Floating Cabinet with a Floating Top

[gee-dub]

On 4/1/2022 at 8:49 AM, Chestnut said:

I really REALLY like the idea of a floating top to allow for cool air to move through to keep equipment running. I need to make a comptuer desk at some point an di'm goign to make a floating top to keep the towers cool.

Here was my design for cooling on the previous media cabinet (rear view and in mid-build). 

It held legacy components like receiver(s), disc players, and a PC.  I had to add fans as the vernacular cooling proved inadequate.  With the reduced number and scale of the electronics we now use in that room I think the floating top will be more than adequate.

Out of the clamps and a bit of card scraper work to clean up the surface.

Now to cut it to size and profile the side and front edges.

[gee-dub]

This might be interesting.  This was a finish sample board from about 20 years ago.  It happened to be the same thickness as the base of my sleds.  Way back when I smeared some liquid rubber on it and set a couple of rare earth magnets in it.  The rubber keeps it in place on the router table while it acts as a temporary support for longer stock (like the top of the current project).  The magnets keep it in place on the other side when it rests on the tablesaw surface.

I know the thicknesses I want to present around the outer edge and I know about how far I want the bevel to be set back.

This means I don't really care about the angle so much as the dimensions.  I take the angle from the markup.

I transfer this to the tablesaw. 

I use the tablesaw to remove the bulk of the waste.

I will hand plane back to the final dimensions.

I use the same jig with the clamping fixture removed to do the long edge.  It just acts as a tall fence.  Admitting the passage of time and the limits it brings; arthritis, back issues, etc. I add a couple sets of feather boards to help me control the blank as I pass it through the cut.  Here I am using a piece of scrap from the top to set the feather board tension.

I haven't cleaned up the bevel cuts yet but I wanted to see how it looked.

A little hand plane work and I should be ready to start the finishing process.

 

 

[pkinneb]

Looks great!!

I need to make one of these in feed supports!

On another note totally off topic, How long are your fence tracks on your router table? Going to route mine tomorrow and only want to do it once   

 

[gee-dub]

The fence slots are about 11" long.  They end about 2-1/2" ahead of the bit center.  There are times I wish I could move the fence farther from the bit than the slots go.  I do not know that the additional inch or so I could have moved back on this 24" deep top would really solve those occasional problems.  I just clamp an aux fence on for those rare times.

More views of the support.  Super handy BTW.

 

[Coop]

If there is an award (sans the slap) for jigs and apparatuses, it has to go to @gee-dub! 

[pkinneb]

On 4/2/2022 at 10:00 PM, Coop said:

If there is an award (sans the slap) for jigs and apparatuses, it has to go to @gee-dub! 

I agree!!

[gee-dub]

And so, it begins . . .

[gee-dub]

I haven't posted for a while because I have been struggling.  I tested out some General Finishes HP and an Earlex 5500 HVLP.  The finish is new to me.  The HVLP, not so much.

I fooled myself into thinking the test spray job on my dovetail jig box looked OK.

I did a test on a test-board. 

It lacked the thickness of film I was after but I thought I could adjust for that on the fly.  Someone has a sig line that reads something like . . . "Experience, that thing you needed before you did what you just did"(?).

I ended up with a surface that I didn't care for.

The self-leveling characteristics on this product are a far cry from the oil materials I am used to . . . no surprise there really.  I know people have had success with this product and I fully accept that it is my inexperience with it that led to my demise.

To rub salt into the wound the finish seemed to take issue with the hockey pucks and paper towels that I set it on once dry to touch.

The problem is compounded by my own OCD.  This surface will be about 15" off the ground when the unit is mounted.  No one but the most persistent house cleaner would ever see this.

Tick, tick, tick . . .

But I would know it was there!

I tried a few remedies but found I was wasting my time.  I took a card scraper to it.

After some wet sanding with mineral spirits for a lube I got happy.

I will complete the project with my familiar oil varnish blend with the exception of the top.  I do not imagine I can add an oil poly on top of the waterborne product . . . any experience with this?

If there is no known method to accomplish this I will try another sprayed coat and a sand back.  If that fails I will strip it and use my known method.

I will continue to practice with the waterborne spray method.  I am sure it is my inexperience that is my problem.

Ever onward . . .

P.s.  Grandpa had a wide range of trade craft.  I inherited these tools which may have been modeling tools or jewelry tools. 

My small spatula looks gigantic next to them.  They worked great for some detail manipulation of a filler on a pin knot opening.

[wtnhighlander]

@gee-dub, I'm fairly confident that you could apply oil poly over the High Performance once it is totally dry. I seriously doubt it look 'right', compared to oil poly directly on bare wood, though. With the HP seal, the oil won't penetrate and enhance the chatoyance if the grain at all. IMO, HP is a great topcoat for paint or semi-opaque stain, but I prefer oil based finishes on bare wood.

[Coop]

15” from the floor? Our drug sniffing agents with their mirrors on wheels would never have seen that! You are right though, knowing it was there. But for me, that would have been a fleeting moment. 

