Just completed. Finally... Pics

Rolf Bergstrom · Post by **Rolf Bergstrom** » Thu, Nov 09 2006, 5:41PM

Finally completed this install this afternoon. I didn't get a good pic of the whole thing as in the rendering. My digital camera is not very good and I didn't take my film camera. The two big openings are going to contain wine refrigerators but they are going in later.

DanEpps · Post by **DanEpps** » Thu, Nov 09 2006, 5:56PM

That is a very nice improvement Rolf. Very true to the eCabinets design so the customer knwe exactly what they were getting.

Nice job and I'll bet another referral

Peter Walsh · Post by **Peter Walsh** » Thu, Nov 09 2006, 6:28PM

Rolf,
Nice work. I particularly like the mantle.
Regards,

Kerry Fullington · Post by **Kerry Fullington** » Thu, Nov 09 2006, 6:57PM

I like them, both the design and execution. Nice work on the sunbursts.
Kerry

Rolf Bergstrom · Post by **Rolf Bergstrom** » Thu, Nov 09 2006, 10:57PM

Thanks. I made the mantle (just the lower shelf portion) for them a couple of years ago. It was a little different color so I had to tweak it a bit to match all the new stuff. I can't get good color with my digital but the actual color is pretty close to the main unit pic, though it is really a little more reddish brown.
I sweated the sunbursts but they were actually pretty easy. I was too worried about gettings the angles exact when it really did not matter as long as the angles were close and the edges were jointed perfectly. The only problem was my vacuum bag wasn't big enough to do the big one in one piece.
I don't have a rosette cutter so I turned them on the lathe and the keys are built up from four pieces. The arcs are two pieces joined at the key and the rosettes. The fluting is just a v-groove bit on the router table.
The only big pain, from both eCab and construction was the big face frame. The whole 4 ft x 8 ft frame with the sunburst is a single frame and had to be applied after all the boxes were in and therefor had to be nailed (ouch!) on. I tried figuring out a way to do it with pocket screws or KD fasteners from the back which was okay for the bottom half but I did not want any plugs in the upper cherry section. Filling some nail holes was the lesser of two evils.
All in all it was a fun, challenging project.

BillHightower · Post by **BillHightower** » Fri, Nov 10 2006, 8:31AM

Rolf,

Beautiful piece of work. What did you use for the finish? I like it.

Bill Hightower

Rolf Bergstrom · Post by **Rolf Bergstrom** » Fri, Nov 10 2006, 12:35PM

The finish is just water base dyes on the wood then sealed with 1# cut shellac and topcoated with several coats of water base satin lacquer.

BillHightower · Post by **BillHightower** » Fri, Nov 10 2006, 12:39PM

Rolf,

What dyes did you use and how did you mix them.

Bill

Rolf Bergstrom · Post by **Rolf Bergstrom** » Fri, Nov 10 2006, 6:21PM

Ohhhhh, you want secret formula... I start my basic color mixes with 3 tsp (about 1/4 oz) dye to 2 cups water. I started with 1 part of that in dark mission brown, 1 part of that in medium brown and added 3 more parts water. They wanted to go a bit more brown so I tweaked around a bit and ended up with three parts of that mix and 1 more part dark mission brown and just a little more water.
I probably could have achieved the same thing with medium reddish brown and some dark mission brown.
Hey are you the same BillH from the homestead forum?

BillHightower · Post by **BillHightower** » Fri, Nov 10 2006, 10:19PM

Rolf,

BillH is me alright. Thanks for the insight into your dyes. I am assuming that you are using TransTint.

Bill

Rolf Bergstrom · Post by **Rolf Bergstrom** » Sat, Nov 11 2006, 1:32AM

Thought so. Those are actually the Transfast powders but I use both.

Rick Palechuk · Post by **Rick Palechuk** » Sat, Nov 11 2006, 9:47AM

Hey Rolf, do you get much grain raising with those dyes? If so, how do you deal with it.

Rolf Bergstrom · Post by **Rolf Bergstrom** » Sat, Nov 11 2006, 2:20PM

With this piece I sanded the solid to 150 and the ply and veneer to 180 and the grain raise was minimal so I sealed with the shellac before I knocked down the nibs and the subsequent WB coats did not raise any additional grain due to the shellac barrier.
With wood that has more significant grain raise it is recommended to raise the grain with plain water and then knock it down before applying the dye but what I usually do is just use the dye or maybe a little more dilute dye, knock down the raised grain with a maroon or grey synthetic pad, and then apply the dye again. One thing I like about the water base dyes is that no matter how much you apply of a given solution, it will not get any darker. If you want darker you have to mix it stronger. Kind of makes it idiot proof as you don't have to worry about lap marks and such. As long as you have saturated the surface you have applied all the dye the wood is going to take at that dilution. That is why I like to do the two applications of dye if I am wiping, to insure that I have flooded every square inch.
Then sometimes, and I know of others that do this regularly, I just wait until I have my base coats of the WB finish laid on before doing any sanding. This way some of the smaller nibs are just covered up and with some additional finish there is not as much worry about cutting into the color on edges and such.

DanEpps · Post by **DanEpps** » Sat, Nov 11 2006, 3:33PM

Can these dyes be used with alcohol instead of water? With alcohol there is never (rarely?) any risk of raising the grain which is one reason shellac works so well as a sealer. In fact you might be able to tint the sealer coat with the dye if they are alcohol soluble.

Of course you can get a really great finish by purposely raising the grain with water, sanding it down and repeating until the grain no longer raises when water is applied.

Rolf Bergstrom · Post by **Rolf Bergstrom** » Sat, Nov 11 2006, 4:19PM

The Transfast alcohol soluble dyes are being discontinued as the water dyes are easier to use. The Transtints are a liquid that can be diluted with just about any solvent except mineral spirits and can also be added directly to many finishes to create toners (the alcohol soluble powders do not work for this). The problem with alcohol or solvents (the NGR or non grain raising dyes) is that the solvent evaporates faster and makes it difficult to apply without streaking on larger surfaces unless you are spraying them and use good spray technique.
The trick to raising the grain with water (or the water dye like I do) is that when you sand you must sand very lightly with fine paper or synthetic pad so as to only remove the raised fibers. If you expose any new fibers they will be raised when water is applied again. That is why many people don't bother sanding the nibs until a couple of coats of finish (or more appropriately sanding sealer) are applied. That way only the grain the has raised enough to protrude above the finish level needs to be removed and there is no worry about additional grain raising.