I’ve been wanting to play with dye for a while, so I figured that Stephen’s Step Stool would be a perfect project to experiment with. Before putting any dye on the stool itself, I tested a few dye mixtures on a sample board I had sanded with the stool. I tried General Finishes and TranstintBlue Dyes. While the General Finishes is ready right out of the can, the Transtint needs to be diluted. I tried one dilution with denatured alcohol and one with a .5 lb cut of shellac. All three (3) were ragged onto the sample board.

Three dyes, almost the same coloring.

When they dried, I had a hard time distinguishing them. They all seemed about the same color blue and the small difference there were seemed more to be the wood grain than the dye. I decided on Transtint in shellac since the shellac didn’t raise the grain like the water based General Finishes dye did and unlike the Transtint in alcohol, the Transtint in shellac provided a seal coat at the same time.

The finished dye.

I ended up applying two (2) coats of blue tinted .5 lb cut shellac. The second coat not only made the blue color richer, it also allowed me to rub out streaks and other imperfections in the initial coat. Though the coloring wasn’t perfect it was still really cool and I’m quite pleased with how it came out.

As a finish, I’m applied 4 coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal, as per the method Marc describes in his A Simple Varnish Finish DVD. It’s a simple method of rag applying an oil/varnish blend. The results are good and hard to mess up.

The finished stool.

With the finish on the stool went into Stephen’s room and it was time to get to those pesky Christmas projects. Now, what was it I’m supposed to build . . .

For all of the Step Stool posts, click here.Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.

Read More..

My Dad has been a member of the Long Island Woodworker Club for many years. During that time he has learned much with them and made many good woodworking friends. Since he joined, he’s been pushing me to join too.

While I’ve alchoices been open to joining, their schedule of meeting the first Wednesday of every month has kept me achoice. For the last few years my Wednesday nights have been dedicated to the Modern WoodworkersAssociation. We record our podcast (nearly) every other Wednesday and we try to have Admin meetings on the Wednesday’s we don’t record.

My first submission, Katies Quilt Rack.

While the MWA remains my baby and I’ve no intention of backing achoice, this year I’ve given in and joined the Long Island Woodworkers Club.

The second piece, Kathis Book Stand.

Initially, my reason for joining was their upcoming show. My Dad’s been on me to enter a few pieces in their furniture showcase and I need to be a member in order to display.

My final submission, Carolyns Glue Gun Caddie.

This morning as I was filling out my applications to the organization and to display I read over their web site. While it’s not the most up to date site on the web, it does cover the most important thing – their meetings. The thing that has kept me achoice for so long is now what I’m most looking forward to. Coming off Woodworking in America, the thought of meeting once a month with other woodworkers to discuss and share the craft is exciting. While I’ll probably miss a few meetings to keep up the podcast, when the MWA has an off first Wednesday of the month you know where I’ll be.

Do you belong to a local woodworking club or guild?Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.

Read More..