Beech China Cabinet

Listing #1827 Listed on: 02/12/2009 Company Name: KOL Woodworks
Name: kol

This china cabinet is made out of beech and stained to look 2 tone. You can't see the color change in the pics but it is black with a red undertone. You also should take note of the grain. It is sanded by hand to look and feel wavy following the grain patterns. Why did I sand it by hand you ask. Because I didn't know how else to do it, didn't have a sandblaster, or any other usefull tool for that matter. So with a little elbow grease, several days, and lots of ambition I got her done tater tot. And yes it was a total loss because of the labor. The piece was a commission piece to match existing furniture and I believe I underbid by well lets say a lot. But you can probably get it at a store for less. So who's wrong here? LOL Anyhow all comments positive or negative are welcome.

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Posted By:

Michael Butters

Hey Kol,
I am a big fan of all your work - this piece is no exception! We have done a few projects with a similar type of raised grain. Although most of it was douglas fir, you might be able to get the results on other types of wood. The best tool we have found is a 4" or 4 1/2" grinder equipped with a fine bristle wire brush. I think it is usually used for stripping paint, but it is amazing at grinding down the soft wood between the grain, while still leaving the harder parts raised. You have to follow up with some good sanding too, since the wire brush leaves a lot of fine grooves. But we've found that a random orbital sander held at 45 deg. makes pretty quick work of this as well. One word of caution though - the wire brush sends wire bristles flying through the air at painfully fast speeds, so wear safety glasses! Anyways, hope this might help on your next project.

Posted By:

kol

Thanks for the kind words and advice Michael. I will definitely look into the wire wheel for the grinder next time. This project was still fun. All the sanding was kindof a stress reliever. I would probably do it again.

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