Hello,
First post here. I’ve built a blanket chest and am layering the inside bottom with aromatic Cedar. I built one 15 yrs. ago and used a Water Based finish inside and out without a problem. I read an article somewhere recently where a Water Based finish on the underside of a chest lined with cedar became sticky. It was decided the Cedar Fumes reacted with the finish. I don’t recall what I used with success on the first one I built. So now I’m concerned about how to proceed. I had thought I would finish the interior with Shellac to cover the smell of the stain (only the bottom is lined and I want the interior to match the exterior) and not introduce any additional odors. The exterior will be finished with Minwax wipe on Poly. Any thoughts on Cedar Fumes reacting with Shellac? I will be using premixed shellac off the shelf.
Regards,
Steven
Edit. I’m aware that finish isn’t neccesarily needed in the interior, but the top is 20″x45″ and I don’t want to finish just the outside. That is a recipe for warping. Plus, I want the interior stained and that will need to be finished to seal in the odor.
Edited 12/10/2008 4:46 pm ET by stevenaa
Replies
Steven,
Welcome to the forum.
The first thing I'd like to do is to talk you out of staining the interior of the chest. If you really want to color it to match the rest I would suggest you used a water based dye. There will be absolutely no residual smell and the shellac finish will go perfect with it.
Water dyes are very easy to use. Just mix some of the powder into hot water. A basic mix is one ounce of color to a quart of water. You can reduce recipe to whatever you need.
Shellac is a good choice for a finish. You don't need much either, just a coat or two. Let it set up for a day and then soften the surface with a grey scotch pad or some 0000 steel wool. If you do use steel wool, I would caution you to use an oil free steel wool like Liberon. The beauty of the scotch pads is they are synthetic steel wool is there is no oil in them.
Another trick is to put a drop or so of vanilla extract in your shellac. It will always have a pleasant fragrance.
Let the chest remain open so the shellac can cure for at least a week before you start using it for storage.
Good luck.
Peter
Hi Peter,
Thanks for the response. I've re-thought the stain on the inside. When I made the raised panels I back cut them so they have a tenon all around received by a groove in the frame. I pre-stained the tenons so there wouldn't be unfinished wood showing when the panels contract. As careful as I was, there are some small spots on the edges of the of panel faces. No problem on the outside, as that is getting the same stain. I could have sanded it out easily before assembly, but figured I'd be staining the inside, so it wouldn't matter. It is really very minimal and I can still sand it out. Just a little added effort. The info on the Shellac is excellent. I plan on wiping poly on the outside and will Shellac the inside and the bottom of the lid. Glad to hear the Cedar fumes won't be a problem. That was my big concern.
Regards,
Steven
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