.. |
talk
talk. don't be a
wallflower! jump
to the discussion boards
and share your
thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc.
|
copyright
©1999-2000
DigsMagazine.com.
|
|
the
Furniture
FACELift
Fiasco,
a
cautionary tale in two parts |
1 2 3 4
5
|
Step three: On with the new finish ...
With my chair more or less stripped, I was now ready to apply the new
finish. Now first, a little backtracking: at the hardware store,
earlier, I’d sidled on over to the stain and varnish section and found
myself staring dumbstruck at the dizzying array of choices. There were
stains in every imaginable color, in matte, satin, and gloss finishes;
there were waxes and polyurethanes and shellacs, sprays and bottles and
cans. Not a single item had the word "varnish" on it, but
after reading half a dozen labels, I came to the conclusion that the
polyurethanes – described as providing a "beautiful and durable
protective coating" -- were probably what I needed. Then I noticed that there was a product that was a stain and
polyurethane in one. Woo-hoo, a short-cut, thought I -- and, since I
could see no reason to do in two steps what could be accomplished in
one, I of course reached for a small can, in a lovely color called pecan
satin.
Back to the stripped chair now … after wiping down my surface
with a damp cloth, I opened the can of stain/varnish, gave it a quick
stir, then dipped in my brush. Carefully, as instructed on the back of
the can, I began applying long strokes in the direction of the wood
grain. But apparently not carefully enough. After having made my way
around all visible sides of my chair, I came back around to the front
and saw that the stain/varnish had somehow pooled up rather
unattractively in some of the corners, and dripped in a couple of other
spots. My first thought was to stroke on another layer of stain –
this, as it turned out, only compounded the uneven-ness problem, as the
varnish had already begun to turn sticky as it dried, and my brush now
picked up bits and globs, leaving a splotchy, lumpy trail. With no
immediate solution in mind, and feeling very cranky indeed, I decided to
call it a day and let this first coat dry overnight.
The next morning revealed a chair that had darkened to a warm
reddish-golden hue. The lumps and bumps and drips were still apparent,
but, amazingly enough, seemed less conspicuous than they’d been the
day before. I also
|
|
discovered, unfortunately and to my dismay, that the
paintbrush that I had thought I’d cleaned thoroughly – using mineral
spirits, of course – had nonetheless became a hardened mass of clumped
bristles. A long soak in a jar of mineral spirits was fruitless; so it
was off to the hardware store again for the third time in two days.
|
|
the
facelift fiasco continues ... !
--------------------------->
lounge . nourish .
host
. laze . home.
|