Castlewerks

TravMan,

For a while I was ebonizing some of my pieces with a tea bark rinse followed by steel wool and vinegar, but I've given up on it. It was messy, time consuming, unpredictable, and in the end I've found that better results can be achieved by far easier methods.

These days, I begin with a coat of black Transtint (mixed in alcohol & lacquer thinner) so that some color will soak into the pores and I finish it with a few coats of black tinted satin WB poly -- which I spray. The poly is tinted by the manufacturer, I don't tint it with Transtint.

I really like the tinted poly because it provides both a deep black color and durable top coat, but it's not a heavy finish like paint -- the grain remains very visible.

Cheers,

-Michael

Hi RIch,

That's a tough question because most of the time was spent waiting for glue and finish to dry. I only made one bending form, which was able to produce two of the four main parts per day... The first half day was spent re-sawing and sanding then it was two days to laminate the parts, one day to shape them all and glue them up, one day for finishing (the merits of using water base) and then a few hours to fit the hardware. But again, those are not full 8 hour days... so total actual work time to build is maybe 16-20 hours, but really that's a guess.

None of this includes design time, making the forms, etc... But, most of my lamps are production pieces so the forms will be used repeatedly, etc...

Cheers,

-Michael

I would love to have a copy for my ever expanding library of woodworking and furniture/craft books.

Thanks--

Michael

Yes, please.

Hi Asa,

If we go with an MFT style perforated top, I'd like to see the bench also function as a large downdraft table. It might be built somewhat like a torsion box, but there would be a sloped cavity below the ribs for the dust and debris to settle into.... attach either a shop vac or central vac.

Also, if I were going to build a bench intended to house a compressor, I might think about integrating a few vacuum clamps.

Cheers,

-Michael

More than half way to owning the complete set...

Simply outstanding. Beautiful piece.

Push me down the slipper slope. If I should happen upon this video, no doubt I'm going to have to buy Don's other video along with Larry's video on make side escapement planes. This will no doubt consume months of my life as I find yet another obsession. If I win the video, then of course all of this will not have been my fault, so....