Hi All

[kingcreaky]

Hey all.

only just registered as Ive never really had anything useful to say but ive been a keen reader of this forum for some years now. Especially like the Past mistakes and workshop tours area!

ive recently completed making a 'shoe rack'. I like chunky furniture and have always just saved up and bought it made. But this time, I thought id have a go myself.

so when driving past a saw mill a few weeks ago I decided to go in, take the plunge and buy some material. Im fairly well kitted out, I like working with my hands and have made enough mistakes over the years to be confident enough.

I bought some european cedar, it was cheap so I didnt really think too much more about it. I planned what I was going to do and just started cutting.

(Not sure how I am supposed to upload pictures being a new member, so ive put them here)

really pleased with it.... BUT

I noticed when I was cutting the wood, it was really quite wet inside. So I assume my schoolboy mistake is I didnt buy it seasoned or kiln dried material. Like I say it was cheap so I dont feel cheated. But.. while it was still outside I painted it in a clear poly varnish. Now its come inside five days after painting it, its still extremely sticky in vast areas in some places.

I assume therefore that its dring, the central heating is drawing the moisture out of the wood... it will eventually distort and crack.... (I think ive fixed it together strong enough not to worry too much about distortion) but I just thought id post to hear others thoughts on what (if anything) I should do now

At the end of the day, I thoughroughly enjoyed making it, so if I have to do it again with proper dried wood then so be it.

Look forward to your thoughts

Matt

 

[coot]

Hi,

Nice simple design, cant beat a bit of chunky furniture!
Hopefully it wont distort too much and will give it a bit more character

Pete

 

[AndyT]

Well done!

That ticks several boxes already - exactly the right size for your particular space; sturdy; affordable and satisfying!

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Chrispy]

Hi Matt

If it still hasn't dried you could try wiping it with a rag soaked in white spirit, it could be because it was put on to thickly or as you suspect because the wood was just to wet, try to wipe as much of the varnish off as you can, if it has dried then fine leave it but where it's still sticky if you can get some of it off it should help it cure.
If the varnish does dry then that may help the wood dry more slowly and hopefuly not distort so much.

 

[mailee]

Nice job there and welcome. I always use kiln dried for my furniture making as you know it will be a bit more stable and will be dry. I like the chunky look and those box joints do the trick well. Do you use hand tools or do you have machinery?

 

[joiner_sim]

Welcome to the forum!

Smart work there, just a shame about the schoolboy error of using wet cedar. Personally I've only ever known cedar to be wet anyway, which is why its good to use for shingles. But if you could have got it dried it would be much more suitable. I hope it does dry out for you, but I think it may take a very long time to do so.

 

[kingcreaky]

Thankyou all for your reply's

I think il just leave it sweating for now, ultimately it will dry out, and hopefully it wont distort too much

mailee: I have usual kit, bandsaw, tablesaw, planer etc but also earlier this year I completed making my CNC router. (which is what I made this on)

 

[Chrispy]

He has three posts and oh a home made CNC router! come on show us then, you can't just drop that in and forget it we need pictures and every thing we need facts!!!

 

[ColeyS1]

Biggest finger joints ever !! I think it looks great - good job fitting it aswell ;-)