[Chestnut]

Couple questions. Did you raise the grain? WB poly will raise the grain which is what picture 3 looks like. How heavy were you applying the poly? i typically spray WB poly until it gets a bit of a blue haze, not enough material laid down will not let it flow out as well and leads to poor surface finish. I'm also assuming you weren't trying to pore fill with the WB poly? you probably can pore fill but it'll require a few applications and sanding back.

The mark is probably a result of not letting it cure enough. Dry to the touch is 1 thing cured to hardness is another. If your goign to put some weight on it you might need to wait a couple hours before you flip.

[gee-dub]

On 4/7/2022 at 7:19 AM, Chestnut said:

Couple questions. Did you raise the grain? WB poly will raise the grain which is what picture 3 looks like.

Ding, ding, ding!  What an amazingly rookie move.  I did not raise the grain .  I even have distilled water for just that purpose.  I got so absorbed in the "spraying" part of the process I left all my other good practices behind.

Experience will probably solve my issues but, proper technique (raising the grain) will probably give me a big jump on getting to where I want to be. Thanks @Chestnut

[gee-dub]

I let things set for a while and worked on a playset that I'm putting up for the grandkids.  I finally decided that I just don't like the look of the waterborne topcoat.  It really seemed to push the color toward gray.

It started out more this color.

If anyone wants to know, Citrustrip worked fine on the General Finishes High Performance product.  This is freshly stripped, cleaned off with mineral spirits, and left to dry.  The brown color came back pretty well.

I'll re-prep the surface and hit it with an oil varnish blend that I have traditionally used.  I'll focus my spraying practice on smaller items till I get a better feel for the product(s).

[Chet]

Glenn when you get to trying your spraying again maybe try a coat of garnet shellac on the walnut before you spray the General Finish top coat.  I think the shellac gives the walnut a richer look before the top coat.  

Also, I prefer General Finishes Enduro-Var II over the High Performance.  Enduro Var II dries with a light amber tone which I thinks adds more warmth then High Performance.

[gee-dub]

I did have a fairly rich brown dye tone on the material before spraying.  I don't know that the HP is to blame as much as my inexperience with it specifically and spraying in general .

@Chet Thanks for the idea!  I'll give Enduro-Var II a shot (no pun intended) since I used nearly half of the HP experimenting (or was it goofing) around . 

*** Update *** Wow, GF is really proud of that Enduro-Var; over twice the price of the HP product.  Of course that point is moot if the HP doesn't do what you want.  I'll still give it a try; I'm not one of those guys who spends a lot on time and money of something and then balks at the last $30 .

[gee-dub]

I'm sure it is primarily working with a finishing protocol I am comfortable with but I am much happier already.

I hope to finish up all the coats by end of day.

[Tom King]

You were right about the color.  Your tried and true way looks best.

Spraying is one of those things that's easy once you get a feel for it, and it carries over to the different types of sprayers.

The highest number of issues I see are people holding the fan too way away from the piece being sprayed, and fanning the fan.  You want the coat to wet out good, but not thick enough to run.

[gee-dub]

That evil yellow-green tone crept back.  I stripped it again and too card scraper, hand plane and sand paper to the surfaces.  After exposing some raw wood a bit deeper than my first "strip only" attempt I am getting more of the look I am after.  These pics are with flash so the tones are shifted a bit.  I will get some "as installed" pics soon.

I will knock down the gloss on this quite a bit before I am done.

[Coop]

Glenn, your last post, first pic, the panel on the right, the lighter piece that runs from breadboard end to bb end, and the two lighter “stripes” that run perpendicular to this “stripe”, what are they from? 

[gee-dub]

On 5/31/2022 at 8:19 PM, Coop said:

Glenn, your last post, first pic, the panel on the right, the lighter piece that runs from breadboard end to bb end, and the two lighter “stripes” that run perpendicular to this “stripe”, what are they from? 

Sorry I wandered off.  It is all walnut.  The grain direction and the intense shop lights make colors look different from one angle and another.  I have a finishing struggle that I will share later.  For now here's some progress.

[gee-dub]

Well I certainly tool the long way around the barn on this one. I eventually achieved my goals. A small wall hung form to make our room look bigger. Freeing up the old media cabinet so I can use it in the shop for stereo and computer stuff.
 

 

 

I have a piece of wall-color painted wire mold to capture the wires and make them less obvious. I need to dig out a couple more long fiber-optic jumpers to finish wiring everything up first. Thanks for hanging in there.

[Tom King]

Looks great, as well as the piece on top of it.   I'd run the wires inside the wall.

[gee-dub]

On 6/20/2022 at 1:23 PM, Tom King said:

Looks great, as well as the piece on top of it.   I'd run the wires inside the wall.

Good suggestion.  I had used the wire mold just kind of hanging there while we figured out the system and what was going to feed what.  Now that I have that pretty much figured out there is no reason not to fish those wires through the wall for a couple of feet.

[Chet]

That came out real nice gee-dub no matter how long it may have taken.  Great looking piece.

On 6/20/2022 at 1:23 PM, Tom King said:

 I'd run the wires inside the wall.

Thats what I did I really like the clean look.  We have a newer TV that sits a few inches higher then in the picture and that makes me even happier that there are no wires.

[Coop]

Very nice indeed. The finish came out looking great.