Well, I got home for a couple hours yesterday and got a little work done. There was a package waiting at the door - my package from Amazon containing the steel wool, Sellers marking knife and hake brushed I had ordered.
I looked at the knife first and found that it would not open up all the way.
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| What a joke! |
There was a large burr that had not been removed, so I took a small file and knocked it off.
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| File pointing to the removed burr |
It took about two swipes with a small file. Whatever that casing is made of, it is really soft. But the knife opens fine now.
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| Opening fully now |
I tried the knife out on a Doug fir board and it felt OK, but time will tell if I really like it.
The hake brushes were next up. They were only 1" wide and I thought I ordered 1 1/2". I tried checking my order, but can't seem to log in to Amazon today. Rrrrrrr!
The sandpaper is "long filament" 4/0.
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| Just out of the package |
It's about 3-4" wide and about 1/2" thick.
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| End view of a piece of the roll |
My intent in getting this was to knock down the shellac without leaving a blizzard of steel wool particles all over the place. Turns out it doesn't do that any better than the crappy (short filament) steel wool I've used before. There was steel dust all over the place.
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| Steel dust in corners |
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| Steel dust thick on the benchtop |
As much as I hate all that dust, I gotta say that the chair feels really nice. I used up about an 8" length of the roll on one stinking chair. Seems like there ought to be a better way.
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| Ready for waxing |
After a coat of wax, this chair is going to look great.
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeletenow you have to ask yourself if cleaning up the steel fuzzies is worth it. I get the same thing and vacuum it all up. I still like the feel of shellac after steel wool over sandpaper hands down. Even 600 grit can't match the surface feel left by 4-0 steel wool.
I had the same issue with steel wool and went looking for something better. I happened to find some left over green scotch brite pads in the pantry. They gave me a really nice smooth feel to the shellac, better than I had been getting from the steel wool and no metal dust.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Barn_Owl. I did try using a green scrubbie pad - the ones used for washing pots and pans with a sponge on the back side. Not sure, but I suspect the tougher side is the same thing as Scotch-brite. It worked OK, but I found that it gummed up fairly quickly. I really hate creating waste. Not certain if there is more waste with steel wool or scrubbie pads.
DeleteHuh, I had no gumming issue, but that my be because the scotch brite heavy duty pad is more open all the way through than the 2 sided cleaning pads. Really nice work on the chairs by the way, about ready to try tackling my first one.
DeleteThat's a very ambitious project, taking on a set of dining chairs! It looks like you did a great job to! I really like the look of Doug Fir,especially as it ages.
ReplyDeleteI only rarely use steel wool these days. I've switched to synthetic wool, they look like scotch pads. But cut like steel wool, they don't shed tho.
The brand I use is Norton, they come in 0000, 000, 00, 0. They hold up pretty well and don't clog up. Another nice feature is if your restoring some filthy old tool you can wash them in soap and water and their good to go again once they dry. The 0000 has no cutting power but is great for polishing .
Stephen
Great tip on the synthetic wool, Stephen. Thanks for that. I'll have to see if I can find some.
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