I visited Sam Maloof years ago to get his autograph on his book, and a 10-minute visit turned into three hours. Editor Asa Christiana’s reaction to Maloof’s old and new homes, the wealth of his work, and his hospitality (“Two Days with Sam Maloof,” Letters, FWW #207) was the same as mine, 20 years previous. When I heard of his death, I was working on a teak and walnut side table for my daughter.

Echoes of Maloof. When he heard about Maloof’s passing, Bill Dingwell happened to be working on this table. Click to enlarge.

As you can see, I am still influenced by Sam’s wonderfully simple, rounded designs.

Like Sean Clarke (“High-Gloss Finish Made Simple,” FWW #206), I use an electric polisher and automotive polishing compounds to create a mirror finish, but I’ve got some tips to speed up the process. The most important step is to make sure the lacquer or shellac finish is very well cured. Even if it seems very dry to touch, the sandpaper can gum and mar the finish. Second, I gently use a card scraper to remove large defects (dust specks, tiny runs on verticals, etc.). Then I use Mirka’s Abralon foam-backed wet/dry pads on a random-orbit sander to level the surface and begin polishing it. The pads come in grits up to 4,000, so I can get the surface very polished before I even start with the compound! To buff it to a high gloss, I use the Porter-Cable 7424 random-orbit polisher/sander with 7-in.-dia. foam pads and water-based abrasive compound. I use Super Swirl Remover (available at www.poorboysworld.com; product no. SSR2.5), which has diminishing abrasives that break down as you use them to give a really glossy polish. Last, I find that the rotary polisher Clarke suggests can be hard to control, cutting too aggressively at times (like a belt sander vs. a random-orbit sander). My 7424 sander-polisher is more user-friendly, and it doubles as a sander.

The recent reviews of the Delta Unisaw and Blue Spruce chisels (Tools & Materials, FWW #207) are too long and too effusively enthusiastic. Very few of us are interested in $3,000 saws and $400 sets of chisels, so the space in the magazine would be better used for how-to articles. I have two old Craftsman tablesaws with cast-iron tops that are entirely satisfactory. One cost $75, the other $200. Aside from not-very-good splitters, both tables are flat and both arbors have near-zero runout, better than many new ones you review. My two shapers, jointer, planer, drill press, and two saws did not cost $3,000 all together. My accomplishments are limited entirely by my skill, not my tools.

When Matt Stark commented that he couldn’t believe that “architect Mark Bellonby spent more than 200 hours designing his cabinet” (Letters, FWW #207), I had no such trouble. In looking over my notes and sketches for a curvy music stand (I’ll confess that I, too, am an architect), I realize I spent nine months designing the piece. I went through 17 different designs, and then I had to carefully plan the curves of the legs, the joinery, the steps in construction, and how to best use the two pieces (only two) of curly redwood I had. So my fairly small music stand cost me about 180 hours to plan, and another 70 to build (including five jigs). I’ve also designed 25 homes, and I disagree with Stark’s comment that a house can be designed in less time than Bellonby took, not when you include meetings with clients, site visits, and changes. Design is not just pencil or mouse to paper or screen, it’s all the hours spent before and after you have an inspiration.