Finished Box, sow's ear to silk purse.

 Given the time spent at home I have been able to make serious headway on sorting out my accumulated 'stuff'.  The other thing that I have been doing is finishing up things that have been on the shelf for a while.

  

  The wine box top will be mated with a tool bin/box.  The box is made from re-claimed lumber complete with nail holes from its previous life.

  I used two small hinges to hold on the top and then reinforced them with leather. I buy the leather as scraps for a few dollars a pound and really like how it mates with wood.

  And the clasp is also made from leather and brass.

    I used a water based strain that I bought on clearance at IKEA a couple of years ago.  I really like the colour and the stain was easy to use.  I may buy some more when the stores open again.  The stain is some oil based varnish that was on the back of a shelf and the results are pretty good.

  This was a project that began as a throw away parts bin four or five years ago made from cheap materials.  A little TLC and it  has turned out pretty nice, now, what to do with it?

  cheers, ianw

Sanding, Sanding, Sanding......and a Distraction

  The wooden chest is hauled from the garage to the basement and set up on my low saw benches for the next stage. That of sanding, sanding,sanding.  The paint was mostly burned off with the torch.  

  The orbital sander took care of much of the remaining paint and scorch marks.

  I decided to keep the molding intact, that means hand sanding  the trim as well as all the edges,   60 Grit paper cuts through the paint fairly easily.  After all the paint is sanded away I will have to re-sand the box with 120 and 180 grit before using shellac to seal the wood.

  Since there remains a couple of hours of hand sanding and finishing ahead of me. While I am working I like to listen to music and the tablet provides me with tunes.  I decided my tablet needed a stand to keep it handy. 

  I saw the idea on Pinterest and chose to use a piece of leather for the hinge.  The whole project took only a few minutes. I used contact cement to attach the leather to the wooden forms.  

  It was a quick little project that was a nice distraction from sanding.  I have spent enough time hand sanding that my fingers are weary.  I will paint the stand later.

cheers, ianw