Is My Urethane Bad? - Question of the Week
This week’s question is from Terri who asks: “I make signs out of wood and last Spring (2008), I purchased a gallon of Helmsman Spar Urethane since I go through quite a bit of it (and absolutely love it). I had used a little more than a 1/4 of the gallon then stored it for the summer in the basement. Its a living basement therefore, the temperature was generally around 65-70 degrees through out the summer. When I opened it this fall to start using again, it had a hard coat over the top and about 4 inches of jell under that. I don’t know if the can wasn’t closed tightly or what happened. I was able to break through the hard coat and tried to mix it all up as best I could but now I have small ‘chunks’ of the jell that gets on my wood work. Is there anything I can do to eliminate this? Should I stir it with a drill attachment paint stirrer or would that cause more problems? I would really hate to have to throw away 3/4 of a gallon so would appreciate any help you could send my way.”
And this was my response: “Hi Terri. Unfortunately my friend, your Urethane is half way into the trash. A skin and chunks are signs that the finish has already started curing in the can. Varnishes cure via oxidation, which means air is your worst enemy. So either the can wasn’t sealed well enough, or the little bit of air that was trapped in the can was enough to keep the curing process going. The key is to put the varnish in a container that has little to no room for air. Or, you can use some Bloxygen. Its an aerosol can full of inert gas that creates an oxygen-free pillow on top of your finish, protecting it from oxidation. Another option is to fill the can with marbles or some other heavy item so the liquid level is raised to the top. But sad to say, this is all for prevention. Once the finish starts curing, as it has in your case, its best to just throw it away. But, if you are feeling especially frugal, feel free to strain out the chunks and test the remaining finish on scrap. If it cures properly and seems to bind strongly to the wood, you can probably get another use out of it. In most cases though, I don’t take any chances once the finish starts curing in the can.”
A Shadow Box and a Shop - Project/Shop of the Week
This week we are featuring our first Project/Shop of the Week dual post. It is submitted by Chad in Maryland. A worthy gift for a decorated soldier. Let’s see what Chad has to say:
“First of all, I want to say I really appreciate what you do for the woodworking world and the time you spend making all the podcasts. I have learned a lot and have gained confidence in the wood shop from your videos. OK……now I can get on to more man-type conversation. This is a shadow box for a friend who retired from the Air Force after nearly 22 years of service! The frame and majority of the box is made of Bloodwood with Tiger Maple inlays for the stripes and star. You’ll notice the Maple strip down each side….I would like to say that was planned, but we’ll just call it decorative compensation. The stack of inlays to make this project is about a foot high–a lot considering each template is made of 1/4″ plywood. I used an inlay kit with my router to get absolutely perfect matches, but as with any detailed inlay, I had to break out the chisels and sandpaper. I would love to go through the list of DOs and DON’Ts of working with Bloodwood, but I’ll save that for anyone that would like to know–it’s a long list! I hope everyone enjoys looking at the box as much as I did building it.”
“One of the photos is of me (on the right) with the man I presented the shadow box to. He absolutely loved it. I guess you see a little different side of me as well. In addition, I thought it would be neat for your viewers to see the wood shop a certain project came out of. I just wanted to let folks see my small shop and what it can produce. When I first started fine woodworking (almost a year ago) I would’ve never guessed something like the shadow box could come out of my little shop. I think this is what you stand for and who you want to reach with your Woodwhisperer webpage… anyone who has a love for woodworking no matter what tools or space they have to work with.”
“As you can see I have very limited space and everything is pretty much mobile. I don’t think anything can be used where it is sitting for anything major at all. The DeWalt planner is probably my most recommended tool; it performs over and over with very little snipe (even on that Bloodwood!). You can see that most of my tools are Craftsman and I’ve had great success with them. Some tools I strayed away due to reviews, but the bottom line is you have to set any tool up properly and maintain them and they usually work as advertised….rocket science I know, but some don’t do it.
So enjoy the pics and don’t stop what you’re doing; I look forward to your website at least every other day!”
Gadget Station - Project of the Week
This week’s project is submitted by Mike. Let’s check it out:
“Just as I finished up my gadget station, my boss told me about your website and your gadget station. Mine is a built-in that goes in a wall between the hall that goes to my garage (my main entrance into my house) and my basement stairs. The front of it (the drawer side) goes toward the garage hall and the back (the door side - kind of looks like a medicine cabinet) goes in the basement stairway. It is made of aspen and poplar and painted white. I normally don’t like to paint my woodworking projects, but all of the trim in the house is white, so I figured this would match better. The box is put together with glue and biscuits. I used delrin for the drawer slides and used the drawer fronts as a positive stop to set the drawer depth - it worked out pretty well.”
“I put an outlet in the basement wall side of it and plugged in a power strip. It is currently used to charge two cell phones and my camera battery. The drawers store our keys, my wallet, our cameras and my portable GPS. It also has a plastic bin in the top of the the inside of the door. I use that to put bills and mail that eventually need to go down the basement to my office. The door still needs a knob (I forgot about it when I bought the knobs for the drawer) and the paint around the basement side still needs to be touched up, but I am onto my next project, so that can wait.”
Using Spray Gun For Small Projects? - Question of the Week
This week’s question comes from Pierre who asks: “In a recent video, you spray paint your clock. This is something I would like to get into. I have everything to do it, but, I wonder…is it worth all the fuss of setting up and cleaning for just three small coats? What’s your procedure?”
And this was my reply: “Hi Pierre, You are right. The cleanup can be a pain. Setup is no big deal though. And I do think its worth it. But if you have doubts, you can always use spray cans on small projects. Its more expensive and a little wasteful, but that’s the trade off for less work. I did two projects in a row so I just kept the finish in the gun and moved on to the next project. But honestly, when you see the results you get from a spray setup, you will agree that it is worth a little extra effort. Loading the gun is simple, you just pour the finish into the can and make sure you are using the right needle/tip size. Clean up consists of putting water into the cut and spraying to clean out the tubes and the chamber (if using water-based finish). Then maybe spray some alcohol though it to further clean it out and get rid of any remaining water. And if any finish dries in the tube, you’ll need to use the cleaning brush to get the gunk out. But that’s about it. Hope that helps.”
Wall-Mounted Wine Rack - Project of the Week
This week’s project comes from CJ. Let’s check it out and see what he has to say:
“I recently found your podcast and instantly became a fan, it’s really nice to see someone my age doing creative woodworking. I’m new to woodworking and just use it as a way to get stuff done around the house and another outlet for creativity. Attached is my first design build project that I built for my sister-in-law who is a wine enthusiast. It’s a wall mounted wine rack (sense room is a premium in her apt.) made from Sipo with a Tung Oil finish. It mounts to the wall with a french grommet so it gives the appearance that its floating off the wall (the Nome is currently guarding it from termites and other insects). Well just thought I would drop you a line let you see some of the stuff you have inspired and to let you know I appreciate what you’re doing!”
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