# Made a start



## mailee (26 May 2007)

Well I have made a start on the corner unit although I have had to put the shoe cabinet on hold for the moment.





I managed to get most of the base unit assembled:




And ended up the day with a dry fit on the top section:




I found that one of our local timber merchants selling pine furniture boards much cheaper than the Wickes version too which makes life easier:




Not only that but they are in ten foot lengths!


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## Waka (27 May 2007)

Looking good, keep us up to date with progress.


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## Lord Nibbo (27 May 2007)

I see Henry is keeping an eye on you :lol: Great pics of your Router/saw guide too.


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## mailee (27 May 2007)

Yes L N, Henry does keep his eye on me, he is a big help.  Well today I managed to make some flutes for the face of the shelf unit:




I also made some mouldings:




To make the cornice:




And finally finished the day with the top mounted on the base temporarily:




tomorrow I should be able to get the cornice and plinth fitted. 
Oh my router and saw guide is of course home made and I have Mel to thank for the laminate, works a treat. Although I am going to put some non slip rubber on the bottom as mentioned in the buying advice section. Oh yes and I almost forgot it also needs some doors. :wink:


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## mailee (27 May 2007)

Yes L N, Henry does keep his eye on me, he is a big help.  Well today I managed to make some flutes for the face of the shelf unit:




I also made some mouldings:




To make the cornice:




And finally finished the day with the top mounted on the base temporarily:




tomorrow I should be able to get the cornice and plinth fitted. 
Oh my router and saw guide is of course home made and I have Mel to thank for the laminate, works a treat. Although I am going to put some non slip rubber on the bottom as mentioned in the buying advice section. Oh yes and I almost forgot it also needs some doors. :wink:


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## Gary M (27 May 2007)

Hi Mailee, 
nice work mate, i like the mouldings, very professional looking  
is that your new compressor i see in the background ?

what finish are you intending to use on the unit ? 
Gary


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## mailee (27 May 2007)

Hi Garry, yes it is. I ended up going for a large one that I can jsut manage to lift into the car. It also runs my other air tools so best of both worlds really. As for the finish I am not looking forward to it as the lady said she wanted it in a mid oak colour and varnished! I don't have to tell you what Pine is like to stain a right bu**er! I shall try a couple of test pieces first and make sure I put plenty of sanding sealer on it before I start with the stain. I am on the lookout for some water based stain as I have read this is best for Pine. I will keep my fingers crossed on this one. :roll:


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## mailee (28 May 2007)

I got the cornice and plinth fitted today and started on the doors:




I am making the unit in two halfs so I can transport it and have used biscuits to align the top to the bottom. 
After a dry fit of the doors:




The unit is not far off completion now and I ended the day with this:




All that remains now is to fit the doors and a good sanding before starting the work of finishing, which I am not looking forward to.


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## Anonymous (28 May 2007)

I see no guards, :shock: but ten fingers, stay lucky :lol: :lol:


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## Paul Chapman (28 May 2007)

That's looking very good, Mailee.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## DomValente (29 May 2007)

Looking good Mailee, one final push  

Dom


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## Newbie_Neil (30 May 2007)

Hi Mailee

You're really coming on a storm. Well done.

Cheers,
Neil


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## mailee (30 May 2007)

Well the construction is finally complete. Now it is time for the finishing a lot of sanding and staining to do:


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## Anonymous (30 May 2007)

Looking good Mailee - you're a braver man than me to take on staining :shock:


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## Philly (31 May 2007)

Bravo! Looks great,
Philly


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## mailee (2 Jun 2007)

Well Tony, brave or not I have started on the staining at last, more to my annoyance as it turned out like a patchwork quilt! I gave it two rogged on coats of sanding sealer before using the stain but the wood was like blotting paper! I have had to strip it and start again I am afraid. I have had more sucess the second time around with two damn good coats of sanding sealer brushed on this time and then nibbed back to provide a smooth surface. This time when I added he stain with a cloth it took much better without the stain sinking in too far. This has now produced a more uniform colour and density I am glad to say. I have left the whole thing overnight now to see what it turns out like in the morning. I have my fingers crossed. :roll:


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## mailee (4 Jun 2007)

Well I am on my third attempt at the stain as the last one showed all the sanding marks! I will get there eventually I am sure, but it is dong my head in at the moment. :evil:


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## cherilton (4 Jun 2007)

I have for many years now used a water based stain sprayed on quiet liberally and wiped with a dry cloth and left to dry. You can tell when it's dry when the wood stops feeling cold to the touch. I never have blotchiness problems, and if there are any slight differences in colour then it is masked when I apply top coat of wax.
And if you live near to Sleaford,Lincs you can get the pine panels for half the wickes prices from a manufacturer there, he does deliver too. also does loads of hardwood panels too and solid wood worktops.


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## mailee (5 Jun 2007)

Ooh, tell me more about Sleaford Cherilton? sounds like I could do some business there.


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## Anonymous (11 Jun 2007)

mailee":2s4o802c said:


> Well Tony, brave or not I have started on the staining at last, more to my annoyance as it turned out like a patchwork quilt!



Sorry to hear it Mailee This has been my experience when (many years ago) I made furniture from Pine and stained (ruined?) it  


I now have a healthy displike of stains :wink:

How did the 3rd attempt come out?


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## joiner_sim (11 Jun 2007)

looks good, any pictures of it completley finished to come yet?


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## mailee (11 Jun 2007)

Hi guys. I am on the final varnishing stages now. Oops! I don't think I should have used that word here.  I managed to get it much better on the third attempt and after four coats of sealer! I too know why I don't put a finish on my projects very often Tony. It has been a while since I stained any pine and I had forgotten all the problems in the past. (Must be my age) I shall of course take some pictures when it is finished later this week. It will have to be finished this week as I have a rather large gazebo to build starting on Saturday! Pictures of that to come too of course. Unfortunatley Tony most of my customers don't want to pay the high prices for hardwood so I am stuck with softwood at the moment. I love working in hardwood, but needs must I suppose. Will keep you all posted. :wink:


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## mailee (13 Jun 2007)

Well after another cock up in the finishing of this piece it is almost ready. I shall post a final pic tomorrow if all goes well. After giving the doors one final coat of varnish, (oops that word again) one of them reacted and so had to be stripped down again and re stained and varnished! I have now put on the final varnish coat and am praying tomorrow all will be well so I can deliver it to the customer at last. Will keep you posted. :roll:


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## DaveL (13 Jun 2007)

mailee":3tvlhify said:


> (oops that word again)


Should you of reached for the large tin of 'Donkey Brown' :? :wink:


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## mailee (14 Jun 2007)

Not quite ready yet. I had to recoat one of the doors as it was a little pale compared to the other so tomorrow should see the completion at last, not a minute too soon either! :roll:


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## mailee (15 Jun 2007)

Well finally got it finished at long last. It still wasn't perfect but as close as I was going to get it so I thought I would risk it. I was worrying for nothing as the customer said it was wonderful and really went overboard with admiration for it! She said she liked the look as it made it look more antique. Oh well as long as she was happy that is the main thing. She has also asked me if I could make another piece for the upstairs landing too so she must have been happy with it.  I also managed to fit her a curtain pole while I was there so managed to make a little extra at the same time.  I will not be staining another piece of pine that is for sure! :evil: 
Here is the finished item (excuse the washing line but I was in a hurry) :roll:


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