Hummingbird Posted October 29, 2009 Share #1 Posted October 29, 2009 Many years ago I refinished old/collectable furniture but it's almost impossible to find someone to strip the old finishes off anymore because of the toxic waste. 10 years or so ago I started building rustic furniture for resale and have continued because I enjoy creating different pieces. I also have a habit of waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning so I go out to the shop and make some saw dust. Attached is the piece I finished this morning, all poplar wood with the exception of a couple resawn oak panels in the doors. It's a 2 piece unit so I can handle it by myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrieg Posted October 29, 2009 Share #2 Posted October 29, 2009 Very nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongobobny Posted October 29, 2009 Share #3 Posted October 29, 2009 I like the effect of the different woods! Are you going to stain it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condor Posted October 29, 2009 Share #4 Posted October 29, 2009 Very nice.... I used to make lots of sawdust, but now I collect VR parts... Still enjoy an older piece brought back to life.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hummingbird Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted October 29, 2009 no, I'm going to take it to a retail outlet in Carrollton. They put it on their floor and sell it as-is. When I finish an item completely I stain and apply a sealer before assembly then all I have to do is shoot the finish after it's all together. btw - I use a Binks HVLP - makes life a lot simpler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hummingbird Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted October 29, 2009 Very nice.... I used to make lots of sawdust, but now I collect VR parts... Still enjoy an older piece brought back to life.... Our house is FULL of older furniture that I've refinished. We still have a full size bed ( instead of a Queen or King ) because I won't part with the bedroom suite I refinished 20 some years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorcycle Mike Posted October 29, 2009 Share #7 Posted October 29, 2009 I'm a wood worker. Started back around 1970. Build almost anything except chairs. Started doing it for profit but found deadlines and budgets took all the fun out of it. And most people just don't apprieciate, or realize how much work and money goes into real, hand made, hardwood furniture. I used to hear, HOW MUCH!!!??? I can get that down at the xyz store for 1/3 of that. Do it for my own pleasure now. The problem is, the bikes share garage space with my tools. They always have a layer of sawdust on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenw Posted October 29, 2009 Share #8 Posted October 29, 2009 Very nice! From time to time I'll build something (favorite wood is oak), but by the time I get all done nobody but my wife could afford it! I can only work on a project when the mood hits me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvrT Posted October 29, 2009 Share #9 Posted October 29, 2009 I've always enjoyed woodwork but it never was a "mainstream hobby" ... so I tinkered mostly. I like cabinet work and interior remodelling and have done a couple "major" remodel jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMIKE Posted October 29, 2009 Share #10 Posted October 29, 2009 Many years ago I refinished old/collectable furniture but it's almost impossible to find someone to strip the old finishes off anymore because of the toxic waste. My dad who passed in 1993...used to collect a buy old fireplace mantels, rocking chairs, china cabinets, beds and wardrobes. Basically these were antiques that looked like hell. Something you would not put in your house due to what it looked like...Some may have been in a fire. Some of this stuff would have 3-8 coats of 6 different colors of enamel paint or the varish would be beaded up over the stain. At first he used all the toxic strippers and would work days on a single peice and get most of it off. Then he found this old guy that told him about Baking Soda (Arm and Hammer) and Agricultural LIME. (not pickling lime) It will probably mess up laminated wood or ply wood. Most old pieces do not have this laminated or plywood. I would not try it on a newer peice of furniture. Ratio is 4:1 but I cannot remember which is the 4 part but I think it is the baking soda. Mix it up into a paste with water...little thicker than pancake mix where it will stay where you put it...Do it in the shade so it will not dry quickly. Take a brush and rub this paste on the finish of the old furniture. Keep it wet for a while by rubbing more on it...then hose it off with a hard spray...not a pressure washer. Repeat this as many times as neccessary till the paint or varnish is removed. You may have to take a paint scraper or nail to get the already loosend paint out of the cracks or grooves or around the bottom of the spindles of chairs. Many folks around here are taking old external windows from houses that are being torn down and hanging them under their porch. These have so many layers of paint you could never count them. This removed all that paint. I have even seen it work on the old rought iron beds with multiple coats of paint. Take your time and it may take many coatings but it will get it off better than any toxic stripper we have ever seen. I have seen my dad work on a big fire place mantel for a week. It is in my mothers house and it a marvalous peice of workman ship with lots of detail. My aunt's house caught fire...she had a cedar chiffarob in it that belonged to her great grand maw. The fire blackend the varish in places and boiled it up in other places. This 4:1 baking soda/lime removed all that old vanish