Dark Maple Kitchen

Listing #286 Listed on: 02/11/2006 Name: Tom Hirsz

Company Name: Thomas Hirsz WoodworkDark maple custom kitchen. My own design. I'm a furniture guy so this kitchen had to look like furniture or I wouldn't build it. Very few cupboards, mostly large pullouts and full extension drawers. No melamine or particle core anywhere, all solids and V/C ply. Leaded glass is my work too. Faster and more profitable than wooden muntins for me. Finished with Fuhr #155 Provincial and Dark Walnut blend sprayed on multiple light coats, then top coated with Fuhr #255 Urethane, 3-4 coats. Top coat only is satin.

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Posted By:GC

Very nice but I gotta say the floor tile and the granite do not seem to go well together...maybe a 16x16 tile???also in photo 5 it looks like the bullnose is out past the cab edge?,I know its hard to tell in photos...looks like a pretty noticeable joint line in the granite bullnose...Great job on the Cabinets,I like the Glass uppers,nice touch.

Posted By:GC

I see now it looks like a stepped detail in the granite edge...

Posted By:JeffD

That is a nice looking kitchen. Great Job!
JeffD

Posted By:woody

Great looking work. curious what you charged for that and did you install as well? Was install seperate from price to build?

Posted By:Jeremy Wilson

beautiful looking kitchen I especially like the full length pullouts

Great Job!!!

Posted By:Tom Hirsz

According to a designer for whom I do most of my work, this is a $50,000 in his market, cabinetry only. Sadly I did not get $50,000 for this kitchen and honestly $50,000 is what it takes to cover everything comfortably.
Yes, I installed it too but this is the last time I will do kitchen installations. I am a one-man shop and make more money by designing and building only. The only problem was that it's a tricky kitchen to set up. The large pullouts are really finicky to line up properly. Is this something that any installer could manage? I wouldn't know, don't get out of my shop much.
Glad you like it. The clients are very happy with it, but you know what, I didn't enjoy this project. It was too big and kitchens are not my field, custom furniture is.

Posted By:Jim

Beautiful job that looks truly custom. With the countertop that kitchen should easily cost $70,000.

Posted By:Sean Benetin

Good job Tom especially for not being your normal product. Your website looks real good. I like the format with photos changing while rolling mouse over thumbnails. Nice touch.

Posted By:Bill Chambers

Hi Tom, great kitchen. I am designing some cabinets for my kitchen and was wondering what the blend of provencial and dark walnut was of the fuhr #155.

Thanks,

Bill

Posted By:david scigliano

Did you spray the 155 on the bare wood or did you use a sealer first? How many light coats did it take to achieve the color? And how long did you wait before coats? Thank you.

Posted By:Tom Hirsz

The stain is a blend of Fuhr's Provincial 155 (3 parts), Dark Walnut 155 (1 part), and their clear base (1 part). It is applied with very light coats to avoid splotching and spraygun mottling (that egg crate pattern). No sealer, bare wood. No sealer is ever needed with w.b. on bare wood. Always follow the direction of the panel. I never go across in 2 directions. The clearbase is to dilute it but means more coats. It takes about 7 coats with a 10 minute dry time between. Sand with 400 to remove nibs. After a couple of clear coats I re-assess the colour and can spray the stain in between clears for darkening. It is important to have large samples to compare with. I had a 6' panel from under the range hood to check my colour against. The bigger the better. Only the last 2 clearcoats were satin sheen while the first 2 were gloss. Too much satin clear makes wood look plastic and cloudy. I love Fuhr's 255, but their 250 for vertical surfaces is better. I can spray panels vertically to keep the dust off without runs. It is thicker so I needed a 1.6 nozzle for my cheap guns. I hear that air assist is perfect for the 255/250. It will add a bit of amber to the total colour. Sand between every coat with 400 to remove nibs. Stain sprayed between clears actually makes the next clear coat smoother. I guess the base has acrylic in it which fills the sanded surface. Hope this helps.

Posted By:david scigliano

Thank you very much, I am new to using WB stains. I too am using a cheaper 100 HVLP gravity fed gun...With the 155 I am using a 1.3 tip with air pressure at about 15 psi at the inlet with trigger pulled....Does this sound about right? Thanks once again and great job on the cabinets.

Posted By:Tom Hirsz

Not sure about the gun settings David, but what I do is have a clipboard with scrap paper on it (old drawings) nearby while spraying to test the spray settings. I like to see how light I can get the stain and then adjust upwards from there. This helps me control the darkness and prevents overstaining, runs, splotching, and striping. I think I adjust my fluid to zero and go up half a turn or so. Air is usually at around 20. A very fine mist. Spray it on very evenly, with an even overlap, otherwise you may get the dreaded striping. Use a brass wire brush to keep your tip clean (on the spraygun....not... never mind...ouch). W.b. stain is tough to clean when cured.

Posted By:david scigliano

Thank you very much for your response, I am still waiting for my custom match stain so I can stain my cabinets. It sounds like you sealed the Fuhr 155 and then sprayed more 155 on as a toner is this correct?

Posted By:Tom Hirsz

Yes, you can even mix the 155 stain into the 255 clear urethane in small amounts. Very versatile products.

Posted By:Matt Justice
Great kitchen! Wondering, did you use a dye to get the dark finish on the maple?
Posted By:Ben
Hey Tom I been using Fuhr products for a while and now my goal is to use 255 on everything, my question is what grit sand paper do you use between coats?

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