[Dan44356]

Go easy on me guys... This is my first piece. The drawer is a converted soft-close Kraftmaid sliding rack from a base cabinet. Pay no attention to the messy shop. The next pieces will be a matching TV stand and some built in book cases around it for the wife's massive collection.

 

[Dan44356]

Thanks! I was just reading your post!

 

[Dan44356]

Thanks! We eat off of ours too sometimes so I made it a little taller than a standard coffee table at a finished height of 20" IIRC.

 

[Dan44356]

Looks real nice. What is the wood? The finish looks like it turned out good.

It's poplar.

 

[Dan44356]

Looks real nice. What is the wood? The finish looks like it turned out good.

Thanks!

I forgot to mention that I put a coat of about a 1lb cut shellac on the wood, then used red mahogany colored gel stain, then sprayed Sherwin Williams pre-cat lacquer, then hit the surfaces with 600 grit by hand, then rubbed it out with 0000 steel wool with soapy water.

 

[Dan44356]

Thanks guys. I guess I am my own critic, but I can see the flaws. I'm happy with how it turned out, but I did learn from a few mistakes. Poplar turns out decent if the wood is sealed prior to staining, otherwise it blotches really bad. I played around with different cuts of shellac until I got the formula to where I could get the color I wanted without the blotch. I used Zinsser shellac, and cut it 75% with denatured alcohol.

I wanted to build it out of cherry, but I will save the money and prime wood for when I have better skills.

Cabinetman, I was going to go with the drawer front inletted flush with the apron, but didn't trust my skills with getting the gaps right around the edges yet. I know from building cars that the gaps being even are a good sign of workmanship, and just don't trust myself yet, especially when adapting a soft-close drawer.

I will always continue process improvement and develop new skills though.