The Shaker stool is finished and ready to sit on, but I can’t bring myself. Yet. I’ll get over it. But I love my stool.
After lopping off the extra material where the tenons and braces stuck out with a saw, I evened (is that a word?) everything up with a plane and sanded it with 220. I gave it two coats of diluted clear shellac. Sanded with 320, and gave it one more coat with undiluted shellac. I rubbed it with wax and 0000 steel wool and it feels amazing to the touch. Very silky smooth.
There are a few gaps on the diagonal braces. They all fit really tight structurally, but here and there I have a little gap. Those braces are the hardest part in my opinion. Next time my plan is to lay out a template with the notches and end bevels – allowing for a little overhang for trimming. Then I can mark out all four braces, and use the template to check my work as I saw and pare the notches.
Finished Bench
Finished Bench
Finished Bench
Man! That’s really cool. I forget where you got the idea to make this from? I might have to make one too!
The new issue of Fine Woodworking has an article on this, but accidentalwoodworker.com was where I saw it first.
Very nice. The wedged through tenons are a nice touch.
Thanks Jamie, I’m happy with the result. It was a great practice project.
Very nice looking stool. Your cross brace joinery looks dead nuts.
Thanks Ralph. The cross-brace joinery is OK, I’ll do it better next time. This is a great piece to practice dados, M&T and dovetail laps. It’s small enough that it goes (relatively) quickly.
PS: I’ve decided that I really like using shellac as a finish. In the past I’ve always been more of a “oil” or “wiping varnish” person. I still really like that on figured woods to bring out the color and pattern in the grain. But the rubbed and waxed shellac finish feels so silky smooth I really like it. And the fact that it can make cheap white pine look good is a huge plus.
I read something in the latest “Flexner on Finishing” column in Popular Woodworking that is bothering me. It’s the article on wipe-on finishes. He mentions that a sample of “Tried and True” oil finish left to dry for 16 years is still sticky because it’s just raw linseed oil. I’ve been using their oil/varnish blend and am wondering about that. I’ve noticed that on some projects they seem to take “forever” to dry (my winding sticks for example — it’s been several weeks and I noticed yesterday that they still seemed slightly sticky/oily). I need to do some experiments I think to get a better handle on this.
I like it. Looks like a good project for practicing jointery skills.
Thanks for sharing.
Dave
Traditional Skills Blog