oscarthefuzz wrote:How can you tell if it's red oak or white oak .. I can kinda tell when they are unstained but I don't think I would be able to tell after varnishing though I have noticed that red oak I am using at the moment seems to show grain as a way darker contrast after staining...
Probably the first clue is just the way things are marketed (the snob appeal). Seems like white oak is higher on the pecking order and shows up on the more expensive pieces. In my case I'm planing the wood down and can pretty readily see the resemblances to known wood samples I have.
As for having patience -- boy I'm trying. Wife would say I don't succeed often:rolleyes: .
oscarthefuzz wrote:How can you tell if it's red oak or white oak .. I can kinda tell when they are unstained but I don't think I would be able to tell after varnishing though I have noticed that red oak I am using at the moment seems to show grain as a way darker contrast after staining...
Great job by the way
You can tell from the length and width of the rays. White oak having much larger rays. Very visible!
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Chest #2 is fully apart now and I've been planing down the pieces. The blackish finish is coming off pretty well.
For the box-top slab, it is plywood and I'm planning to keep it that way for dimensional stability. The upper black veneer cleaved off pretty well and I got some Indiana red-oak veneer at a decent thickness to replace it. Actually got a good glue-joint and was feeling pretty good... until somehow I got an "Iron leak" into the veneer. Ugghhh, a nice black stain right on the fresh veneer. That's what Oak is especially good at .
The picture shows some of the old veneer and the new veneer, near the repaired top. I'm sort of hoping that the finished job will have enough intentional staining effects, that the iron-stain doesn't stand out so much. Ahh heck, it's a toolbox so I shouldn't be too upset.
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Some of the load-bearing new hardware installs with split-rivets. I've found out it's easier to put these pieces on early, then I can "anvil" the workpiece against something for spreading/staking the rivets:
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This next step is a venture. I decided I can't really use the original drawers. Also decided to use some pretty woods I have in stock, which may or may not look nice in the oak cabinet depending on the final staining, etc. Also decided to use plywood on the drawer-bottoms since I don't like the 'rattle' of the tin-bottoms. All of which committed me to a lot of dado/groove/rabbet cuts. These pieces will be resawn for better proportions and exact cabinet-fit later:
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Thus ends today's OCD activity!
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This is a drawn-out project, but it's fun learning a few new tricks.
The iron-stain in the otherwise-freshened oak top was a setback. It's still there, but I added some dark brown Briwax to the finish. Wow, I'd never used that before, and I like it!
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When I cut the grooves, dados, rabbets in the pieces for the drawers, I was able to "gang glue" many of the joints. A nice little help for keeping things aligned and organized. BUT... the end product wouldn't fit through the bandsaw! So, I employed the Geo. Bishop antique rip-saw I mentioned in a recent thread on reconditioned handsaws. That did the trick (and made me lose a pound or two). There's still more sawing to do to get the wall-thicknesses down to precise size, but these drawers will finally fit into the bandsaw.
P.S. I'll probably use Briwax to darken these drawers, too.
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Work continues.....
I put the carcass back together. The main "cheap" part about the original was a plywood back -- good for stability, bad for durability and looks. I've replaced that with some lapped boards that should permit a little bit of movement as the humidity changes. I still need to shave them level with the rest of the case:
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Now the really challenging part is underway, fitting 7 brand-new drawers. Nothing I ever work on is perfectly square, so I'm trimming things a lot with planes. The particular plane shown, the high-angle HNT Gordon block-plane, is a super plane for figured wood, and in fact it has finished the visible drawer faces. They are like a 600-grit job right off the plane:
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And here's the drawers!
I knew coloring the tiger maple would be risky in terms of blotching, so I tried to make it reversible. The drawers have 4 thin varnish coats, followed by the dark brown Briwax. Time for a half-time break!
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