Most of us have cedar chests that have been passed down by our grandfathers/mothers. It is important to restore your cedar furniture if you plan to keep it for a long time.
One of the most significant things that you may have noticed is that familiar cedar odor is gone. You may remember as a child perhaps when you grandmother would open the chest you would get that woody cedar aroma. Just the thought of it brings back memories. Sadly, though you noticed it is no longer the case. Now when you open the chest there is nothing.
Fortunately, you can restore this. Aside from it creating wonderful memories for you, the cedar has a useful side. It is a natural bug repellant. That s why it was such a favored wood for building these chests. This is where precious items were stored and everyone wanted to ensure they would be where pests would not destroy them.
Over the years no matter how preserved the cedar chest was dust gets into the pores of the wood and clogs them. Or it has been a cedar chest that was in continuous use then the pores may have become pinched shut. So what has happened now is the aroma that once emitted through these pores can no longer do so. Read the rest of this entry »
Owning a log cabin is often a dream of many. On the other hand when it comes to having to do some restoration to some of its contents then it may not be such a great dream. It is a task that can be done quite successfully if you are somewhat handy with some woodworking tools. If you aren?t then there?s no better time to learn. Unless of course you want to contract the work out and pay big bucks for labor.
Most often with a genuine log cabin, you want to preserve its character. The room that is probably in most need of repair will be the kitchen. In this case, consider giving it a face-lift as opposed to ripping everything out. The biggest area to work on or will be in need of work is the cupboards and counters.
On an average, you will find that they were probably constructed from 1-inch pine. The counter top should probably be replaced especially if the surface of it has begun to crack. This can be a health hazard because food builds up in the cracks and lays the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Read the rest of this entry »
If you are an avid wood worker or do it yourselfer don’t you just hate it when the neighbor comes over to borrow one of your precious paintbrushes? Then a day or two later he lets you know that he returned your brush back to the workshop. You go to use it a week or two later and it’s hard as a rock.
No doubt if you are into doing a lot of various painting, you have a good selection of brushes and probably some more expensive ones as well. The first thing you need to learn is to clean and maintain your paintbrushes properly.
Even if you clean your brushes but do an improper job then the paint job you do with them is going to be inferior as well. All too often, a novice painter will blame a poor paint job on the paint when the real culprit is a poorly cared for paintbrush. If you don?t get yourself into the habit of cleaning your brushes properly then you might as well throw your money away because you are going to have to toss the brushes. Read the rest of this entry »
Whether we are into woodworking or not the majority of us know a little something about sandpaper even if it is just the name. Sandpaper is really just a very mild form of a chisel for example or any tool that reduces or alters the wood. The sandpaper is made of tiny coarse blades. Needless to say, they are very fragile and therefore wear down quickly.
One of the issues of using sandpaper is knowing which one to use for which job. To begin with, you have to determine whether you want commercial or industrial sandpaper. You will have less looking around for stores to buy it from if you are using the commercial grade as most hardware stores or home building centers keep it in stock. The industrial is more specialized and is an item most often used on the manufacturing line.
When you hear someone refer to sandpaper, you will most probably hear them refer to grit. All this is, is the way to identify what strength it is. Its referring to each of those little blades we talked about per inch. So the lower the number the coarser the sandpaper will be. Read the rest of this entry »
by Ryan Henders
It is a rewarding feeling to restore an old house to a pristine condition. One of the most difficult tasks is refinishing your cabinets.
To do the job right its means you have to strip all the old product such as paint and finish off. Then you have to bleach the wood to remove either the stains that were left from the old finish or having something spilt or set on them. Then there is sanding and scraping to tend to. Finally, there is the new stain and them the finish to be done. After all,\ of this you can sit back and admire you long and enduring hard work.
Most jobs of this magnitude don?t usually go all that trouble free. You will run into at least a few minor snags, but the majority of them can be dealt with. It?s important that you know the wood that your cabinets are made from. If it?s an older house don?t be surprised to find out that there are several varieties that were used. In this case, you will never get one light stain to come out the same on all the pieces. You can however go to a deeper stain and get results that are more satisfactory.
You really may want to consider buying new doors and drawers and just keeping the original framework. When you are working with the many chemicals it would take to strip your cupboards most often, it can be too harsh on older wood. Another issue is getting the old finish totally stripped at hard to get at pieces can sometimes be impossible. Then once you even get to the point where the old cupboards are prepared for the new stain and finishes you have to take into account the several coatings you are going to have to apply and the drying time that is going to be involved. The kitchen is one of the most difficult rooms to work in because of the food preparation, grease and steam that is almost always present there.
Before you say no to the idea of buying new doors and drawers at least check out your home improvement store and see what they have to offer. At least this way you are covering all of the possible options and making an informed opinion.
If you have decided to go ahead with the original, you may want to consider at least buying new hardware. In the older cupboards quite often the door handles didn?t have a lot of character and the knobs were likely ceramic that has become cracked and chipped.
You are going to have to make decisions on what type of refinish you are going to do. This is best done after all the preparation work is done so you can see what condition the cabinets are in. This will determine if you are going to have to go with a darker stain.
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