit of upholstery work - in "*SWMBO's Workshop*", as well! :shock: :wink: I'd be interested to hear how much you spent on materials one it's done (if you haven't already mentioned it earlier in the thread...).


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## Chems (22 Aug 2009)

Thanks for all the lovely replies!

I was keeping a really good count of the material up untill a point. I could probably now give a rough estimation. 

The intial outlay was £221.40 which basically made me most of it apart from the doors an bits. I'd say on top of that another 3/4 pine sheets as well as the original 7 at a lower price of £16-18 a board. So we are near 356 by my calculations including the lacquer and thinner. Then an extra litre of dye was bought. I also bought a dovetail jig for the job at bargain price from a very nice forum member but won't include that in the price up. I spent another £88 on some very nice light fixings for it which I'll show you tomorrow so basically between £400-£500. As for my man hours I'd dread to think how many. 

The real plus of the project is other than the Leigh Jig, My Triton router and Tormek I've actually built it all with really basic kit. My cheap CS (£20 from Homebase) £10 McKeller router, £80 table saw from Screwfix which has been brilliant, set of 3 chisels from focus and a collection of done up records of ebay not more than £50's worth for the lot. Cheap aldi spray gun for the finish. I think the big difference between the good tools and the cheap ones is its got to be a lot quicker, cleaner, less noisy and all together less stressful than it is working with the cheaper stuff. I've been upgrading my dust extraction and olly's RDSE extractor arrived today and for the first time ever I used my router and ROS with out any dust covering me. Quite something. Next on the shopping list is a 10" SIP Table Saw and a Jet 260.


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## Lord Nibbo (22 Aug 2009)

Paul Chapman":1ays8dxx said:


> Chems":1ays8dxx said:
> 
> 
> > I sort of thought no-one was intrested cause it was stinky old pine
> ...



I agree 100% I would estimate that pine is at least twice as difficult to cut or plane across the grain and get a clean finish.


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## woodbloke (22 Aug 2009)

Pine is awkward bloody stuff to use at the best of times...one of it's saving graces is that dovetails mush together quite well, but apart from that, it's not something I use very much - Rob


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## Chems (23 Aug 2009)

I got the finish on an most of the lacquer over the past days. Going to spray on another couple of coats tomorrow. It dries fairly quickly so looking to have it rebuilt in place on monday. 

When I finish the lacquer its quite a rough texture which becomes very smooth with a touch of high grit sand paper. Is this what a de-nibbing cloth is for?


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## OPJ (23 Aug 2009)

Hmmm... Lacquer shouldn't feel 'rough', unless perhaps you're spraying too much on? You could try thinning it 10%, unless I've misunderstood.

I use this stuff for denibbing, which doesn't clog easily (320g and 400g in between coats). The idea of denibbing is to carefully remove any irregularities in the previous finish creating a surface that's ready for the next coat.


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## Chems (23 Aug 2009)

I think the rough texture is one because the water based dye seems to raise the grain slightly, then the lacquer does again, and then also the dust an bits in the air get stuck in it. I've sprayed it on quite thinly to begin with but will lay heavier coats on this evening. Should be installed tomorrow.


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## davin (23 Aug 2009)

Very nice.

I know pine can be a pain to work with, but what a lovely smell when you walk into the workshop in the morning mmm

Do you mind me asking where you bought your "fixboard", I tried googling a supplier in Kent/Sussex, no luck. Seems very good value.

Davin


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## Chems (23 Aug 2009)

I don't know if you know of the Build Centre chain, they do Plumb Centre, Drain Centre, Timber Centre and so on. Well my local Timber Centre used to stock it but it was closed down in the recession, but the manager moved to a nearby Build Centre which stocks lots of stuff rather than just timber and he moved the FixBoard with him. It may be worth looking for a build centre in your area and ask for it. Often referred to as Laminated Pine Boards. The website for the manufacture is:

http://www.fixboard.se/eng/index.html

There was a few good deals of the same sort of stuff on ebay a while back but I didn't want to buy it encase it was slightly different to the stuff I'd already been using. I think on the whole its widely available as I know Maliee uses the same stuff and its common in Kitchen Carcasses according to one of the guys who works at the build centre.


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## davin (23 Aug 2009)

Thanks - for your fast response, I will try the local build centre. I know lots of places sell laminated board but that looks good quality.

I know people say Pine is a poor substitute to hardwood. But I bought some 50 mm thick slow grown pine from a timber yard in Finland once (on Holiday and I still visited timber yards - sad I know).
The density and weight of the wood was incredible, nothing like the pine or spruce we get here. 

once again thanks


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## Chems (24 Aug 2009)




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## OPJ (25 Aug 2009)

I think it looks great, Chems, and you've done yourself proud. Fits in very well with the surroundings. 

Now... _On to the next project!!_


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## Chems (25 Aug 2009)

Thanks OPJ!

I sketched the first picture on January the first, Cut the first board on February 22nd and had it all done by yesterday which makes it a 6 month and 25 day build if you count planning time. So I think I'm going to have a little rest and a tidy before anything else gets built.


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## Shadowfax (25 Aug 2009)

Very nice, Chems.
Looks good doesn't it?
Did you manage to get it to it's new location without any dings? I find pine likes to lean on things and dent itself while you are looking away!
Great work. On to the next project!

SF


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## Chems (25 Aug 2009)

Very carefully was the order of the day. The melamine lacquer gives it a lot of extra hardness so it should stand up to little knocks ok.

This is only its temporary home, it will be moved again very soon.


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## Lord Nibbo (25 Aug 2009)

Excellent work from start to finish. =D>


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## mailee (30 Aug 2009)

I just got around to reading this one sorry Chems. After reading the title I was expecting something like a trouser press! Shows how much I know. :roll: I was very impressed with the build and the finished article it looks great. As someone already stated pine isn't the easiest of woods to work with especially for a project like this. It is soft and dents easily not to mention it is a pain to colour. You have acheived a perfect result and I am sure you are happy with your effort, as you should be. I really enjoyed the build, looking forward to the next project. :wink:


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## Chems (30 Aug 2009)

Thanks Alan, I quite like the colour of un-finished pine but the wood dye I used coupled with Chestnut Melamine lacquer did bring up a very nice colour in the end.

Already onto the next project, will have a thread started tomorrow I hope.


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## Waka (30 Aug 2009)

Chems

Nicely executed project, looks very posh.


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## Chems (12 May 2010)




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## mailee (12 May 2010)

Only one word for it.....Beautiful. Bet they are over the moon with it.


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## Dan-K (12 May 2010)

Very nice, I haven't seen this thread before. Excellent workmanship. 



Chems":172wlcww said:


> This is only its temporary home, it will be moved again very soon.



I see your definition of 'very soon' is quite similar to mine; unless I'm mistaken it appears to be in the same place as originally :lol:


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## Chems (12 May 2010)

Thanks Dan, glad you enjoyed the read. Sept time, thats soon now.  Probably should have said distance future back when I posted it! 

Thanks Maliee


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