Shellac Gone Bad

Shellac is an excellent finish, not necessarily for table tops (because it's not very protective), but for other projects that won't see too much traffic. A couple of things that make shellac so great are its ease of application and the speed at which it dries. However, shellac does have a relatively short shelf life. If you mix your own, you have at most 6 months until it goes bad. If you use premixed shellac, like Zinsser, you have about one year to use it once you open the lid.

I found out the hard way not to push my luck.

I was asked to build some decorative boxes for my church that needed to be ready in time for a very important day. Knowing I was going to use shellac for the finish, I allowed only one day to apply the finish—the day before the important event. After applying 3 coats, I wondered where all the blotchy, shiny spots were coming from. They would rub out momentarily with steel wool, only to reappear a short time later.

Ugh. All that careful construction and the finish made the boxes look horrible. I took them to the Woodcraft Store to consult my buddy, Dan the Finishing Guru, who immediately deduced that I had used old shellac. Friends, old shellac will never, ever, ever dry. It will always have blotchy, shiny spots and will completely undermine your meticulous craftsmanship.

Fortunately, there's another great thing about shellac—it's easy to remove! A little denatured alcohol dissolved all of it. So I mixed a fresh batch, applied several coats, rubbed out the finish the next morning, and had a whole 15 minutes to spare before the big event. Whew!

So how do you determine if your shellac has crossed over to the dark side? Brush some on a piece of wood. If, after 15 minutes, it's not completely dry and looks blotchy....throw-it-out!*

Do you see all of the tell-tale shiny spots at the top of my tool cabinet door?

Yeah, I'll fix that someday.

*Dan, the finishing guru, says to put a dollup of shellac on a piece of glass, let it sit overnight, and if you can press your fingernail into it the next day, mix up a fresh batch.

Workbench Book

If you're planning to build a workbench, I highly suggest reading Workbenches: from Design & Theory to Construction & Use, by Christopher Schwarz.

The title says it all. Chris includes plans to build both English and French workbenches, but more importantly helps you decide what style, wood, size and vises will work best for your type of woodworking. I can't say enough good things about this book; it's bound to be a classic.

Splined Miter Jig

If you want to build boxes with splined miters, using a jig like this along with your table saw makes the job easy.

The cradle is made of two boards attached at 45 degrees to two outer boards. Your box sits in the jig which rides along the table saw fence while the blade cuts a perfect kerf in each corner. Move the fence to make a second kerf in each corner if you like.

If you use a flat tooth blade, the bottom of the kerf will be flat and your miter key will fit right in. If you use an ATB (alternate top bevel) blade, you'll have a little clean up to do with a chisel in order to flatten the bottom of the kerf so the key fits snugly.

(I had trouble getting clear shots of the blades and yes, I know they desperately need to be cleaned. : )

Sometimes it's enough

I read an article this morning about a recently deceased local man who was a passionate woodcarver his entire life. He was born in 1922, served in WWII by parachuting behind enemy lines and blowing up bridges, witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor, and of this event, wrote these words in his Bible: Hell is moving. We have all missed death 100 times this day. Amen.

His workshop was a converted chicken coop behind his house where he would sit for hours whittling whimsical characters and animals, often so engrossed in his project, he would work through dinner.

In the article, this is the sentence that really resonated with me and to which, I think, most woodworkers can relate: Arthritis stopped him from carving and whittling about four years ago, but he still shuffled to the wood shop with the help of a walker and sat among the pieces of wood and sawdust.

As I'm entering my busy season at work, I know that I probably won't be able to do any woodworkng until mid-March. But, during the busy months, I always seem to find a little time to at least sit in my shop or tidy up or open my tool cabinet and take out my handplanes. Sometimes it's enough to just be out there sitting among the wood.

Sun or Shade

This Piet Mondrian in wood shows several species in their natural hue; no stain or finish has been applied. With colors like these, you pretty much can't go wrong if you're making decorative boxes. Just let the wood do the talking.

One thing to consider, however, in choosing wood for its color is the long term effect of sun or shade on the color's intensity. These pencil boxes I made a few years ago were very colorful upon completion but over time, the saturation has changed.

Sun can either brighten or darken wood, depending on the species, so the lid of the middle box now looks dark and dull. The underside of the lid, however, still resembles the box when it was first made. Why? Because bloodwood and padauk, woods used in this particular box, darken in sunlight.

The second to last photo is a padauk board that was partially covered by another board in my shop. The part that was getting some sunlight turned dark maroon, while the portion in shade remains orange/brown.

Now, with some wood, it's preferable to keep them in the light. Purpleheart and cherry, for instance. The piece of purpleheart sitting on top in the last photo has been getting plenty of sunlight in my shop while the board below it has been buried in a lumber pile (it's actually brighter than I expected). Purpleheart turns bright purple in sunlight but turns brown in shade. Cherry, as most people know, starts out as a light pink when first milled, but darkens to a rich brown over a relatively short period of time.

So, if you're planning to rely on wood color in your next project, you might want to consider what will happen to its color over time.

My Favorite Jig

Probably most woodworkers have little pieces of exotic wood that they just can't bear to throw away. But how do you secure a tiny piece of wood to your bench so you can work with it? Here's a simple jig that allows you to do just that.

The base of this jig is .75" plywood 19.75" x 10" (these are arbitrary measurements, so use whatever works for you). Screw to the bottom of the base a little cleat, or keel, that clamps into your vise. Screw a straight piece of wood .375" thick and 1.5" wide to the top & front of the jig. Cut a triangular shaped piece of wood .375" thick that functions as a wedge, and then screw another piece of straight .375" x 1.5" piece of wood to the top & rear of the jig at the same angle as the triangular piece.

The triangular piece of wood wedges the workpiece in between the two thin pieces of wood. Tap the wedge in place with a hammer or mallet and that little piece of exotic wood is ready to be planed, mortised, carved, or chiseled.

Dog survives bone-crushing Grandma-hug

Fortunately, Rosie did live to see another day. Grandma can be a little "too loving" with our pets.

Although this post has nothing to do with woodworking, I did make the little rustic table sitting behind my mom.


(Mom will likely want to kill me for posting her photo on my site, but I can run faster than she can....)

The Woodwright's Shop

Episodes of the Woodwright's Shop can be viewed online. Roy Underhill works only with handtools and his folksy sense of humor adds a personable touch to his program.