Building a garden gate


TerryMcK

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Terry, I'd like to understand this thing about covering the endgrain with epoxy better, specifically on the through tenons. So I assume you'd apply the epoxy after you've block planed the tenon flush with the stile. Surely the epoxy imparts a very different colour and finish to that section of the gate then? Also, does the epoxy not add some thickness to that particular spot as well? How will the epoxy in those few spots affect the final finishing of the gate?

You didn't by any chance take pictures of the epoxy treated endgrain?

 

I'm looking forward to the next instalment. I find myself coming straight to this thread every day I fire up my computer.

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Glad to hear you are enjoying the build. Yes it is true that applying anything to end grain (finish or glue) will impart a different colour to it. But that is not an issue and some people find it attractive (think dovetails). The reason for applying glue to end grain is so it wicks glue into its cellular structure to seal it against moisture. End grain cells take in moisture more readily than long grain. 

 

Once the glue has cured it is just sanded down to the level of the surrounding wood so no extra thickness. The glue will have penetrated sufficiently to a depth of a few millimetres. As you may know timbers expand or contract more across their width rather than length due to seasonal variations caused by relative humidity. Because of this, as the timbers are different orientation to each other, over time I would expect the tenon to either protrude slightly or be below the level of the surrounding wood. 

 

 Last night in the shop was taken up with boring sanding to 180 grit so no pictures of that. Everybody has seen a random orbit sander in operation and it doesn't make interesting pictures.

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Honey-dos got in the way again this weekend wood-fans so not as much done as I would have liked.
 
All surfaces sanded to 180 grit, my makers mark branded on and then the first coat of Epithanes spar varnish. This is thinned to 50% using either mineral spirits (known as white spirit in the UK - this is not odourless in the UK) or Epithanes thinner. I used the latter as it is odourless and is the same price as white spirit.
 
Just another 6 coats to go! Gradually reducing the amount of thinners to get to full strength eventually.
 
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Sanding complete
 
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Not bad amber tint for first coat. It will get deeper with more coats
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I still have the guilding of the number sign and highlighting of the other signs to do. Oh and also there are the wooden posts carrying the hinges that bolt onto the brick gate posts too. Honey dos are getting in the way but I'm in no rush.

Thanks for all the kind comments from everybody :)

Watch this space.

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Proper thinning of the varnish is very important. If you apply the first coat of varnish full strength, the entire varnish system will adhere to a coat that is sitting on top of the wood. Not good. Therefore, significant thinning (50% or 1/2 & 1/2) of the first coat is very important. A very thin "sealer" coat will give maximum penetration and good grip for the subsequent system. It is quite normal for a manufacturer to recommend a thinning of the first few coats progressively building to full strength.

Once the sealer coats have been applied, varnish should be used full strength. If the varnish is not flowing well or it feels "brushy" possibly due to weather conditions, small amounts (usually 5% or so) of thinner can be added to make it a bit more user friendly.

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Proper thinning of the varnish is very important. If you apply the first coat of varnish full strength, the entire varnish system will adhere to a coat that is sitting on top of the wood. Not good. Therefore, significant thinning (50% or 1/2 & 1/2) of the first coat is very important. A very thin "sealer" coat will give maximum penetration and good grip for the subsequent system. It is quite normal for a manufacturer to recommend a thinning of the first few coats progressively building to full strength.

Once the sealer coats have been applied, varnish should be used full strength. If the varnish is not flowing well or it feels "brushy" possibly due to weather conditions, small amounts (usually 5% or so) of thinner can be added to make it a bit more user friendly.

Terry, I was playing with a piece of figured cherry last night (actually was trying out a new rasp) and smoothed it down to 400 grit, just to see how smooth I could get it. I then thought about what you said about the finish sitting on top of the wood. Would a sanding to this degree actually burnish the wood and result in the same "finish sitting on top of the wood"?

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Terry, I was playing with a piece of figured cherry last night (actually was trying out a new rasp) and smoothed it down to 400 grit, just to see how smooth I could get it. I then thought about what you said about the finish sitting on top of the wood. Would a sanding to this degree actually burnish the wood and result in the same "finish sitting on top of the wood"?

Yes Ken an unthinned film finish would still sit on top of the wood regardless of the underlying sanding prep so you still want that inital coat to be as thin as possible - follow the manufacturers instructions of course as some don't need thinning. I've found that sanding to about 180 is about all you need to do prior to finishing perhaps 220 dependant upon species. On end grain I will definitely go to about 220 or a little higher. The reason for this is end grain, on some species, absorbs more finish than long grain and can take on a different hue after finishing so sanding to a higher grit can minimise the absorbion. Some species like mahogany and oak have little pores that need sealing with something like shellac before finish is applied. This will also minimize the amount of finish that will be absorbed.

Going any higher in grit is not really necessary as it is a lot of hard work and the end results are the same as preparation by sanding to a lower grit.

