I wouldn't worry about sanding them too much. There have been tests done (wood whisperer, others) that shows if you sand TOO much, it can inhibit the intake of oil, etc. I'd sand enough to get the splinters gone, and then use a very high penetrating primer and put a couple of coats on it. That should seal the wood and give the paint something really strong to bond to. It would help with the longevity of the chair in the elements. The other option is to go full on stain and water protections, like you'd use on a deck. One thing that I learned that really helps is to use some epoxy to build a protective bottom on the legs. That means that when you drag it around, or it sits in dirt or in water, the feet of the legs are protected by the epoxy. I now do that to all of my outdoor furniture and it makes a huge difference. https://thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/protect-outdoor-furniture-epoxy-feet/
Oh, and I'd probably sand to ensure that any labels/marks on the lumber are gone as well... as that kind of stuff tends to show through paint or stain pretty easily. (Depending on how rough your lumber was when you built the chairs).
Some were pretty rough...tried to keep those to the frame/legs, but overall not roo bad for framing lumber. The chairs will live in the backyard, so I'll definitely add an epoxy to the bottom of the legs, thanks for the tip. Wife wants to paint them white, every thing I read online says just use a quality exterior paint, any reason I shouldn't use one that includes primer? I have a random orbit sander I've never used, this is a good time as any to break it out.
I friend of mine works in "coatings" and has for years. Several years ago, I had an unfinished front porch swing, and I asked him what was the best primer / paint combination that I could buy at Lowe's / Home Depot for longevity. He said, none of that. Get a tinted exterior stain. I put a white stain on the swing 20 years ago. It still looks great. It does not get a lot of sun and rain, obviously, since it's on the front porch. But, it's on the end, and does see some weather. Anyway, go with the stain. (I think I used Olympic - I may still have the can, and I can check.)
I agree. I only said use a good primer because that’s how they get the longevity out of painting boat hulls. Paint by itself doesn’t adhere to or preserve the wood well enough to last for too long. Stain is definitely the way to go (or oil) because it can penetrate deeper and help protect the wood from the elements.
I finally finished the chairs. Wife wanted them painted white, so they're painted white. If I make a second set, I'll paint before assembly, it was a pain getting in between.
Very nice! I'm sure She Who Must Be Obeyed is quite happy with them. FYI, sprayer systems are getting cheaper and cheaper... makes painting after assembly so much easier.
Just ordered a new table saw... a 110v SawStop. Shows up next weekend. Should be a pretty substantial upgrade from the Ridgid one I have now.
Yeah, surprisingly enough it wasn't the reason for picking it. Sure, it's a bonus, but really, it's got a really nice fence, really nice saw adjustment, and fantastic dust extraction. Those were all the things I was looking to upgrade from my last saw, and out of all the ones I was looking at, they were close. SS was a bit more expensive, but it seemed to be worth it.
Quite a few years ago, back when I was living in BC, I was looking for a bandsaw. Local Craigslist had some stuff for sale, including a "project" bandsaw that they were giving away. I called, and the woman on the other end of the phone had zero clue what was going on, as her husband died and she was trying to empty out his workshop but had zero clue what was there, etc. Needless to say, I agreed to buy the bandsaw (sans motor) from her, so I showed up, gave her some flowers expressing my condolences, and she ended up giving me the bandsaw. Turns out it was a 1930's Beaver... missing some parts, like a pulley and electric motor, but otherwise it was in great shape. As things would have it, shortly after that my own dad died, and I inherited his bandsaw, and left this one on the shelf for a future project. Well, I've now accepted the fact that it is not a project for me, so I handed it off to a friend of mine tonight. It's a heavy bitch, and they sure don't make them like they used to. I'm really looking forward to the restoration.
I've just upgraded my table saw to a SawStop, and sold my old Ridgid to a friend. He was bitching that the throat plate was fucking huge, and he was trying to make his own zero-clearance ones, but failing big time. (He was using MDF which was a bitch to get to the proper thickness... go figure). I told him I'd dust off my 3d printer and hit up ThingiVerse and sure enough, there were some interesting prints available for that exact table saw (the 4512). I spent the last couple of nights whipping up the 3 pieces that get glued together to make up the zero clearance throat plate, and I have to say I'm really impressed with them. Made an orange one with PLA, and a yellow one with PTEG to see if there is any difference in material. Took a fuck of a long time (never mind some fucking around to get the right temps and feeds... there was some severe cooling and shrinkage going on before I upped the bed temp a fair bit), but in the end I am super impressed.
A friend of mine is giving me an old whiskey barrel. I don't want to just cut it in half and make two outdoor planters. I want to cut it in half the long way, and make something like this: If I don't have a torch, what's the best way to cut through the iron hoops? And will the rim framing, as pictured, keep the right tension on the staves and remaining half hoops? It seems like it would want to splay open. Have they been in that position long enough that they won't immediately relax?
My experience with barrels has not been good... they fall apart. If it were me, I'd leave the barrel together, mark out all your lines... where the wood gets cut, where the metal gets cut, label the rims, etc. Once all the wood and metal are properly marked/labelled, I'd take it all apart and then make your metal and wood cuts. The metal, you can use a grinder with a cut-off disc, but you'll probably also want to take a flap disc to it to smooth it out and then round out the cut-off corners, etc. The wood, however you want. Then I'd re-assemble the wood, gluing it in place with some sort of construction adhesive, liquid nails, etc. Then attach the metal bands to the wood. You'll probably have to drill holes in the banding and then use a threaded bolt or something similar to get the look you want. Overall, I've found that the barrels I've worked with are quick to fall apart, and when cut like that will continue to want to fall apart, so you have to glue/screw it all how you want.
I don't think it will splay open. The hoops, I'm almost certain, will not want to straighten out much, if any, after all these years. The staves should have been cut and fit so that the rings were applying force to create a seal, not force to hold form or shape.
I have no woodworking experience and have no advice there but for what it's worth, my experience with them as planters was that long term you have to keep them moist or the wood shrinks up and the bands fall off. We used to buy them by the semi load and it would usually take two years to sell through the load. We maintenance sprinkled the empty barrels once a week otherwise we ended up with the bands dropping. I have no idea if staining, painting, or whatever would affect that.
Ok, this is a bit of a puzzle, if anyone has any ideas. The setup: I drilled a hole in some maple, with a diameter of 1 3/4", to a depth of 5/8". I then drilled a second hole, with a diameter of 1 9/16", to a further depth of 1 1/2". This left a shelf, width of 3/32", at that 5/8" depth. The problem: I didn't hit 5/8". I somehow shorted it, and now the shelf is sitting ~1/16" too high. I also, for reasons outside the scope of this post, no longer have access to the tools I used to do this in the first place, so I can't just put it back on the drill and hope there isn't much tearout. The query: Can anyone devise a solution to remove enough material to lower that shelf by 1/16", while still maintaining its shape as a shelf? Using only things available around the house or at a trip to Home Depot.
You could buy an 1-3/4" hole saw and turn it by hand to remove 1/16" of material, give or take. If it needs to be a really accurate and squarely cut 1/16", I'd suggest a drill press, which I'm guessing is what you used the first time? A hole saw should have a wide enough blade to get the whole width of the shelf down to where you need it. I once went all the way through 1/2" plywood turning a hole saw by hand because I left my drill at home.