At long last I finally nailed the coffin shut on the plant stand I’ve been making for lo these many weeks. Like many woodworking projects tend to be, this one was anti-climactic; applying finish usually is. For the protective coat I used high gloss wipe-on polyurethane. Applying polyurethane is about exciting as it sounds so there isn’t much a point in describing it, is there? I decided on three coats, in between lightly buffing with steel wool after each coat dried. After the third coat I didn’t touch the stand for a full day, and then gave it another light buffing with steel wool, and finally “polished” it with a clean cloth. It doesn’t look bad, but neither do a lot of things that don’t happen to look good either. Maybe you could say the same of breast implants that are too large. Still, it’s finished, and in my living room waiting to be put to use. It has a slightly, and I’m saying slightly, rustic feel to it, in the sense that it was once new and may have looked better. So that’s the description I’m going with.
With the poly applied
It holds plants.
Before I go on, I would like to add a few words about applying a finish to a woodworking project. In my ideal world, I would only be using Walnut, Cherry, and Quartersawn Oak, and staining a project would be something I rarely do. In the real world I made this plant stand from Fir and Pine, and I needed to change its color to in order to highlight the grain, or at least something like that. I’ve been using gel stain lately, and generally I don’t mind it as far as stains are concerned. But once again, if you’ve never used gel stain, and you may be thinking about it I have a tip or two for you.
The first tip is the most important, and that is do not follow the directions on the container. Every can of stain I’ve ever used has stated in some form “apply the stain and let it sit for a few minutes until you reach the desired color, then wipe of the excess.” Let me tell you, if you let the stain “sit for a few minutes” you will have a blotchy, sticky mess that will be at best difficult to straighten out, at worst impossible. I’ve found that applying the stain and wiping it off nearly immediately is the best way to go about it, and if you want to darken the color, keep applying coats as needed after letting the previous coat dry. Soft woods blotch too easily, even with a conditioner applied, to leave the stain set for too long, and doing so is asking for trouble.
The second tip is nearly as important, and that is to wipe the stain, even gel stain, in just one direction. Why one direction? Because that’s what makes wood beautiful. I found that wiping the wood with the grain in only one direction also cuts down on blotching. I can’t tell you why; I’m not an expert on applying finish, not even a little. I’m just relaying my experiences. I’ve wondered if damping the staining cloth with mineral spirits before applying gel stain would help, but I haven’t as of yet attempted to do it. I’ve also found that sanding between coats with 220 grit sandpaper can help even out the appearance, if a very even appearance is the look you happen to be going for. Other than those two basic tips I have no more real finishing advice to offer, but I can tell you that if you follow those tips you won’t mess up your project. Consider them erring on the side of over-caution.
Never before have I been so happy to finish a piece of furniture. This project has to go down as one of my least favorite builds since I first began woodworking. I can’t necessarily put a finger on the exact moment that this project went from joy to pain, but it did. It’s finished, it generally looks like I envisioned it, and it does the job, but it’s not the type of project that I really enjoy making, nor I would like to make, ever again. But the worst part in all of this is the fact that I had planned on taking a little break from woodworking this summer, not only to avoid the out of control seasonal wood movement that my garage seems to breed, but also to get some home projects finished, as well as finishing a few workshop projects that I’ve put on hold forever. I hate to start the summer out on such a low note as far as woodworking is concerned, but that is the way it has to be I guess. All isn’t dark, though. I just so happen to have a plan in the works that may reverse my bad woodworking fortune, and get the sour taste of this last project out of my mouth once and for all.