When doing furniture you need to lightly sand to the higher grits 600, 800 sanded wet (a water spray is good for this) between coats to allow the new layer to adhere to the previous layer (keying). Then after the final coat is done and cured I will very lightly hit it with 2000 grit or even a brown paper bag (really!) to take the dust nibs off.

On the gate I will just rub down with 320 between coats (it's going outside after all).

When I do a guitar that needs a very high gloss I approach it in a similar way gradually moving up the grits between coats and then go up to 4000 grit and sometimes higher for the final polish long after it has cured (a couple of weeks after).

Again it all depends upon what you want to achieve that dictates the amount of work you need to put into the preparation and in between coats. On furniture I like a semi-gloss sheen. On musical instruments (like cars) they look good when very glossy.

One finish that we can't buy off the shelf anymore in Europe (VOC restrictions) that is excellent and doesn't need thinning is General Finishes ArmRseal. It's a wiping finish and is applied by using a cloth (I'm down to my last few cans). They also make waterbourne finishes that can be applied in a similar way, sprayed or brushed. Give them a look.

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No online is not an option anymore. You can't even import it any more. It would get stopped at customs. Some new rule came into operation (I think it was in 2011) where GF and all other companies couldn't sell anything with VOCs in Europe. I don't think it can be obtained in California either. There may be a few more states too.

You can make a wiping finish yourself though from mineral spirit, poly and an oil like tung or boiled linseed. I think you can get recipes from the internet and I've seen the one done by Marc on his videos - seems to be equal parts of everything. So bizarrely you can buy all the ingredients for wiping poly but not all mixed in the same can!

That's why I've been using the waterbourne finishes recently on furniture. GF Exterior 450 is waterproof and fantastic (although I'm not using it on the gate!). GF Enduro Var is close to ArmRseal in colour and I've had great results wiping, brushing with a foam brush and superb when sprayed. Not sure if it is as hard as armrseal though but it has been great on some of the pieces I've done.

I use nitrocellulose when I can on instruments but have been also trying waterbourne stuff too.

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Got a couple of hours in the shop this afternoon while the visitors went to a Manchester United football game. I have absolutely no interest in soccer so applying another coat of finish. Also trying out some guilding with gold leaf. Not as easy as it looks but getting the hang of it. I'll post up my efforts soon.

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Trying out gilding for the first time
Finishing can be really boring. The gate requires 7 coats of varnish all over and the application of which is very time consuming. Each coat needs 24 hours between drying and every other coat needs rubbing with 320 grit. Also the dilution of each coat gets less between coats until you end up with the varnish going on neat from the can.
I hadn't worked out a way of coating each side at the same time and the gate is too heavy to place onto painters pyramids or a simple bed of nails. So consequently 7 separate coats ends up taking 14 days to achieve. No pictures of paint drying I'm afraid.
 
In the meantime we have had guests over from foreign climes and we have been hosting for them. I did manage to get a little shop time last Sunday whilst they went to a Manchester United football game against Chelsea. I have absolutely no interest at all in football so had a few hours in the shop.
 
I decided to highlight the letters of the sign with black paint and gild the numbers with gold leaf.
The signs all had a base coat of shellac followed by a thin coat of spar varnish. When that had thoroughly dried I started to apply so black enamel paint. Unfortunately this paint was water based and would not take to the now varnished over letters! DOH!. Luckily I had some oil based exterior black gloss paint so carefully applied that paint instead.
 
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Dunluce is the name of our house
 
Gilding is not as easy as it looks. I had bought a few sheets of gold leaf (not cheap) and some size, basically a fast drying adhesive to do the work.
Applying the size with a file artists paintbrush was easy enough to do waiting 15 minutes until it is just tacky. A tip I picked up from the Norm Abram video was to rub a potato across the surface. This is supposed to stop any leaf sticking to the wrong place.
Then a single sheet of gold leaf was applied. To do this the leaf is on release paper and you just use a combination of fingers and a dry paint brush to press it into the voids. 
 
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Initial application pressing on the release paper ended up with bits missing here and there.
 
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Applying leaf with a little care ended up with better results
 
It did stick slightly to places I shouldn't have but the starch in the potato basically worked ok. After an amount of work I ended up with a decent application. I applied some more size and finished off the bits that hadn't quite stuck properly. Then using a pad with some very fine sandpaper attached I rubbed all the extraneous bits of gold from the surface. Finally carefully applying a layer of shellac to hold it in position. There was another solution that the manufacturer of the size/leaf suggested which was a clear varnish. I decided not to use that as shellac is just as good. All of the signs will eventually have a few coats of spar varnish applied to give it some weather resistance.
Not bad for my first attempt at gilding. I think practice makes perfect with this. I will gild other projects in the future.
 
The signs will be epoxied into the pockets I had created in the gate.
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Do you live in a castle or something?  Who names their house? :lol:

 

Good work so far, Terry!  Can't wait to see this thing adorning your castle!

It's England! An Englishman's house is his castle.  :D

They used to name houses in the olden days. They don't seem to do it any more.

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