and it was re-vanished like it was brand new. I did that job myself. The cedar down here in the south is red and white wood with a strong smell...keeps the moths away. Not like the cedar you buy for a fence that comes from the north. Try it...it works amazingly. See photos...the china cabinet belonged to my wife's grandmother...it had screen in the doors where you sit pies to cool. It had about 8 coats of emamel (or something) paint green, red, yellow...more green ect. My dad put glass in it and replace the worn out hinges. The bottom doors were torn up so he repalced them. The chair belonged to my grandpaw...it sat on his back porch and had 4-5 coats of paint on it. It had a raw cow hide seat. He used it every day to put his boots on. It is a small chair as he as only about 5'2" but a very big man in my eyes. Worked me in the ground many days while he was in his mid 70s and I was 15-16. We hauled pulp wood and loaded it by hand no matter how big it was... in the summers I was out of school. These are not the most beautiful peices he has done...but the most cherrished ones. Most all the really pretty stuff is at moms house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hummingbird Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share #11 Posted October 29, 2009 The hutch that is pictured took me about 20 to 25 hours to make. Believe it or not but I sell this one for $235.00 - that gets about $10 an hour for my labor but then the wood is free. I do it for fun anymore and try to figure my material costs and add a few buck for me - it's pretty obvious I'm not getting rich building them but I have a heck of a lot of fun. Plus I get to run my shop vac a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M61A1MECH Posted October 29, 2009 Share #12 Posted October 29, 2009 I Like to do woodworking when I can, but all of my tools are in garage and the wife has two rules. Her car must be in the garage at night. The garage has o be clean when I quit for the day. So that means a look of work after I get done for the day, putting up tools and cleaning up sawdust. Not to mention it gets all over the Venture. i did take up turning a few years ago, that can really be a lot fun and you can stop any time and then just go back to it a few days or weeks later to finish it. here is one I did last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hummingbird Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share #13 Posted October 29, 2009 CMIKE - I copied and pasted the article and saved it to my files. Thanks ! I will probably try that on something I pick up for myself but I have no desire to do someone else's furniture anymore. M61A1MECH - that is beautiful, I've often thought about trying to turn some things but I've already run out of room for equipment and I'm too old to try to teach myself the proper way so I don't loose any of my appendages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMIKE Posted October 29, 2009 Share #14 Posted October 29, 2009 CMIKE - I copied and pasted the article and saved it to my files. Thanks ! I will probably try that on something I pick up for myself but I have no desire to do someone else's furniture anymore. M61A1MECH - that is beautiful, I've often thought about trying to turn some things but I've already run out of room for equipment and I'm too old to try to teach myself the proper way so I don't loose any of my appendages. Don't discount that old terrible looking peice...it could be a real jewel if you could get all that old paint/varnish off it...this will do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvester Posted October 30, 2009 Share #15 Posted October 30, 2009 I have been at it for thirty years and have a full dedicated woodworking shop. Nothing is limited to what I will work on...if it interests me. Many tables, cabinets, grandfather clocks, gun cabinets, chairs, etc. etc. have come off my assembly table. The thrill never leaves me. I do remodeling, decks, garages and some concrete work now that I am retired, but I love to get into the workshop anytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eazyduzzit Posted October 30, 2009 Share #16 Posted October 30, 2009 I've been woodworking for several years. I have built most of the furniture in my house. I also like working with metal. I have made a couple of hand planes. Here is a web page I made where I show some of the stuff I've made. http://Jimswoodworks.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuD Posted October 30, 2009 Share #17 Posted October 30, 2009 I "wood work" but I'm retired & don't have to...:rotf: :canada: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnite Posted October 30, 2009 Share #18 Posted October 30, 2009 Another product to try, is if the furniture is just varnished, is denatured alcohol. It is used to strip the old varnish as well as the mixing agent if you want to mix up your on batch of varnish. Use the alcohol and a scrub pad to clean and wash down the alcohol will evaporate and won't harm the wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hummingbird Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share #19 Posted October 30, 2009 I've been woodworking for several years. I have built most of the furniture in my house. I also like working with metal. I have made a couple of hand planes. Here is a web page I made where I show some of the stuff I've made. http://Jimswoodworks.org Jim - beautiful, just beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eazyduzzit Posted October 30, 2009 Share #20 Posted October 30, 2009 Thanks! I should have added that if you follow the link. You can click the button at bottom right of the slide show to stop and enlarge any of the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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